The Lore
The cause of the curse has been debated. One is thought to be the trade of Chargers wide receiver Lance Alworth to the Dallas Cowboys in 1970, which is similar to Boston's Curse of the Bambino in that the flip side of the curse was the Cowboys' success after the transaction. Dallas went from being a perennial loser in championship games over the previous five seasons (the Ice Bowl, Super Bowl V) to a team that won the Super Bowl during Alworth's first season there (and has won five Super Bowls overall), gaining the distinction of "America's Team." In contrast, the Chargers never made an appearance in the Super Bowl until the 1994 NFL season, where they were defeated by the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.
Another explanation for the curse would involve the 1963 AFL champion Chargers. Following the Chargers' 1963 championship, head coach Sid Gillman approached then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle with the idea of having the champions of the AFL and NFL play a single final game (the 1963 NFL champions were the Chicago Bears) but Gillman's idea would not bear fruit until the 1966 season, which today is known as the Super Bowl. In consequence, the Chargers to date have not won the Super Bowl and have only reached it once, in 1994. On the flip side, their AFC West divisional rivals (the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, Denver Broncos, and Kansas City Chiefs), once envious of the Chargers' early success, have each won at least one Super Bowl since then (ironically, longtime Raiders owner Al Davis served on the coaching staff of the Chargers from 1960–62). Furthermore, every time San Diego has hosted the Super Bowl, an AFC West rival has represented the AFC (the Broncos in Super Bowl XXII and XXXII – the Broncos winning the latter – and the Raiders in XXXVII).
Other explanations include the uniforms worn by San Diego teams, such as the Chargers' powder blue jerseys (despite being well acclaimed) and the Padres' mustard yellow jerseys, and Qualcomm Stadium (the home stadium of the Chargers and, until 2004, the Padres). While others claim the land where Qualcomm stadium is built, was cursed long before its construction by the local Native Americans (Kumeyaay), being the main watershed valley where Europeans made first contact in 1542.
Read more about this topic: San Diego Sports Curse
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