The Chargers' relocation to Los Angeles was actually a return trip to the "City of Angels" as they spent their very first season of existence in LA in the inaugural year of the American Football League, which began play in 1960.
The Chargers played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with Sid Gillman as head coach and Jack Kemp at quarterback for that first season where despite an winning record were unable to draw fans as no more than 10,000 spectators would show up to see the upstart Chargers play in a 100,000 seat stadium.
This led owner Barron Hilton to seek relocation even while the Chargers were closing on the AFL Western Division championship and a spot in the first AFL Championship Game as they faced the Denver Broncos in the next-to-last week of the season.
Denver had started out the season strong, winning four of their first six games, before going on a six-game winless streak with a 38-38 tie being the only non-loss as the 4-7-1 Broncos traveled to LA to face off with the Chargers, who entered the game with a 8-4 record and needing just one more win to clinch the AFL West Division.
The Broncos got the ball to start the game and in two plays drove from their 22-yard-line to the Chargers' 42-yard-line as quarterback Frank Tripucka completed a 17-yard pass to Lionel Taylor which was followed by a 21-yard run by Dave Rolle.
Denver would come up one yard short of making another 1st down so they called on running back Gene Mingo to kick a 41-yard field goal, which he made to give the Broncos a early 3-0 lead.
After holding the Chargers to a three-and-out, the Broncos got the ball back at the 50-yard-line where on 2nd & 9, Tripucka found Taylor for a 49-yard touchdown to push the Denver lead to 10-0 with 9:46 to go in the first quarter.
However, the Chargers would strike back quickly as it took them two plays to get into the end zone as Kemp hit Don Norton for a 29-yard pass to the Broncos' 39-yard-line, then found Howie Ferguson for a 39-yard touchdown to bring cut the Denver lead to 10-7, just 28 seconds after Taylor's touchdown.
The Broncos got the ball back at their 20-yard-line and make one 1st down until Rolle fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Chargers defensive back Jimmy Sears at the Denver 32-yard-line.
From there, Kemp scrambled for 25 yards to set up 1st & goal at the seven-yard-line where running back Paul Lowe would run for four yards on 1st down, then for three yards and the touchdown on 2nd down to give the Chargers a 14-10 lead with 6:05 left in the first quarter.
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| Chargers running back Paul Lowe carried the ball 19 times for 106 yards and scored one touchdown. |
After both teams punted on their next possessions, the Broncos took over at their two-yard-line as they put together a 12-play, 98-yard drive which extended into the second quarter and was capped off with an one-yard touchdown run by Ringo to give the lead back to Denver at 17-14 with 12:36 left in the second quarter.
The Broncos were given a great chance to extend their lead when defensive lineman Don King intercepted a Kemp pass to set the Denver offense up at the Chargers' 11-yard-line.
However, the Chargers defense would stiffen and allow a 1st down, forcing the Broncos to settle for a 12-yard field goal by Mingo(the goalposts were at the goal line in 1960) which did increase Denver's lead to 20-14, but gave some relief to LA as they dodged the Broncos pushing the lead back to double digits.
The Chargers would get the ball back at their 26-yard-line on the ensuing possession and went to Lowe to drive them into Broncos territory as he carried the ball on the first two plays of the drive for 30 yards to start the drive, then for 15 more to give the Chargers a 1st down at the Broncos' 29-yard-line.
Then after Kemp scrambled for 16 yards on 2nd & 6 to give LA a 1st & goal at the nine-yard-line, Lowe would get the ball again, only to be dropped to for a three-yard-loss.
But LA would quickly recover as Kemp completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Royce Womble to give the Chargers a 21-20 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Broncos seemed to poise to be ready to retake the lead as Mingo returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Denver 47-yard-line, only to have Don Allen fumble the ball at the end of a five-yard run, which was recovered by Chargers safety Bob Zeman, giving LA the ball back at their 48-yard-line.
From there, Kemp would complete three of four passes for 31 yards to set up a 23-yard field goal by Ben Agajanian to extend the LA lead to 24-20 with 2:46 left in the first half.
The Broncos would begin their next possession at their 33-yard-line where it took them only one play to drive into Chargers territory as Tripucka connected with Taylor for a 39-yard-pass to give Denver a 1st down at the LA 28-yard-line, which was followed by a pass interference penalty on LA to put the Broncos at the 12-yard-line.
But like they did earlier in the second quarter, the Chargers defense would stiffen and not allow a 1st down, forcing the Broncos to settle for a chip shot field goal which Mingo made from 13 yards out to cut the LA lead to 24-23 with 1:45 left before halftime.
