pat-and-elaine

Pat & Elaine Blackmore

Pat and Elaine Blackmore were original members of the Chargers Backers fan club from when the team first moved to San Diego in 1961.  As active members, Pat and Elaine got to know many of the Chargers players and front office personnel, and travelled with the team to many away games.

Fortunately, the Blackmores seemed to always be armed with their camera, and snapped hundreds of photos over the years, all of which were gifted so that they could be shared with fans on Tales from the American Football League.

In the following gallery you will find photos not only of Pat, Elaine and their Chargers friends, but also from their travels with the team, and life in the 1960s.  This collection also helps to illustrate the American Football League’s humble beginnings, and how professional football players were once regular members of the community, and not just heroes placed upon pedestals, and kept far away from their adoring fans.  You will see photos of several parties, including one with the 1964 AFL All-Stars, held at the Blackmore home.

I hope that you enjoy this stroll through the 1960s.  If you do, say a quiet note of thanks for Pat and Elaine, and the good fortune we all share because of their willingness, intentional or not, to document another side of early AFL history and their generosity in sharing it with us all.

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