For the newly-moved Los Angeles Chargers, the history of their franchise has seen some highs and some lows over the years. Currently having transitioned from San Diego to LA, the new-look Chargers are rolling into the 2020 NFL season (whenever that starts up) with new uniforms and a whole new team identity.
Needing to replace franchise quarterback cornerstone Phillip Rivers, who left for the Indianapolis Colts this offseason, the team invested in Oregon Ducks signal-caller Justin Herbert in the first round. They are hoping that a little seasoning and a little bit of mentoring and time spent behind veteran QB Tyrod Taylor can be the right recipe to add another strong QB to the lineage that has seen the likes of Doug Flutie and Drew Brees make up for the utter disaster that was Ryan Leaf in years past.
While a ton of their franchise superstars, like Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Junior Seau among others, have joined the team through the draft, they have also been able to hit on solid free agent signings as well over the years. It has helped boost the team’s overall talent while also showing that the front office has a good eye for talent that was not homegrown.
With that being said, here are five of the most note-worthy free-agent additions in the history of the Los Angeles Chargers.
Casey Hayward, CB
Year Signed – 2016
The only player on this list to have joined the Chargers since 2010, Hayward defected from the Green Bay Packers and signed with the Chargers in March of 2016 to a three-year deal. He has since become one of the outside starting cornerbacks along with incumbent CB Brandon Flowers.
For Hayward, his career with the Chargers has spanned three seasons, and he just re-upped with the team for three more after agreeing to a three-year, $36 million contract extension in March of 2018. He has become an absolute stalwart in the feared Chargers secondary that features rising star Derwin James. Hayward’s career with the Chargers has taken off and represents one of the better, more recent free-agency additions this team has made.
Gary Garrison, WR
Year Signed – 1966
One of the two players on this list that were signed all the way back in the 1960s, wide receiver Gary Garrison decided that he wanted to play in the AFL and signed with the Chargers, instead of joining up with the NFL-based Philadelphia Eagles.
All his move to the AFL did was put him up in the annals of some of the best pass-catchers in Chargers history, as his seventh-most receptions (404), fourth-most yards (7,533), and third-most touchdowns (58), and he produced five 20-plus yards-per-catch seasons (including 22.9 in 1970, second-most in franchise history), which all combine to have him ranked as one of the greats for the Chargers.
He spent 11 seasons with the Chargers, playing in 131 games, he was a 1968 AFL All-Star Selection, was voted into three Pro Bowls, and went into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1985 alongside his long-time coach, Sid Gillman.
Donnie Edwards, LB
Year Signed – 2002
Heading back to more recent times, linebacker Donnie Edwards joined his former coach in Kansas City, Marty Schottenheimer. And while he only earned one berth into the Pro Bowl, his five years spent with the Chargers were quite memorable.
Across Edwards’ 13-year career, he amassed 100+ tackles in all but two seasons, which were his rookie and swan song seasons in his career. While with the Chargers, Edwards put up 129, 162, 152, 154, and 143 tackles, respectively, leading the league with 152 in 2004.
For Edwards, his NFL career did not earn a ton of publicity. But Edwards seemed to thrive on not being a noteworthy player. He performed extremely well while in the shadows of his fellow teammates and NFL players, making him a pro’s pro through and through.
Edwards played the first six years with the Chiefs, then the next five with the Chargers, and then went back to Kansas City for the final two years of his career before hanging it up after the 2008 season.
Ron Mix, OT
Year Signed – 1960
A household name when asking NFL historians, offensive lineman Ron Mix was drafted in 1960 by the NFL’s Baltimore Colts. But he wanted to play in the AFL at the time, so he signed a lucrative deal with the Chargers and played his entire career with the Bolts.
Amazingly enough, Mix was only guilty of two holding penalties for the entirety of his 10-year career with the Chargers, and also earned All-AFL honors a whopping nine times. It showed that he truly did choose the right team to sign with when making that final leap into professional football.
While only winning one AFL Championship (1963) after appearing in five of the first six AFL Championship contests, the Bolts and Mix were a great combination. It resulted in Mix being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and was a unanimous pick for the all-time AFL Team in 1970.
As underappreciated as offensive linemen are in the game of football, Mix was a strategic player, showcasing his sheer strength and talent on any given play. He made sure that, while staying within the scope of the rules (or just not getting caught), that he gave the opposing defensive lineman everything that he had, every play.
Antonio Gates, TE
Year Signed – 2003
The ultimate Cinderella story in the sport of football, undrafted free agent and former Kent State basketball player Antonio Gates signed with the Chargers in 2003 after the draft – after that, as they say, the rest is history.
When Gates retired in 2018, he held the records for most career receptions (955), most career targets (1,459), most career receiving yards (11,841), and the most receiving touchdowns (116) in Chargers history. All of those numbers still stand to this day as being the best the franchise has ever seen. And Gates’ longevity with the team should exist, in some fashion, forever, as many of his records are near impossible for any players to achieve from here on out.
Having earned consecutive Pro Bowl appearances from 2004 to 2011, Gates is still the NFL leader in career TD catches for tight ends. And his 236 career games in a Bolts uniform ranks second to long-time long snapper David Binn in regards to franchise service time.
As one of the best players to play the game of football, both on and off of the field, Gates embodies what it means when history does not do its justice in dictating what people are destined to do. After being a collegiate basketball player at Kent State, Gates was a football player at heart and his physicality and abilities on the gridiron came out each and every week when he put on that thunderbolt.
Gates will go down as one of the best tight ends and offensive players to ever play the game. And with someone that also has the character that he has, there was not a better choice to hold that honor than him.
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