Hadl, Lowe, Lincoln, Bambi, and Ladd

(Editor's note: They will always be the San Diego Chargers to me. Just like the Raiders belong in Oakland.)

By Frank Mariani

The American Football League was my gateway to the world of professional football. I was eleven years old when the Buffalo Bills won their first of two back-to-back AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965.

The 1964 title game between the Bills and the Chargers was played on December 26 in Buffalo’s War Memorial Stadium, lovingly remembered as “The Rockpile.” Home games were blacked out on TV then, so it took some ingenuity and favorable atmospheric conditions to catch a signal 100+ miles away from Erie, PA, that day.

My Uncle Frank, an accomplished ham radio operator, knew a thing or two about TV reception. Grandma was politely sent downstairs, vacating her second-story quarters for the men and boys who were on a mission. Uncle Frank secured a small black-and-white TV to the top of a stepladder, extended the rabbit-ear antenna, and, for a final touch, wrapped aluminum foil around the antenna ears to maximize signal gain.

And it worked!

The picture was grainy, but when paired with the legendary Van Miller calling the play-by-play over the radio, we got what we came for: a 20-7 victory.

Next year’s road 23-0 victory over the favored Chargers was even sweeter. That game stands as the pinnacle of Buffalo Bills football. Hadl, Lowe, Lincoln, Bambi, and Ladd were just a few of the players on those great teams. To me, today’s Los Angeles Chargers will always be the boys from San Diego.