Chargers open Training Camp

07-25-2005

By Tom Shanahan, San Diego Hall of Champions

Listen to Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson when he discusses the AFC West title in 2004 and the upcoming 2005 season.

Rarely does he simply say “Chargers.”

Take, for example, Mini Camp weekend in May when he talked about the 3,000 fans that turned out for the first morning workout at Chargers Park. The practices were a preview for the return of Training Camp to Chargers Park, with the first workouts open to the public on Friday, July 29.

“It makes you enjoy coming out here and playing for the San Diego Chargers,” Tomlinson said. “The city is growing into loving the San Diego Chargers. I’m excited about our future.”

Tomlinson’s San Diego Chargers are a young team that came together in 2004 to win the AFC West behind the quiet leadership of Tomlinson and the vocal leadership of quarterback Drew Brees and others. The team had a consistently high percentage of players turn out on their own for workouts in the early offseason months as well as in the formal Offseason Coaching Sessions in May and June.

“We were 12-4 last year and lost in the first round of the playoffs,” Brees said. “That’s not the type of team we want to be. We want to be the type of team that goes all the way. We built the foundation last year and now we want to continue to build on it.”

The Chargers, 4-12 in 2003, tied a franchise record with 12 wins last year. Three players, Brees, Tomlinson and tight end Antonio Gates, went to the Pro Bowl last year and are just now entering their prime professional years. Brees, the NFL Comeback Player of the Year, is entering his fifth NFL season, Tomlinson his fifth and Gates his third.

This will be the fourth season for Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer in San Diego after being named the NFL Coach of the Year last season. And this will be the third full season for General Manager A.J. Smith after he was named the NFL Executive of the Year last year.

The foresight and leadership of Chargers President Dean Spanos allowed the Chargers to weather the stormy 4-12 season in 2003 without hitting the panic button. Spanos kept the organization on course, maintaining faith in the long-term plan that he, Smith and Schottenheimer had developed, and it materialized into a division championship in 2004.

The Chargers return 22 starters and signed three key veterans to contract extensions in the offseason – nose tackle Jamal Williams, outside linebacker Steve Foley and wide receiver Keenan McCardell.

The Chargers’ 2005 draft included two first-round picks with Maryland defensive end/ linebacker Shawne Merriman and Northwestern defensive lineman Luis Castillo. Spanos, Smith and company, doing their best riverboat gambler impressions, gained the extra first-round pick with a 2004 Draft Day trade that netted quarterback Philip Rivers and the New York Giants’ 2005 first-round pick, among others.

The Chargers’ run to the AFC West title, which included an eight-game winning streak, included sellouts in four of the team’s final five games. NFL and television executives have noticed the rise of the Chargers, scheduling three prime-time games in 2005, including a Monday Night Football game on Oct. 25 against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Qualcomm Stadium.

The Chargers envision a day when their sellouts are played at a new stadium, a state-of-the-art facility that will attract future Super Bowls to San Diego. The Chargers are doing their part to make that a reality, proposing to build the stadium without using any general fund dollars.

The Chargers have a young, up-and-coming team and a leadership group that is one of San Diego’s strongest supporters.

“We have a lot of talent on this team and a lot of young guys,” said Quentin Jammer, a fifth-year cornerback. “Guys on the team want to stay together in San Diego.”

Contact Tom Shanahan at 619-699-2334 or toms@sdhoc.com.