The Chargers would hold the ball for the rest of the half not mounting a scoring threat as they went into the locker room with a 24-23 lead as LA would get the ball to start the second half.
Starting from their 15-yard-line, the Chargers drove to the Broncos' 46-yard-line until Kemp was picked off by Denver defensive back Bob McNamara on a pass intended for Ferguson.
McNamara's 19-yard return set up the Broncos at the Chargers' 46-yard-line but the Denver offense could only pick up five more yards, forcing them to settle for a 49-yard field goal which would be attempted by Tripucka, instead of Mingo.
Tripucka's kick was short and caught by Dick Harris at the three-yard-line, who returned it 22 yards to the Chargers' 25-yard-line.
However, LA would go three-and-out, punting the ball back to the Broncos, who took over at the Chargers' 45-yard-line where it took them four plays to get into the end zone as Tripucka completed three of four passes, the last one being a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jim Greer to put Denver back on top, 30-24 with just 5:29 left in the third quarter.
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| Frank Tripucka(18) completed nine passes for 171 yards and a touchdown to Lionel Taylor(87). |
The Chargers would respond with an eight-play, 43-yard drive that was capped off with a 40-yard field goal by Agajanian which cut the Broncos' lead in half to 30-27 with just 1:14 to go in the third quarter.
The Broncos would take over at their 20-yard-line and were in danger of going three-and-out as they faced a 3rd & 6 from their 24-yard-line until Mingo ran for 11 yards and a 1st down, which was followed by a nine-yard pass from Tripucka to Taylor, then a 30-yard pass to Ken Carpenter for another Denver 1st down at the Chargers' 24-yard-line.
But after Rolle ran for five yards on 1st down, Tripucka threw two straight incomplete passes, forcing the Broncos to settle for their 4th field goal of the game, a 28-yarder by Mingo which increased the Denver lead to 33-27.
After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the Chargers would get the ball at the Broncos' 35-yard-line after George Herring's punt went only 20 yards.
From there, the Chargers methodically drove down the field as Kemp only threw two passes on an nine-play drive which culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by Kemp that with Agajanian's extra point gave LA a 34-33 lead with 6:53 to go in the game.
The Broncos got the ball back at their 17-yard-line and appeared on their way to drive for the go-ahead score as Mingo and Rolle combined for 15 yards on the first two plays of the drive.
But on 2nd & 10 from the Denver 32-yard-line, Tripucka was intercepted by Chargers defensive end Maury Schleicher on a screen pass intended for Jim Greer and returned it five yards to the Broncos' 20-yard-line.
Three plays later, the Chargers were back in the end zone as Kemp hit Don Norton on a 15-yard touchdown pass to extend the LA lead to 41-33 with 5:02 to go.
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| Chargers quarterback Jack Kemp completed accounted for 252 yards of offense(205 passing, 47 rushing) and four touchdowns(three passing, one rushing). |
Unlike the NFL, the AFL had the two-point conversion so the Broncos could get a touchdown and go for two in hopes of sending the game into overtime instead of needing two scores to win the game.
But after three plays netted only one yard, the Broncos decided to punt the ball away, hoping their defense would force a stop to give their offense the ball back with a chance to tie the game.
However on 2nd & 5 from the Chargers' 49-yard-line, Lowe would run for 14 yards to pick up a critical 1st down, allowing for the Chargers to run more time off the clock.
Three more plays gained only five yards, setting up a 4th & 5 at the Denver 32-yard-line.
But with only a handful of seconds to go, the Chargers decided to go for the 1st down in hopes of sealing the victory.
However, Fred Ford would only pick up one yard, forcing a turnover on downs and giving the Broncos one last chance to come up with a miracle touchdown.
But Tripucka's desperation pass was picked off by LA linebacker Ron Botchan to seal the 41-33 win and the AFL Western Division title for the Chargers.
While the Broncos would lose thier final game of the season, a 48-10 rout to the Oakland Raiders, the Chargers would play in the inaugural AFL Championship Game against the Houston Oilers, which the Chargers lost 24-16.
A few weeks after the AFL Title Game, the Chargers announced they would move to San Diego and play at Balboa Stadium, a 23, 000 seat stadium which was raised to 34, 000 to accommodate the Chargers.
San Diego would embrace the Chargers as they would the AFL West Division in four of the next five years and the AFL Championship in 1963.
The Chargers would remain in San Diego until 2017 when they moved back to Los Angeles, where they would play at the 30,000 seat StubHub Center in Carson before moving into the new Los Angeles Stadium in 2020.
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