Fouts Shares Some Old Bolts Memories

[Boltjolt]

It was fun to see am little of that OL wasn't it?

Yes, fun to see alot of things, like James Brooks who we should of kept along With Fred Dean. Losing Dean was huge.

[wu-dai clan]

Yes, fun to see alot of things, like James Brooks who we should of kept along With Fred Dean. Losing Dean was huge.

Hi Boltjolt. You are so correct in all of this.

Brooks and Dean were very high impact players.

What was Don Coryell thinking, about James Brooks ? He must have been blinded by his unabashed love for Muncie. It was perfect with Muncie + Brooks. Why could Coryell, the great offensive mind, not have fully utilized this ?

What was Klein thinking about Dean ? Dean was our championship level PRS. Fred Dean was like a Von Miller or Lawrence Taylor. Clueless Gene Klein must have lost perspect playing the horses.

[chargeroo]

Coryell was looking for a bull dozer type of back when he traded Brooks away. Unfortunately he traded for a big back that was over the hill. Brooks was better suited to that offense even if Jonson was still in his prime.

As for Klein, he was getting rid of expenses when he jettisoned those great player - JJ, Dean, Louie, Big Hands - all sent packing because they wanted a salary increase. That all shows us that no matter who the GM or HC is, the owner holds the trump card and can screw up a team real fast. I have no doubt the '79 & '80 teams could have both won the SB if the owner had been more interested in fielding a winning team. Klein only wanted a good enough team to sell season tickets, SB be damned.

[wu-dai clan]

Coryell was looking for a bull dozer type of back when he traded Brooks away. Unfortunately he traded for a big back that was over the hill. Brooks was better suited to that offense even if Jonson was still in his prime.

As for Klein, he was getting rid of expenses when he jettisoned those great player - JJ, Dean, Louie, Big Hands - all sent packing because they wanted a salary increase. That all shows us that no matter who the GM or HC is, the owner holds the trump card and can screw up a team real fast. I have no doubt the '79 & '80 teams could have both won the SB if the owner had been more interested in fielding a winning team. Klein only wanted a good enough team to sell season tickets, SB be damned.

Wow. What an indictment of Gene Klein.

[Bolt-O]

Klein preferred athletes that only cared about getting fed, watered and groomed.

[Charged4Life]

Klein preferred athletes that only cared about getting fed, watered and groomed.

ha...you're right!

[Heatmiser]

Coryell loved Brooks. As I recalled it, Brooks wanted to get paid and the Klein administration had a hard time with that in general (see JJ, who would have been my all time favorite Charger had he continued and Dean). Johnson was a fat, over the hill, one dimensional blob at that point in his career and a terrible fit for the Coryell offense. Chargers over the years have made some real stupid trades, those above and Jim Lachey were the prime examples.

That video was great. Thanks for posting it. Brought back a lot of great memories.

PS Fouts was a class A jerk when he played. Surpassed only by Winslow. Fouts has actually mellowed as he got older but dont want younger Charger fans who only know him from the broadcast booth to not know what a great, transcendent player he was or what an egotistical player he could be. Refused to play his union dues so fans took up a collection for him so he wouldnt be suspended by the NFL!

TG

[foreigner]

I remember that sauna bowl in miami and the GREATEST individual performance for an individual. watching that scene again made me emotional as I remember as a kid I almost cried watching that game.
And then the 2006 team...

Honestly... looking back... I think it was a good chance... but the team wasnt very good... honestly.... otherwise we would've been the champs.

[Lightnin']

I'm with the consensus that both the '79 & '80 teams were better than '81.

I honestly believe though, the '81 Chargers could've played the '49ers much
better than the Bengals in the SB.

But-it was not to be.

A year earlier, had we not started so slowly-this was such a winnable game against
Oakland. Dropped balls by Jefferson, myriad 3/outs in the first half and easy scores
by Oakland made a comeback in the 2nd half so difficult.

In '79, we had taken the NFL by storm but Vernon Perry had the game of his career
and we simply couldn't get out of our own way.

Two of my 5 "Games from Hell" were played in consecutive playoffs; the others being
the 1961 loss to Houston (sound familiar); the '64 loss to Jack Kemp (our former QB)
and Buffalo and of course-losing to New England in '06.

[wu-dai clan]

I'm with the consensus that both the '79 & '80 teams were better than '81.

I honestly believe though, the '81 Chargers could've played the '49ers much
better than the Bengals in the SB.

But-it was not to be.

A year earlier, had we not started so slowly-this was such a winnable game against
Oakland. Dropped balls by Jefferson, myriad 3/outs in the first half and easy scores
by Oakland made a comeback in the 2nd half so difficult.

In '79, we had taken the NFL by storm but Vernon Perry had the game of his career
and we simply couldn't get out of our own way.

Two of my 5 "Games from Hell" were played in consecutive playoffs; the others being
the 1961 loss to Houston (sound familiar); the '64 loss to Jack Kemp (our former QB)
and Buffalo and of course-losing to New England in '06.

Great histoire, Lightnin' !

My very first game was the second loss to Kemp/BUF in the AFLCG, December 26,1965. For me, that nightmarish initiation really set the tone for all the Charger Classics to follow.

IMHO, both the Bengals and the Chargers were better than the 49ers in 1981. The Bengals would have won but for the hit by Dan Bunz on Charles Alexander at the goal line in the third quarter.

Every Charger fail, all of them, are my "Games from Hell" following December 26, 1965. It's been a long, strange trip.

[chargeroo]

I'm with the consensus that both the '79 & '80 teams were better than '81.

I honestly believe though, the '81 Chargers could've played the '49ers much
better than the Bengals in the SB.

But-it was not to be.

A year earlier, had we not started so slowly-this was such a winnable game against
Oakland. Dropped balls by Jefferson, myriad 3/outs in the first half and easy scores
by Oakland made a comeback in the 2nd half so difficult.

In '79, we had taken the NFL by storm but Vernon Perry had the game of his career
and we simply couldn't get out of our own way.

Two of my 5 "Games from Hell" were played in consecutive playoffs; the others being
the 1961 loss to Houston (sound familiar); the '64 loss to Jack Kemp (our former QB)
and Buffalo and of course-losing to New England in '06.

Did you happen to attend the first game in Balboa stadium?

[Craig440]

Loved the video. My season tickets those years were three rows up from where the Chargers came out of the tunnel. Great seats and no doubt the heart beat of the crowd was special.