1981 San Diego Chargers

1981 AFC Western Division Champions!

1981 Record: 10-6 (Regular Season), 1-1 (Playoffs)

Head Coach: Don Coryell

Points Scored: 478 (1st out of 28 NFL teams)

Points Allowed: 390 (26th out of 28 NFL teams)

Home Stadium: Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, CA

                1981 Game-by-Game Results

                         Regular Season

    Date Opponent                         Result

9/ 7/81 at Cleveland                     W 44-14

  9/13/81 Detroit                              W 28-23

  9/20/81 at Kansas City                W 42-31

9/27/81 at Denver                          L 24-42

10/ 4/81 Seattle                              W 24-10

10/11/81 at Minnesota                   L 31-33

10/18/81 at Baltimore                    W 43-14

10/25/81 at Chicago                       L 17-20 (OT)

11/ 1/81 Kansas City                    W 22-20

11/ 8/81 Cincinnati                       L 17-40

11/16/81 at Seattle                         W 23-44

11/22/81 at Oakland                      W 55-21

11/29/81 Denver                            W 34-17

12/ 6/81 Buffalo                             L 27-28

12/13/81 at Tampa Bay                W 24-23

12/21/81 Oakland                          W 23-10

                                          Playoffs

Round                        Opponent                 Result

AFC Div. Playoff           at Miami                  W 41-38 (OT)

AFC Championship     at Cincinnati           L 7-27

1981 San Diego Chargers Depth Chart / Roster:

# Player Ht Wt Age Exp College Face Shape Hair Equipment

Quarterbacks

1. 14 Dan Fouts 6-3 204 30 8 Oregon 77 12 brn crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, left qb wristband, right wt wristband

2. 11 Ed Luther 6-3 206 24 1 San Jose St. lt skin 86 8 brn crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, wt wristbands

3. 12 James Harris 6-4 221 34 11 Grambling St. dk skin 151 2 blk crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), wt wristbands

Halfbacks

1. 21 James Brooks 5-9 180 22 R Auburn 136 1 blk buzz style 2 helmet, 2 bar rb, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands, right fingers taped

2. 40 Clarence Williams 5-10 180 26 4 Wash. St. 122 3 blk afro style 2 helmet, half cage, eye paint, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands, wt tc elbowpads (turf)

3. n/a (change position to ROLB)

Fullbacks

1. 46 Chuck Muncie (lefty) 6-3 233 28 5 California 206 7 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt nasal strip, wt elbowpads, tc wristbands, left wt glove

2. 25 John Cappelletti 6-1 220 29 6 Penn State 55 4 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands

3. 37 Hank Bauer 5-11 204 27 4 N/A 46 3 brn balding style 2 helmet, half cage, eye paint, bk tc elbowpads, wt wristbands, wt tc elbowpads (turf)

Wide Receivers

1. 18 Charlie Joiner 6-2 195 34 12 Grambling St. 67 1 blk crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), qb wristbands

2. 89 Wes Chandler 5-11 186 25 3 Florida 72 3 blk crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), eye paint, tc wrist double, tc rb gloves (turf)

3. 87 Dwight Scales 6-2 185 28 4 Grambling St. style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), wt tc elbowpads, wt wrist double, wt elbowpads (turf)

4. 84 Ron Smith 6-0 185 25 3 S. D. State style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), wt wristbands

5. 81 Scott Fitzkee 6-0 187 24 2 Penn State 50 5 brn crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), tc wristbands

Tight Ends

1. 80 Kellen Winslow 6-5 242 24 2 Missouri 171 17 blk crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, wt wristbands

2. 85 Eric Sievers 6-4 234 24 R Maryland 31 6 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands, right fingers taped

Left Tackles

1. 66 Billy Shields 6-7 280 28 6 Georgia Tech 55 18 brn crop style 3 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands, bk gloves

2. 77 Sam Claphan 6-6 267 25 R Oklahoma 41 17 blk afro style 2 helmet, half cage, wt gloves

Left Guards

1. 63 Doug Wilkerson 6-2 262 34 11 NC Central 125 9 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, tc extended, wt wristbands, wt gloves

