A Rare Conversation With John Spanos

Chargers President of Football Operations talks to San Diego media about the last NFL year

NBC 7’s Derek Togerson addresses an interview with the Chargers front office in this commentary

Before I start let’s clear something up.

A few days before the Super Bowl in Minneapolis, John and A.G. Spanos were making the rounds at Radio Row talking to national radio shows and NFL Network. Reports surfaced that they were starting to do interviews with San Diego-based media for the first time since the move to Los Angeles, but only on the condition that the past was not talked about.

I cannot speak about what happened with other media outlets (I do 100% believe this family would have tried something like that and have no doubt the statements of my colleagues are true) but I talked with John Spanos (A.G. refused to go on camera) without any conditions being discussed.

What I learned from the conversation is this:

After a year flopping around in L.A. this family has not learned a thing. I only asked Spanos a few questions so let’s go down the list, look at what they said, and how the answer conflicts with reality using facts and common sense.

When the team left they left their breakup note on their website and never addressed the fan base that supported it for five and a half decades. Now, all of a sudden, they’re trying to establish a presence in San Diego again. Are they changing their tune and thinking about marketing in America’s Finest City again?

“All Charger fans are important,” said John Spanos, Chargers President of Football Operations. “It doesn’t matter where you live. So I’m sure that’s something our marketing department is going to look at and always continue to see what’s the best thing we can do for the team, for our fans, going forward.”

Keep in mind this is the marketing department that thought giving away hot dogs and tattoos was the pinnacle of public relations so odds are that’s a no. The Rams filled the role of trying to grab the San Diego football fan in 2017, putting ads in most supermarkets in San Diego County.

A sudden return of Chargers ads or marketing gimmicks would likely, now, be met with another angry backlash from people wondering where it was a year ago. Which leads us to … do they think they can win back any of the fans they lost in San Diego?

“Well look, again, we know what we can control is doing everything we can to put a quality product on the field and that’s certainly my focus right now. We’ve got the Draft coming up, we’ve got free agency.”

This is your classic non-answer, which typically means the answer is no.

Do they have any regrets about the way things went down with the move? The letter, the logo(s), not addressing anyone in S.D.? Would they do anything differently?

“I don’t think there’s a handbook for this type of thing and to play the hypothetical game is a dangerous game to play. I know that relocating a team is very unpopular and it’s going to trigger an intense, raw emotion no matter how you do it. So again we’re looking forward.”

That line, the “looking forward” bit, has been uttered by this franchise since the day they picked up and left. However you cannot move forward until you reconcile your past. For the entire season the Chargers heard from San Diegans voicing their displeasure with the move. Shoot, it was flying above their soccer pitch every Sunday. The Spanos family is notorious for its thin skin but John says it’s all good.

“For the fans that are throwing hate and directing hate at us I send nothing back but love. Love and gratitude. I have nothing but appreciation for every Charger fan. Every current and former Charger fan, it doesn’t matter to me.”

Yes, one of the people who left is saying HE has no hard feelings for the reaction. By the way his message of love would not seem to be accurate given the several Chargers fans he blocked on social media.

Is he concerned with the attendance at StubHub Center given the overwhelming amount of opposing fans that showed up?

“I thought the atmosphere at StubHub was awesome this year,” said Spanos. “There were two games where we had a lot of opposing fans but that’s nothing new for the NFL as a whole. I think it’s nothing new for us. History has shown that when we are putting a good product on the field and we’re giving our fans something to cheer about they’re going to come, they’re going to cheer loud, they’re going to show up, and we saw that this year. So I’m excited about the future.”

Let’s go step by step here. I was at every StubHub game but one (vs. the Chiefs when I was in Washington, D.C. for Sunday Night Football) and I honestly cannot name the two games he’s talking about. Definitely the Raiders game. Other than that, probably the Eagles. Or maybe the Chiefs. Or perhaps the Redskins.

Do the fans show up when they put a good product on the field? When the Bolts were one of the hottest teams in the NFL, Week 14 against Washington, the crowd at StubHub Center was not substantially more lopsided in their favor. Every game, with maybe the exception of the Browns (and Cleveland faithful showed surprisingly well), was about 50-50 if not dramatically in favor of the opposing fans.

When they first moved to StubHub Center the football capacity was 30,000. They were advised to cap that at 27,000 so they tarped several of the sections that were specifically added for football. Then after they could not even draw that many fans they claimed 25,380-ish was a full house. Going back to our equation of 50-50 for home vs. opposing fans that means the Chargers never had more than 12,500 people rooting for them in their own building.

Keep in mind the San Diego Gulls are drawing only about 3,000 per game less than that at the decrepit old Valley View Casino Center.

So the assertion that the Chargers played to a great atmosphere in front of their home crowd would also seem to be erroneous.

Those are the quotes and the facts as I know them. I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions about it all.

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