The 1963 San Diego Chargers season was the team's fourth in the American Football League. The team had gone 4–10 in 1962 but rebounded with an 11–3 record, winning the AFL West by one game over the Oakland Raiders, who were coached by former Chargers assistant Al Davis. San Diego scored the most points in the league and conceded the fewest. Their offense, led by veteran quarterback Tobin Rote, and featuring future Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth, gained more yards than any other team; Rote and Alworth were each named the league MVP, by the Associated Press and UPI, respectively.
On January 5, 1964, the team won their only AFL Championship with a 51–10 win over the Boston Patriots in Balboa Stadium. To date, this is the Chargers' only league championship season in the AFL or NFL. This is also the only world championship won by a major league sports team in the city and county of San Diego to date. In 2003, the team was inducted into the Chargers Ring of Honor. The emphatic title game victory led to some speculation on whether San Diego might be able to beat the NFL champion Chicago Bears.
The 1963 Chargers earned a degree of lasting notoriety due to their program of anabolic steroid usage, the first such in professional football. Head coach Sid Gillman and strength coach Alvin Roy made daily doses of Dianabol compulsory for a five-week period during training camp before players became aware of potential side effects, and the program was relaxed to a voluntary one.
Offseason
AFL draft
The 1963 AFL draft took place on December 1, 1962, late in the previous season. The Chargers had 30 picks across 29 rounds.
With the second overall pick in the draft, San Diego selected Syracuse end Walt Sweeney. The Cleveland Browns also selected Sweeney in the rival NFL draft. Representatives of both teams approached the player with contracts in the moments after his final college game on December 8, looking to claim his signature. Sweeney chose the Chargers; he had actually met with head coach Sid Gillman and assistant Al Davis the previous day and signed a contract while still a college player. The team converted him to a guard, about which Sweeney was not initially enthusiastic, but he went on to excel at that position through an 11-year stay in San Diego, appearing in six AFL All-Star games and three NFL Pro Bowls, as well as being named to the AFL All-League Team twice.
The Chargers also signed their 2nd-round pick, seeing off competition from the Los Angeles Rams for All-American guard Rufus Guthrie. However, Guthrie was injured in the opening exhibition game of the season with torn knee ligaments. The injury persisted, and Guthrie never played a regular season game for the Chargers or any other pro team. 3rd-round selection Keith Kinderman, a defensive back who Gillman converted to running back, was also troubled by injuries. He played in 11 games over two seasons in San Diego, carrying the ball only 24 times. There was one future Hall of Fame player in the Chargers' draft class (linebacker Dave Robinson), but he signed for the Green Bay Packers, where he won two Super Bowls.
In the later rounds, San Diego picked up Bob Petrich, a defensive end who played in every game for the next four seasons, and Ernie Park, an occasional starter at guard. Only five of the draft class ever played a game for the Chargers (including Guthrie's exhibition appearance), while eleven went to NFL teams.
1963 San Diego Chargers draft Round Pick Player Position College Notes 1 2 Walt Sweeney * Guard Syracuse 107th pick in NFL draft 2 10 Rufus Guthrie Guard Georgia Tech 10th pick in NFL draft 3 17 Dave Robinson † Linebacker Penn State 14th pick in NFL draft; signed by Green Bay Packers 3 18 Keith Kinderman Fullback Florida State 104th pick in NFL draft 4 26 Roy Williams Defensive tackle Pacific 27th pick in NFL draft; signed by San Francisco 49ers 5 34 Larry Glueck Defensive back Villanova 38th pick in NFL draft; signed by Chicago Bears 6 42 Pat Emerick Linebacker Western Michigan 77th pick in NFL draft; signed by Grand Rapids Blazers (UFL) 8 58 Gene Heeter Tight end West Virginia Traded to New York Jets 9 66 Steve Barnett Tackle Oregon 20th pick in NFL draft; signed by Chicago Bears 10 74 Don Scott Tackle Tampa 11 82 Bob Petrich Defensive end West Texas A&M 82nd pick in NFL draft 12 90 Terry Baker Quarterback Oregon State 1st pick in NFL draft; signed by Los Angeles Rams 13 98 Chuck Walton Guard Iowa State 55th pick in NFL draft; signed by Detroit Lions 14 106 Frank Lasky Tackle Florida 26th pick in NFL draft; signed by New York Giants 14 107 Hatch Rosdahl Defensive end Penn State 46th pick in NFL draft; traded to Buffalo Bills 14 109 Jack Cvercko Guard Northwestern 63rd pick in NFL draft 15 114 Mike Fracchia Halfback Alabama 33rd pick in NFL draft 16 122 Gene Breen Linebacker Virginia Tech 210th pick in NFL draft; signed by Green Bay Packers 17 130 Dick Drummond Halfback George Washington 165th pick in NFL draft 19 146 Ernie Park Guard McMurry 230th pick in NFL draft 20 154 Buddy Soefker Linebacker LSU 239th pick in NFL draft 21 162 Dan Points Tackle Cincinnati 22 170 Roger Gill Wide receiver Texas Tech 158th pick in NFL draft; signed by Philadelphia Eagles 23 178 Paul Watters Tackle Miami 173rd pick in NFL draft 24 186 Bill Frank Tackle Colorado 244th pick in NFL draft; signed by British Columbia Lions 25 194 Jerry Mazzanti Defensive end Arkansas 223rd pick in NFL draft; signed by Philadelphia Eagles 26 202 Ken Dill Center Mississippi 124th pick in NFL draft 27 210 Harry Butsko Linebacker Maryland 203rd pick in NFL draft; signed by Washington Redskins 28 218 Steve Berzansky Fullback West Virginia 257th pick in NFL draft; signed by Charleston Rockets (UFL) 29 226 Herman Hamp Halfback Fresno State 266th pick in NFL draft Made roster Pro Football Hall of Fame Made at least one AFL All-Star game or NFL Pro Bowl during career Played in the NFL in 1963
Departures and arrivals San Diego lost a key staff member on January 19 when Davis signed with the Raiders in the dual role of head coach and general manager. He had served as the Chargers' offensive ends coach, but had also earned a reputation as a good recruiter of new talent, an important role in the ongoing bidding war with the NFL. Oakland had finished the previous season at a league-worst 1–13 but emerged as serious rivals to the Chargers in the AFL West during Davis's first season there.