2. 62 Don Macek 6-3 253 27 5 Boston Coll. half cage, tc extended, wt wristbands

3. 64 Chuck Loewen 6-3 259 24 1 S. Dakota St. 96 11 l. brn crop half cage, tc extended, wt wristbands

Centers

1. 62 Don Macek 6-3 253 27 5 Boston Coll. half cage, tc extended, wt wristbands

2. 56 Bob Rush 6-5 264 25 3 Memphis 84 12 l. brn crop style 3 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands

Right Guards

1. 67 Ed White 6-3 271 34 12 California 70 12 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, tc gloves

2. n/a (switch position to RT)

Right Tackles

1. 70 Russ Washington 6-5 240 35 13 Missouri 178 3 blk afro style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands, wt gloves

2. 72 Jeff Williams 6-4 264 26 4 Rhode Island

# 75 Andy Gissinger 6-5 279 22 R Syracuse

Left Defensive Ends

1. 68 Leroy Jones 6-8 260 31 5 Norfolk State 173 20 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, right bk tc elbowpad, wt wrist double, wt gloves, bk tc elbowpads (turf)

2. 76 Keith Ferguson 6-5 240 22 R Ohio State 46 18 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands, wt gloves

Right Defensive Ends

1. 60 Don Reese 6-6 262 30 6 Jackson St. dk skin

2. 90 John Woodcock 6-3 250 27 4 Hawaii 50 7 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands, wt gloves

Defensive Tackles

1. 79 Gary Johnson 6-3 252 29 6 Pittsburgh 126 14 blk afro style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands, tc gloves

2. 74 Louie Kelcher 6-5 282 28 6 SMU 59 10 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, right qb wristband

3. 61 Jimmy Webb 6-5 245 29 6 Miss. State 92 8 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, tc rb gloves, wt elbowpads (turf), wt wrist double (turf)

4. 99 Wilbur Young 6-6 290 32 10 N/A 208 11 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, bk tc elbowpads, wt wrist double, wt gloves

Left Outside Linebackers

1. 57 Linden King 6-4 237 26 3 Colorado St. 74 12 brn crop full cage, eye paint, wt elbowpads, wt wrist double, wt gloves

2. 52 Ray Preston 6-0 218 27 5 Syracuse 258 6 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, bk tc elbowpads, wt wristbands

Middle Linebackers

1. 55 Bob Horn 6-4 230 27 5 Oregon St. 55 9 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, wt wrist double, wt gloves

2. 54 Jim Laslavic 6-2 229 30 7 Penn State 55 3 brn crop style 2 helmet, half cage, bk tc elbowpads

Right Outside Linebackers

1. 51 Woodrow Lowe 6-0 227 27 5 Alabama style 3 helmet, half cage, bk elbowpads, wt wrist double, wt rb gloves

2. 50 Carlos Bradley 6-0 221 21 R Wake Forest 22 3 blk fade style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wrist double

# 59 Cliff Thrift 6-2 232 25 3 N/A brn long style 2 helmet, half cage, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands, wt gloves

Cornerbacks

1. 28 Willie Buchanon 6-0 185 31 9 S. D. State style 2 helmet, 2 bar (thin), bk tc elbowpads, wt wristbands, tc rb gloves

2. 29 Mike Wiliams 5-10 185 28 6 LSU style 2 helmet, half cage, bk tc elbowpads (grass), tc wristbands, wt tc elbowpads (turf)

3. 48 Allan Ellis 5-10 177 30 7 UCLA style 2 helmet, 3 bar rb, wt elbowpads, tc wristbands, wt tc elbowpads (turf), tc rb gloves (turf)

4. 32 Wyatt Henderson 5-10 180 25 R Fresno State

5. 23 Irvin Phillips 6-1 192 21 R N/A style 2 helmet, 3 bar, wt elbowpads, wt wristbands

Free Safeties

1. 27 Glen Edwards 6-0 183 34 10 Florida A&M 170 1 blk crop style 2 helmet, half cage, bk tc elbowpads, tc wrist double, wt tc elbowpads (turf)

