The San Diego Chargers announced yesterday that they will be honoring their 1963 AFL Championship team at a home game on December 1. This season marks the 50th anniversary of the Chargers lone championship team. It will be the first complete team to be inducted into their Ring of Honor, which contains all of the members of the Chargers Hall of Fame.
While it obviously makes sense to honor the team for their 50th anniversary, I do wish that the organization would have done this earlier. In the last few years alone, Wayne Frazier, George Gross, Pat Shea, Sam DeLuca, Dave Kocourek, Walt Sweeney and Sam Gruneisen have all passed away. According to my records 16 players from this prestigious team are now gone, as are all of the coaches with the exception of Chuck Noll (who happened to be overlooked as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the announcement). These men should have been recognized long ago for all that this team meant to the City of San Diego, and the AFL as a whole.
I remember that team from the first year I watched football. Great memories of the Chargers!!
Powder blue jerseys and helmet numbers for that game?
OF COURSE they should go back to the ’63 uniforms right down to the “All-America City” front decal, for this game. Then, take off the decal and KEEP THE 1963 UNIFORM and helmet numbers permanently…these weird 2009-2013 “updates” with the funky psycho-font numerals do not move me at all.
I am so glad this team is being honored. I remember watching the game on TV, yea I am old (grin). Keith Lincoln was just dominating that day. I like the way the picture says “1963 World Champions”.
I think, as do others, that this team was better than the Chicago Bears championship team of 1963, and could’ve beaten the Bears in a championship game.
I’m surprised. The Chargers, organization and fans, do not do a very good job of honoring anything before Dan Fouts and Don Coryell. One cannot be “Charger” fan if one does not know the history. It irks me that Alworth comes in anything less than Number 1 in rankings of “best” or “favorite” Chargers of all-time. Boston, New York, Chicago, and other cities know their stuff. San Diegans seem to be only living in the present.
Sadly, what you say is true about all of football. If it didn’t happen after the merger, it didn’t happen.
Keith Lincoln still ranks in the top 3 or 4 all time single game playoff total yards for that game.
Looking at this 1963 San Diego roster, there is NO WAY the Bears could have beaten them! The Chargers’ power and speed would win easily.
By the way…Rest In Peace, Samuel (Sam) Grueneisen…we share the same hometown (Louisville, KY). One hell of a fine lineman-as a kid playing center in various levels, I’d watch Sam and the other great AFL centers (Bemiller, Schmitt, Otto, Morris, et al) handle the position.
Chargers/Bears would have been an interesting game. I doubt the Chargers would have run up and down the field. But, I’m not sure the Bears could score more than 17-21 points against anyone.
My only doubts about Chargers would be Tobin Rote at quarterback. Not sure he was any better than Billy Wade of Chicago. Also, the Chargers were beaten easily in both 1964 and 1965 by the Bills. The Bills were considered to be an “NFL type” club. So, if they got beaten by an “NFL type” club, why would they beat an NFL club? That sure would have been fun to watch!!
I dunno, Howard…Gillman’s twin tight ends offensive sets (w/Kocourek and MacKinnon), the SD long passing with Alworth and Co. against slow Chicago DBs such as Richie Pettibon, the Chargers’underrated young D-linemen and LBs, San Diego offensive linemen pulling and sweeping versus the stoic, static NFL blocking styles (all five could really move-taught by Chuck Noll)…Chargers, 31-14.
The Bears had a guy named Ditka, who seemed pretty good. Also, they beat the Packers twice that year. The Bears had a very disruptive defense. But their offense was fairly primitive.
In 1963 the Chargers lost both games to the Raiders, thanks in large part to native San Diegan Art Powell. Art caught 9 passes in the two game with 5 going for touchdowns of 10, 20, 41, 44 & 46 yards. If the 63 Chargers were the best team that year in all of football including the NFL, and arguably the finest Chargers team ever, then Art Powell was right at the very top of his professionn as his career numbers suggest and his absence in the PFHOF is strikingly unexplainable.
Wish they would have announced this early enough for those of us who don’t live in southern California to have made travel arrangements – I would love to have attended! I was in attendance two Halloweens ago when the Chargers visited the Chiefs for Monday Night Football – a great event (even though it was a game that was given away by the fumbled snap by Rivers, which eventually cost the Bolts the division and a playoff berth, and led to way too much Tebowmania)…but the best part of the evening was the Chiefs organization inducting personnel into the team’s Ring of Honor, and having all of the old AFL greats still with us introduced. It was a special night…would like to have been there for the 1963 Chargers receiving some small measure of their due, but glad that the organization is at least going to honor them.
Wow, this is a real bitter sweet moment. Yet, glad to see the Chargers organization giving honour to whom honour is do…
Like Jim McKinley, I too watched the ’63 championship game on TV. The Chargers performed flawlessly against a gritty Patriots team. The Chargers ran a lot of trap plays that day springing Keith Lincoln on several long gainers. Bolstered by a superb supporting cast, Lincoln may have had the finest day ever by a player in a championship contest.
It’s great the Chargers are finally honoring that team. Too many of the original AFL clubs have dropped the ball when it comes to honoring those teams from the sixties decade. Those players were instrumental in making pro football the billion dollar industry that it is today. Hopefully, the Chargers are picking up the tab for travel, lodging and meals for those returning players.
1963 was a year that us old enough was remember will never forget, it was the year JFK was assassinated in Dallas, and in respect, the league rescheduled the games a week after the regularly scheduled season ended. Added to that the Pats and Bills ended the regular season tied which forced a tie breaker to decide the Eastern Champion.
All resulting in the Championship game being pushed into January a week after the College Bowl games, which until then marked the end of the football year for team play, excluding Pro Bowl and assorted College All Star games.
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