For someone like myself, who has spent countless hours learning about the Chargers of the 1960s, the 1963 AFL championship game has taken on a somewhat mythical existence. Although, I think that is also the case for Chargers fans fortunate enough to have lived through that great era. The AFL was still a new commodity then – fresh and exciting. The ’63 Chargers had it all. Beautiful uniforms, a season that began with one of the most legendary of training camps at the Rough Acres Ranch, an offensive system that was second-to-none, and a squad dripping with talent. The stars aligned for the 1963 Chargers. They built an 11-3 record for the season, and literally destroyed the Boston Patriots in the championship game by the score of 51-10. That was the Chargers first, and still only league championship. This video celebrates that championship victory.
1963 AFL Championship Game
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Ron Jaworski (a lifelong Bills fan who played for Gillman when Vermeil brought him to the Eagles’ staff) did an extraordinary job explaining the game’s significance, almost play by play, in the first chapter of his recent book “Games That Changed the Game.”
I love the old footage for how it show things being different now than then. What amazes me most is the utter absence of celebration in the end zone after a score. The reaction not just by the person who scored, who would flip the ball to the ref…but how no teammates came into the end zone. You were lucky to get a handshake. I was laughing at 1:40 after the long run because no teammate followed into the end zone, the player ends up walking back after taking off his helmet to the sideline alone.
TJ Qunn writing for ESPN Outside The Lines “1963 San Diego Chargers Pumped Up Pioneers” may be of interest to sport historians, Walt Sweeney’s description the life style, sent me running to find a comment Hunter H Thompson made later in life, comparing his year long experiences, living in Oakland with the Hells Angels in preparation for his best seller “Hell’s Angels” A Strange And Terrible Saga. Thompson while in Oakland also befriended and spent time partying with several Okland Raider players and in effect said “There wasn’t much difference between the two”.
Correction noted it’s Hunter S Thompson.
As a kid living in Pacific Beach, my dad wasn’t able to get tickets to the Championship. However, just before the kickoff, a neighbor living about four houses down from us called and invited us to watch the game on his tv! Although it was blacked out in the area, somehow our neighbor’s television antenna happened to be in just the right location to get the LA feed. It was amazing to be able to watch the game, albeit on a black and white on a small concave screen, and see the Chargers smash the Patriots at Balboa Stadium! I will never forget that very memorable game!
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