The 1997 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League (NFL), its 38th overall and was the first season under Kevin Gilbride. With veteran first-string quarterback Stan Humphries missing half the season, the Chargers struggled and failed to improve on their 8–8 record from 1996. Backup quarterback Craig Whelihan went winless in seven starts, with the result that the Chargers lost their final eight games after a 4–4 start and scored only one touchdown in their final three games. The team finished with a 4–12 record and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
San Diego struggled with Gilbride's new offensive system. Humphries posted a QB rating of 70.8, his worst as a Charger; none of the other three quarterbacks who saw action managed better than 60.6, and the number of sacks given up leapt from 33 to 51, with Whelihan taking 21 of them. Tony Martin was again the leading receiver, but fell short of 1,000 yards for the first time in three seasons. The running game improved slightly. Gary Brown gained 945 yards, but was inconsistent: his top two yardage totals were 181 and 169, but he only reached 60 yards in one other game. From San Diego's season tally of 27 touchdowns, only 17 were scored by the offense, a new club record low. Changes to the offensive line may have contributed to these struggles, with Eric Moten and Harry Swayne both having departed during the offseason.
On defense, linebacker Junior Seau led the team with 7.0 sacks. However, his six-season run as the top tackler was ended by Rodney Harrison, who had a superb all-round year at strong safety: 4.0 sacks, 132 tackles, touchdowns on an interception return, a fumble recovery and a kickoff return. New signing Eric Metcalf ran three punts back for touchdowns.
The team's stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, hosted Super Bowl XXXII at the end of the season.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1997 undrafted free agents of note Player Position CollegeMike MaslowskiLinebackerWisconsin–La Crosse
Personnel Staff
Roster
Preseason
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 August 2 San Francisco 49ers W 20–13 1–0 Qualcomm Stadium 2 August 9 Indianapolis Colts W 23–17 2–0 Qualcomm Stadium 3 August 16 at Tennessee Oilers W 21–7 3–0 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 4 August 22 at Minnesota Vikings L 22–28 3–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 31 at New England Patriots L 7–41 0–1 Foxboro Stadium 60,190 2 September 7 at New Orleans Saints W 20–6 1–1 Louisiana Superdome 65,760 3 September 14 Carolina Panthers L 7–26 1–2 Qualcomm Stadium 63,149 4 September 21 at Seattle Seahawks L 22–26 1–3 Kingdome 51,110 5 September 28 Baltimore Ravens W 21–17 2–3 Qualcomm Stadium 54,094 6 October 5 at Oakland Raiders W 25–10 3–3 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 43,648 7 Bye 8 at Kansas City Chiefs L 3–31 3–4 Arrowhead Stadium 77,196 9 October 26 Indianapolis Colts W 35–19 4–4 Qualcomm Stadium 63,177 10 November 2 at Cincinnati Bengals L 31–38 4–5 Cinergy Field 53,754 11 November 9 Seattle Seahawks L 31–37 4–6 Qualcomm Stadium 64,616 12 November 16 Oakland Raiders L 13–38 4–7 Qualcomm Stadium 65,714 13 November 23 at San Francisco 49ers L 10–17 4–8 3Com Park 61,195 14 November 30 Denver Broncos L 28–38 4–9 Qualcomm Stadium 54,245 15 December 7 Atlanta Falcons L 3–14 4–10 Qualcomm Stadium 46,317 16 December 14 Kansas City Chiefs L 7–29 4–11 Qualcomm Stadium 54,594 17 December 21 at Denver Broncos L 3–38 4–12 Mile High Stadium 69,632 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries Week 1: at New England Patriots
For the second consecutive season, the Chargers took a beating from New England. Four touchdown passes from Drew Bledsoe had the Patriots cruising at halftime, up 31-0. Rookie tight end Freddie Jones made a fine one-handed grab for a 44-yard touchdown, but that was the lone Charger highlight. When Stan Humphries dislocated his shoulder trying to chase down a fumble, Jim Everett came in and threw a pick six to complete the scoring.
Week 2: at New Orleans Saints
Six takeaways by the Charger defense helped backup QB Jim Everett beat the team who'd cut him during the offseason. In an error-filled game, San Diego went ahead when an errant pitch was missed by several players and chased back 30 yards into the Saints end zone, where Rodney Harrison recovered. Leading 13-6, Everett wasted an opportunity with a red zone interception, but found Freddie Jones with 2:10 to play for the clincher.
Week 3: vs. Carolina Panthers
Humphries returned to the starting line-up, and began well, hitting Tony Martin deep for 59 yards to set up a touchdown for Erric Pegram. However, the Panthers needed only five plays to level the scores, and took control from there. Humphries was sacked seven times, and accounted for three of four lost fumbles for San Diego on the day.
The seven sacks conceded were the worst for San Diego since a replacement players game during the 1987 season.
Week 4: at Seattle Seahawks
The Chargers paid for an inability to score on offense, three times settling for field goals after driving inside the Seattle ten. Rodney Harrison scored the lone San Diego touchdown, jumping the route on a Warren Moon pass and going 75 yards untouched for a 10-3 lead. San Diego should have doubled that lead, but officials incorrectly ruled an Eric Metcalf touchdown as an incomplete pass, and they had to settle for the second of John Carney's five field goals.
