LOS ANGELES _ At the time, they were no more than a brief, insignificant blip on the city's radar. Their short-lived residence through the fall and winter of 1960 remains no more than a forgotten footnote in the city's rich sports history, decades later. But for one anonymous season, 57 years ago, the Chargers called Los Angeles home. And even then, the city didn't want them.
The Los Angeles Chargers were intended to be the West Coast flagship of the eight-team American Football League. Dallas oilman and AFL founder Lamar Hunt knew the L.A. market was essential to the nascent league's survival. So on the recommendation of a friend, he met with Barron Hilton, the 32-year-old son of hotel magnate Conrad Hilton. It took less than an hour for Hilton to agree to take the team for a $25,000 fee.
Hilton was convinced two professional football teams could succeed in Los Angeles. His football knowledge was limited, but his enthusiasm for the team was evident from the start. In October 1959, he sponsored a name-the-team contest, with a trip to Acapulco as the prize. He hired Sid Gillman _ who had recently been fired by the Rams _ as coach and stole away a handful of veterans from the NFL.
That March, Hilton threw a party at his beachfront Santa Monica estate to debut the team's newly minted uniforms. He invited the team's two most handsome players, Ron Mix and Jack Kemp, and had them model the new powder-blue duds and lightning bolt helmets along Ocean Front Walk.
Hilton understood the first few years of a new league would be a struggle. In Los Angeles, unlike other AFL cities, the Chargers would compete for fans with the NFL's Rams, who, despite a down 1959 season, still led the league in attendance. Nevertheless, Hilton was so sure of the Chargers' potential he agreed to play in the 103,000-seat Coliseum as the stadium's fifth tenant, behind the Rams, USC, UCLA, and the Dodgers.
Then, as quickly as they arrived, the Chargers were gone. After just one season, Hilton moved the team to San Diego. Los Angeles had responded to the Chargers' existence with a collective shrug.
"We were kind of just a bump on a log," said Don Rogers, a center on the 1960 team.
Two weeks ago, when the team announced its return after nearly six decades in San Diego, the decision landed with an apathetic thud in Los Angeles. Ownership remains steadfast in its belief the Chargers will build a fanbase "one person at a time" if necessary. But as the offseason begins, the team's relevance in L.A. is nearly as uncertain as it was decades ago, prior to its one season in the Southland.
