2009 marks the 50th season of Chargers football, a major league franchise with a brand of football that has grabbed the heart of a community over generations.
It's that tradition of acrobatic athletes and edge-of-your-seat excitement that the San Diego Chargers will revive and honor throughout their 50th season in 2009, and Charger fans will be involved every step of the way.
"The Chargers are more than a football team to the people of San Diego," said team President Dean Spanos. "Generations have grown up with this team. The Chargers are an institution; a lifestyle. Nothing else has shown it can unite this community and create great memories the way sports teams like the Chargers have done."
The team's 50th Anniversary Celebration will focus on the fans' three main passions: the greatest moments in Chargers history, the countless memories those moments have created, and the men that made them happen.
The team developed a list of the 50 greatest moments from which the Chargers Hall of Fame members along with a handful of team historians will reduce the list to the top 20 Greatest Moments. Fan voting will begin August 1 to determine the greatest single moment in team history. Voting will take place at all Brigantine Family of Restaurants locations and online at www.Chargers.com.
Each home game will feature video salutes to these memorable moments culminating with an announcement of the single greatest moment at the Chargers-Redskins game on Jan. 3.
The team will also salute the fans and their favorite Chargers memories in 2009. The fans will have an opportunity to relive and share those personal memories and mementos with other Chargers fans through a special program on www.Chargers.com. The most unique, colorful and poignant memories will be shared on the Chargers' giant Jumbotron screen at the team's home games.
The fans also will have a chance to select the 50 All-Time Greatest Chargers from a list of 100 names. In the program presented by Pepsi, the fans' ballot will count 50% of the poll while a select group that includes the members of the Chargers Hall of Fame will count the other 50% of the vote. Fans will cast their votes at www.Chargers.com beginning August 1.
The National Football League also is joining in the 50th Anniversary Celebration. In addition to the Chargers' 50th Anniversary Weekend, the NFL has designated three Chargers games as "Legacy Games" to honor the 50th anniversary of the American Football League. Those games include San Diego's season opener in Oakland on Monday night, Sept. 14; the Chargers-Broncos game in San Diego on Monday, Oct. 19, and the game in Kansas City on Sunday, Oct. 25.
For those games, the Chargers and their original AFL opponent will wear their chosen Throwback uniform from the '60s. The Chargers' Throwback uniform is identical to the uniform worn by the 1963 AFL Championship team. The games will be played with a special set of commemorative game balls and the end zones and field markings will look as they did in the early days of the upstart AFL.
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