1976 San Diego Chargers season

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1976 San Diego Chargers season
OwnerEugene V. Klein
Head coachTommy Prothro
General managerJohnny Sanders
Home fieldSan Diego Stadium
Results
Record6–8
Division place3rd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
  • ← 1975
  • San Diego Chargers seasons
  • 1977 →
Veteran wide receiver Charlie Joiner gained the first Pro Bowl nomination of his career after joining the Chargers from Cincinnati.

The 1976 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's seventh season in the National Football League (NFL), and its 17th overall. The Chargers improved on their putrid 2-12 record from 1975 and finished 6-8, but missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season. The Chargers started off the season by winning their first 3 games, but they struggled through the rest of the season by losing 8 of their last 11 games, which included 4 shutout losses, two of which were to division rival Denver.

NFL Draft[]

Main article: 1976 NFL Draft

The Chargers had the 4th overall pick in the draft, and used it on Joe Washington a running back described as "electrifying" by general manager Johnny Sanders. Washington had scored 43 touchdowns at Oklahoma, and was brought in to partner Don Woods in the backfield, with Woods having missed time with a knee injury in 1975.[1] The plan was derailed in preseason when Washington also picked up a knee injury and required surgery.[2] He didn't play at all during his rookie season, and left San Diego for Baltimore in 1978 without having scored a touchdown for the Chargers.[3] By contrast, San Diego's 2nd round pick Don Macek would be with them for 14 seasons. A college center who the Chargers converted to guard,[1] Macek started every game in 1976. He later shifted back to center, and went on to start a total of 150 games while spending his entire career in San Diego, later being voted to the Chargers 50th Anniversary Team.[4][5]

In the 5th round, the Chargers acquired another long-time starter in linebacker Woodrow Lowe. Lowe started every game in his rookie season, and proved durable throughout an 11-season career spent entirely in San Diego, appearing in 164 of a possible 165 games, and starting 151, while compiling 26 sacks, 21 interceptions and four defensive touchdowns.[6] Like Macek, he was later named in the 50th Anniversary team.[5] Two further selections at linebacker would eventually break into the first team: Bob Horn was mainly a backup through his first two seasons, but started every game from 1978 to 1980, eventually playing for six years in San Diego;[7] Ray Preston's 29 starts with the team all came in 1979 and 1980, but he appeared in nearly 100 further games throughout a nine-year career, all with the Chargers.[8] The trio played together in every game during the 1979 season, a year when the Chargers went 12–4 with the league's second-ranked defense.[9]

1976 San Diego Chargers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 4 Joe Washington *  Running back Oklahoma
2 31 Don Macek  Center Boston college
3 64 Larry Dorsey  Wide receiver Tennessee State
4 94 Bob Horn  Linebacker Oregon State
4 113 Ron Singleton  Tackle Grambling State
4 115 Artie Owens  Wide receiver West Virginia
5 131 Woodrow Lowe  Linebacker Alabama
6 178 Calvin Lane  Defensive back Fresno State
8 212 Tony DiRienzo  Kicker Oklahoma
9 251 Glynn Harrison  Running back Georgia
10 268 Jeff Perlinger  Defensive end Michigan
11 295 Ray Preston  Linebacker Syracuse
12 322 Ron Lee  Defensive back Oregon
12 337 Herman Harris  Defensive back Mississippi Valley State
13 351 John Lee  Defensive end Nebraska
14 378 Ed Jones  Guard Cincinnati
15 407 Jack Hoffman  Defensive tackle Indiana
16 434 Jack Harrison  Guard California
17 463 Clarence Sanders  Linebacker Cincinnati
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[10]

Roster[]

1976 San Diego Chargers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad



Rookies in italics
 , 5 practice squad

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 12 at Kansas City Chiefs W 30–16 1–0 Arrowhead Stadium 53,133 Recap
2 September 19 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 23–0 2–0 Tampa Stadium 39,558 Recap
3 September 26 St. Louis Cardinals W 43–24 3–0 San Diego Stadium 40,212 Recap
4 October 3 at Denver Broncos L 0–26 3–1 Mile High Stadium 63,369 Recap
5 October 10 Oakland Raiders L 17–27 3–2 San Diego Stadium 50,523 Recap
6 October 17 Houston Oilers W 30–27 4–2 San Diego Stadium 31,565 Recap
7 October 24 at Cleveland Browns L 17–21 4–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 60,018 Recap
8 October 31 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 0–23 4–4 Three Rivers Stadium 45,484 Recap
9 November 7 Baltimore Colts L 21–37 4–5 San Diego Stadium 42,827 Recap
10 November 14 Denver Broncos L 0–17 4–6 San Diego Stadium 32,017 Recap
11 November 21 at Buffalo Bills W 34–13 5–6 Rich Stadium 36,539 Recap
12 November 28 Kansas City Chiefs L 20–23 5–7 San Diego Stadium 29,272 Recap
13 December 5 San Francisco 49ers W 13–7(OT) 6–7 San Diego Stadium 33,539 Recap
14 December 12 at Oakland Raiders L 0–24 6–8 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 50,102 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings[]

AFC West
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 W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Oakland Raiders(1) 13 1 0 .929 7–0 10–1 350 237 W10
Denver Broncos 9 5 0 .643 5–2 7–5 315 206 W2
San Diego Chargers 6 8 0 .429 2–5 4–8 248 285 L1
Kansas City Chiefs 5 9 0 .357 2–5 4–8 290 376 W1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 0 14 0 .000 0–4 0–13 125 412 L14

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Chargers delighted with draft". Escondido Times-Advocate. April 9, 1976.
  2. ^ "Knee surgery for Chargers' Joe Washington". Lompoc Record. August 25, 1976.
  3. ^ "Joe Washington stats". pro-football-reference.com.
  4. ^ "Don Macek stats". pro-football-reference.com.
  5. ^ a b "Greatest Chargers list rings true". San Diego Union Tribune.
  6. ^ "Woodrow Lowe stats". pro-football-reference.com.
  7. ^ "Bob Horn stats". pro-football-reference.com.
  8. ^ "Ray Preston stats". pro-football-reference.com.
  9. ^ "1979 San Diego Chargers Statistics and Players". pro-football-reference.com.
  10. ^ "1976 San Diego Chargers Draftees". pro-football-reference.com.
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