From the Charger's vault

[Formula 21]

[Mister Hoarse]

I find that I have no nostagia for the Al Saunders era.

[6025]

Chip Banks didn't want to sign his contract because he knew he'd fail the drug test, not because he didn't want to play for the Chargers.

[Lightningwill_420]

The good old days. We sucked, but at least I could afford season tickets and we weren't moving to Los Angeles.

Ron Lynn was a terrific defensive coordinator, I thought. Nobody around my seat agreed with me though.

Al Saunders sucks.

[6025]

The good old days. We sucked, but at least I could afford season tickets and we weren't moving to Los Angeles.

Ron Lynn was a terrific defensive coordinator, I thought. Nobody around my seat agreed with me though.

Al Saunders sucks.

Ron Lynn was the only good thing about that team, but he cost us Marty Schottenheimer and we settled for Dan Henning (Old Goat Alex made it a condition that whoever became head coach keep Lynn as DC; Marty wanted to pick his own staff).

No worries because it netted us Beathard/Ross, and we had a mini golden era.

[Lightningwill_420]

Ron Lynn was the only good thing about that team, but he cost us Marty Schottenheimer and we settled for Dan Henning (Old Goat Alex made it a condition that whoever became head coach keep Lynn as DC; Marty wanted to pick his own staff).

No worries because it netted us Beathard/Ross, and we had a mini golden era.

We had a bad-ass defensive front for almost a year.

Leslie O'Neal pre-injury, Lee Williams, Billy Ray, Chip Banks

And we had Gill Byrd in the secondary - plus my two favorite players at the time - Vencie Glenn and Martin Bayless at safety. Neither of those dudes could cover, but Glenn had a knack for recovering fumbles and making big returns out of them - and Bayless packed a punch.

The corner opposite Byrd always changed and always sucked. That seemed to be our downfall. That and we couldn't ever cover tight ends. Fucking Todd Christensen haunts my dreams.

I probably have my years all mixed up, but it was all pretty fun being a Chargers fan back then. We sucked, but the level of play never affected my fandom.

[6025]

We had a bad-ass defensive front for almost a year.

Leslie O'Neal pre-injury, Lee Williams, Billy Ray, Chip Banks

And we had Gill Byrd in the secondary - plus my two favorite players at the time - Vencie Glenn and Martin Bayless at safety. Neither of those dudes could cover, but Glenn had a knack for recovering fumbles and making big returns out of them - and Bayless packed a punch.

The corner opposite always changed and always sucked.

Leslie was actually post-injury in 1988 but Lynn had the brilliant idea to line Leslie up as a rushing OLB. With Lee Williams those guys had a pretty good 3-4.

[Formula 21]

Glad to see that Toast got benched, but I'll always be grateful to him for the int return for a TD that beat the turds.

[Lightningwill_420]

Glad to see that Toast got benched, but I'll always be grateful to him for the int return for a TD that beat the turds.

That was awesome. Our scabs beat the real Raiders that day. Too bad the real Chargers weren't as good as the scabs.

[Lightningwill_420]

Leslie was actually post-injury in 1988 but Lynn had the brilliant idea to line Leslie up as a rushing OLB. With Lee Williams those guys had a pretty good 3-4.

Yea, I saw that in the article that he was still coming back from the injury.
O'Neal got hurt his rookie year. Spanos was a dick to him, and O'Neal never really had the same desire after that.
People don't know this, but O'Neal had just as many sacks as Lawrence Taylor and was a better run defender. The reason O'Neal doesn't get the pub, and isn't in the Hall of Fame is due to the way O'Neal talked to the media. He figured out early what a con the NFL is and didn't want to participate in it anymore than he had to.

San Diego sports media is always rallying to try to get Don Coryell in the Hall (and Don Coryell should be in the Hall.) But O'Neal should have been in the Hall of Fame the first year that was an option. He's one of the best players I ever saw.

[6025]

Yea, I saw that in the article that he was still coming back from the injury.
O'Neal got hurt his rookie year. Spanos was a dick to him, and O'Neal never really had the same desire after that.
People don't know this, but O'Neal had just as many sacks as Lawrence Taylor and was a better run defender. The reason O'Neal doesn't get the pub, and isn't in the Hall of Fame is due to the way O'Neal talked to the media. He figured out early what a con the NFL is and didn't want to participate in it anymore than he had to.

San Diego sports media is always rallying to try to get Don Coryell in the Hall (and Don Coryell should be in the Hall.) But O'Neal should have been in the Hall of Fame the first year that was an option. He's one of the best players I ever saw.

He was unstoppable his rookie year.

Spanos was a dick because Leslie had the "audacity" to ask for a meeting with him before signing his contract. I think the goat thought Leslie was being too outrageous. Leslie was super smart and didn't tolerate bullshit - he just wanted a chance to get to know his employer. I think he got a good idea.

After his knee surgery he smartly declined having that butcher Gary Lossee operate on his knee. Probably saved his career. The Chargers were livid he refused to use their team doctor but Leslie proceeded undeterred.

He too is one of my favorite Chargers.