San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (17) stands on the sideline against the San Francisco 49ers during the second half of an NFL preseason football game in Santa Clara, Calif., Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015.Ben Margot/The Associated Press
And so it begins, what could be the Chargers' final season in San Diego.
Philip Rivers will be throwing passes to Keenan Allen and Stevie Johnson, and Melvin Gordon will be looking for holes behind the "Mayflower Line" – big enough to drive a moving van though – when the Chargers host the Detroit Lions in a season opener Sunday at aging Qualcomm Stadium, the epicentre for angst among local football fans.
For a while, anyway, Rivers, Manti Te'o and Danny Woodhead will take the spotlight away from Dean Spanos, Mark Fabiani and Kevin Faulconer and the rest of the toxic stew that has swamped the city in the push for a new stadium.
Spanos, the team chairman and son of owner Alex Spanos, has his heart and wallet set on bolting for a shared stadium with the hated Oakland Raiders on the site of a former toxic waste dump in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson. Spanos and his point man, Fabiani – a former deputy mayor of L.A. – are reviled by many fans for walking away from negotiations with the city for a new stadium while partnering with the AFC West archrival Raiders and insulting Faulconer, the mayor.
Football will provide a respite, although fans will be wondering if this is a countdown to the day when the Chargers load the moving vans and the disco ditty "San Diego Super Chargers" falls silent. The Chargers, who began play in in Los Angeles in 1960 and moved to San Diego a year later, will wear all-white uniforms and fans are being encouraged to wear white, as well. It could be construed as a possible lame-duck team waving the white flag to the city it's called home for 55 seasons.