Daryll Williams picked off Humphries three times, the most crucial coming in the third quarter, with San Diego in position to extend a 16-13 lead. A Terrence Shaw interception later led to a field goal, but Moon found Joey Galloway for a 51-yard touchdown to put Seattle ahead. Another Moon turnover, this time a fumble recovered by Harrison, set up Carney's fifth field goal, edging the Chargers ahead 22-20 with 5:21 to play. However, Seattle then drove 80 yards for the winning touchdown with 1:22 on the clock, San Diego failing to make a first down on their final possession.
Week 5: vs. Baltimore Ravens
A trio of long touchdown passes brought the Chargers a much-needed win. Humphries connected Tony Martin for a 36-yard touchdown in the first quarter; after a Ravens field goal, Eric Metcalf's 62-yard reception had San Diego knocking on the door again, but Humphries threw an end zone interception. He soon made amends, finding Martin wide open behind the defense for a 72-yard score.
John Carney was out for the season with a knee injury; his replacement Greg Davis missed from 49 yards out midway through the second quarter, and the tide began to turn. Baltimore scored two field goals, a touchdown and a two-point conversion over their next three possessions, and led 17-14. The Chargers reached 1st and goal at the 6 in response, but Humphries again threw an interception. On their next possession, San Diego had a lucky break, the officials missing a fumble by Terrell Fletcher. On the very next play, the Humphries-to-Martin connection struck again from 38 yards out. 4th quarter interceptions by Mike Dumas and Dwayne Harper prevented a Ravens comeback.
Humphries finished on 17 of 26 for a career-high 358 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Martin caught all three touchdowns, his first of the season, and gained 155 yards on just 4 receptions.
Week 6: at Oakland Raiders
Gary Brown and Greg Davis propelled San Diego to their 6th win in the past 7 road games against the Raiders. Three Davis field goals had the Chargers up 9-0 approaching halftime. A 36-yard pass interference penalty on Terrence Shaw then set the Raiders up with first and goal at the 1, but Jeff George missed on three passes, and Oakland had to settle for a field goal. It was 12-3 early in the second half before Napoleon Kaufman took a short pass from George and broke away for a 70-yard touchdown.
The Chargers soon restored their nine-point advantage. Brown broke off runs of 17 and 32 yards on the next drive, and finished it off with a 1 yard TD run. Seau later ended a threat by sacking George, forcing a fumble that John Parrella recovered, setting up the fifth of Davis' six field goals.
Brown, who had been out of the NFL since the Oilers cut him in 1995, finished on 186 yards from a career-high 36 carries.
Week 8: at Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego were dominated in their first Thursday night game for 11 seasons. Kansas City eased to a 24-0 lead at halftime, and a 26-yard Greg Davis field goal was all that prevented a shutout. Stan Humphries was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the 1st quarter, and backup Jim Everett threw a pair of interceptions before third-stringer Craig Whelihan finished up the game; between them, the trio had only 14 completions in 43 attempts. The Chargers also gave up 19 penalties for 146 yards, both of which set club records.
Week 9: vs. Indianapolis Colts
The Chargers levelled their record at 4-4 with victory over the winless Colts. After four Davis field goals accounted for all the first half scoring, the game woke up in the 3rd quarter; Gary Brown broke off a 31-yard run to set up his own one-yard score, after a Colts reply, Stan Humphries threw the last touchdown pass of his career, a two-yarder to Frank Hartley. The Chargers were up 29-13 late on when Davis had his attempt at a sixth field blocked and run back for a touchdown; San Diego prevented a two-point conversion and Harrison then ran an onside kick attempt back 40 yards for a touchdown to complete the scoring.
Brown had 169 yards on 28 carries. It was the third time in the season San Diego scored five or more field goals, tying a dubious record set by the Minnesota Vikings eight seasons previously.
The result appeared more significant at the end of the season, as San Diego finished 4-12, while the Colts were 3-13, giving them the first pick in the 1998 NFL draft.
Week 10: at Cincinnati Bengals
San Diego lost both the game and their starting quarterback. They began well, with Gary Brown opening the scoring, and Eric Metcalf later making it 14-10 with an 85-yard punt return. A pair of Humphries errors turned the game in the 2nd quarter, an interception setting up one touchdown and a fumble being directly returned for another.
It was 24-17 to the Bengals in the 3rd quarter when Humphries was driven into the ground by Reinard Wilson, sustaining his second concussion in three games. This injury kept him out for the rest of the season, and he decided to retire early the next year.
With backup Jim Everett also out with an ankle injury, 3rd year pro Craig Whelihan came in for the rest of the game. The Bengals twice extended their lead to 14 points, and the Chargers pegged them back both times. Firstly, Metcalf ran another punt back for a score, this time from 67 yards out. Then Whelihan threw his first NFL touchdown pass, a 44-yarder to Charlie Jones. San Diego had two further possessions, but could not cross midfield.
It was the second time Metcalf had returned two kicks for scores in a single game. He became the first player to have ten total kick return touchdowns in a career (2 kickoffs, 8 punts).
Week 11: vs. Seattle Seahawks
Craig Whelihan had some good moments in his first NFL start, but it wasn't enough for the win. Special team got the Chargers off to a fast start, Greg Jackson returning a fumbled punt for a touchdown. Whelihan then strung together 11 consecutive completions over three drives, including a 10-yard touchdown to Martin. A Davis field goal made it 17-3 late in the 2nd quarter.