Davis soon brought defensive back Claude "Hoot" Gibson to join him in Oakland, as part of an equalization draft aimed at helping the league's weakest teams. Gibson had intercepted 13 passes during two seasons in San Diego. Other players to exit included tackle Sherman Plunkett and defensive tackle Bill Hudson. The pair, who had featured in every game the previous year, were traded away for future draft picks. Ron Nery, who had accumulated sacks during three seasons with the Chargers, was cut shortly before the regular season began.
After losing Jack Kemp to the Buffalo Bills the previous year, San Diego were looking for a veteran quarterback who could both lead the team and mentor second-year passer John Hadl. Running back Gerry McDougall, who joined the team from the CFL's Toronto Argonauts late in the 1962 season, informed Gillman that Tobin Rote, a 13-year veteran and former NFL champion (with the 1957 Lions) was contemplating retirement after three seasons with the Argonauts. The Bills had the territorial rights to sign Rote but had no need for another quarterback. Both the Chargers and the Denver Broncos expressed an interest in signing Rote; AFL Commissioner Joe Foss conducted a coin flip to decide which team would have the right to claim the player. San Diego won and gave Buffalo tackle Dick Hudson and two future draft picks in exchange for Rote's signing rights. The 35-year-old was soon signed, with Gillman describing him as "one of the finest quarterbacks in football." He started every game throughout the season.
San Diego also gained George Gross, a 16th-round pick in the 1962 draft who had stayed on at Auburn as a redshirt that year. In 1963, he started every game for the Chargers at defensive tackle. Another guard, Sam DeLuca, re-signed with the team after a one-year retirement; he played in every game while starting half of them. Dick Westmoreland, an undrafted defensive back from North Carolina A&T, was signed by Chargers scout Al LoCasale and made the team. He ended the 1963 season as the only rookie selected for the NEA All-AFL 1st team, and was a 2nd-team choice for the Associated Press, UPI and the New York Daily News.
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Training camp
Rough Acres Ranch
For the previous two seasons, the Chargers had trained at the University of San Diego. Gillman, seeking both to instil both toughness and a sense of unity in his team, opted to switch to Rough Acres Ranch, located in Boulevard, an isolated town from San Diego. The ranch had only basic amenities and was overrun with insects and other wildlife, including bats, spiders and poisonous rattlesnakes. The players had to conduct two-a-days in temperatures close to , on sawdust that had been laid on the barren earth to approximate the consistency of grass. There was little to distract the players from their practice and little to do in the evenings but spend time together, either at the ranch itself or a small gas station down the road.
Opinion among the players was divided as to the efficacy of using the ranch. Team captain Ron Mix believed that the 1963 Chargers were successful in spite of, not because of, the experience. Others were more positive. Ernie Ladd described Rough Acres as a great training facility, noting the isolated location as a positive, while Lance Alworth stated the team had "one of the greatest years as a result of it. I still don't understand why more teams don't do that and why we didn't do it more often after that." The Chargers did not have the option to return to Rough Acres, as the owners brought a lawsuit worth over a million dollars against them, alleging both property damage and non-payment of rental fees.
Steroid usage Gillman hired a strength coach, Alvin Roy, to work with the team during training camp. Roy was a proponent of weightlifting, at a time when that form of exercise was not regarded as beneficial to a pro footballer. Roy also instructed the players to take pink pills each day at dinnertime, which would help their bodies assimilate protein. These pills were Dianabol, the commercial name of Metandienone, an anabolic steroid. The Chargers were the first professional football team to prescribe steroids to their players. The use of steroids was permitted in professional football at the time; they would eventually be banned in 1983 by then-NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle.
At first, taking the pills was compulsory. When Dick Harris openly refused to do so, he was fined his $60 pay for the Chargers' opening exhibition game by Gillman. Others who were suspicious of the pills disposed of them subtly, hiding them under the table at meal times, or keeping them in their mouths until they had exited the dining room. Many players did accept the Dianabol without question, however. Rookie defensive back Westmoreland took the pills and soon noticed that he, in his words, "got bigger and stronger but didn't lose speed."
After five weeks of the compulsory program, tight end Dave Kocourek began to feel ill and went to his personal physician. When the physician learned that his patient was taking Dianabol, he showed him a list of side effects, including "liver damage, muscle damage, bone damage and testicle shrinkage". Kocourek took the list to Mix, who raised the issue with Gillman. The pills became voluntary after that, and the majority of the team completely stopped taking them, while others reduced their intake.
Preseason