LA to Chargers: ‘We. Don't. Want. You.'

The Chargers may be leaving us but if you believe what you read, Los Angeles doesn't appear too willing to welcome the team with open arms.

Multiple media reports from ESPN to NFL.com reported Thursday that Chargers owner Dean Spanos told the NFL commission and several owners that he'll be moving the team to LA. That was before confirmation came in the form of a letter from Spanos.

This morning, one the home page of LATimes.com, there's a clear message: Thanks, but no thanks.

"Chargers shouldn’t look for a welcome wagon in L.A.," Bill Plaschke said in his column, adding that he has yet to meet a Chargers fan in Los Angeles. 

He goes on to write that the Spanos family — worth billions — "could have made it work there if they weren’t insistent on using public money that the people of San Diego smartly refused to give them."

A team employee told The Associated Press that the Chargers called a staff meeting Thursday.

NBC 7 has crews at Chargers Park and will provide full coverage throughout the day Thursday. Download the free NBC 7 mobile app for updates.

The deadline for the Chargers to exercise their relocation option was extended two days to Jan. 17 by the NFL. That decision was made because the 15th falls on a Sunday and Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday.

The league's stadium and finance committees met for about 3 1/2 hours Wednesday to discuss relocation of the Chargers and Raiders. If the Chargers actually decided to stay put, the Raiders could have invaded the L.A. market unless owner Mark Davis were to ship the team to Las Vegas, as he has previously indicated.

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