2. 43 Bob Gregor 6-2 187 24 R Wash. St. style 2 helmet, half cage, wt wristbands, wt elbowpads (turf)

Strong Safeties

1. 44 Pete Shaw 5-10 183 27 4 Northwestern 219 3 blk crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, qb wristbands, tc rb gloves

2. 47 Frank Duncan 6-1 188 25 2 N/A style 2 helmet, 2 bar, wt wristbands

Kicker

1. 6 Rolf Benirschke 6-0 171 26 4 N/A 55 2 brn crop style 2 helmet, 1 bar, tc sleeves

Punter

1. 4 George Roberts (lefty) 6-0 186 26 3 Virginia Tech 50 1 brn crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, tc wristbands

Players Not Included

# 45 Doug Beaudoin FS 6-1 190 27 5 Minnesota lt skin 55 4 brn crop style 2 helmet, 2 bar, bk tc elbowpads, wt wristbands

# 89 Pete Holohan TE 6-4 226 22 R Notre Dame lt skin 42 7 brn crop style 2 helmet, 3 bar, eye paint

Player Ratings spd-str-awr-agi-acc-cth-car-jmp-btk-tkl-tpw-tac-pbk-rbk-kpw-kac-ret-stm-inj-tgh

Fouts 46-57-86-45-48-31-46-48-44-21-97-94-25-27-26-22-0-83-74-62

J. Harris 50-53-82-49-56-27-51-53-47-19-76-74-24-27-25-21-0-70-71-54

Luther 43-45-53-42-45-28-54-44-41-21-81-70-21-23-24-22-0-68-74-57

J. Brooks 92-52-58-89-94-73-77-77-58-18-23-26-31-33-23-21-91-74-79-60

C. Williams 80-58-72-79-82-72-66-56-64-21-29-24-34-36-25-20-10-72-72-56

Muncie 77-67-79-75-86-68-79-48-78-23-43-39-43-46-28-22-45-77-76-71

Cappelletti 72-63-76-71-76-65-72-41-61-26-29-20-54-58-29-20-18-71-78-65

Bauer 67-60-66-66-70-58-65-45-59-28-32-24-46-50-26-22-36-68-82-61

Joiner 86-63-94-85-88-95-80-74-72-23-26-21-39-43-25-22-14-82-86-72

Chandler 89-50-70-89-88-88-77-84-60-21-23-22-26-24-23-21-62-81-75-64

Scales 87-44-67-86-86-73-63-83-54-19-22-22-23-25-24-20-29-73-72-59

R. Smith 82-52-65-82-84-77-59-81-57-21-25-23-26-26-28-21-48-72-67-58

Fitzkee 79-56-62-78-78-82-76-70-62-25-27-24-30-28-26-19-10-72-70-66

Winslow 76-66-75-75-83-86-69-60-77-27-34-27-46-49-31-25-8-79-76-78

Sievers 70-62-56-69-68-75-67-53-62-22-25-22-42-44-25-23-8-73-74-65

B. Shields 48-81-79-48-66-17-19-44-32-25-26-21-84-81-28-20-0-57-72-76

Claphan 46-77-52-45-56-18-18-47-32-24-27-22-74-76-27-20-0-55-75-74

D. Wilkerson 42-84-93-41-58-15-17-39-36-30-29-19-87-88-28-21-0-60-78-84

Macek 44-83-74-43-57-17-20-40-34-27-27-18-83-83-25-22-0-63-74-82

Rush 45-78-61-44-60-19-20-44-31-26-27-16-73-67-26-18-0-61-70-74

Loewen 41-82-56-40-55-15-18-44-35-26-28-20-71-73-27-19-0-58-70-79

E. White 37-86-95-36-50-18-18-38-38-28-30-21-86-87-28-18-0-52-76-87

R. Washington 45-80-94-44-59-14-17-35-34-26-28-18-81-82-26-17-0-51-74-85

J. Williams 43-79-64-42-56-16-18-39-35-28-27-19-74-77-25-20-0-58-68-72

Gissinger 42-79-49-41-55-28-24-43-35-28-28-21-69-74-26-23-0-54-79-77

L. Jones 58-77-76-56-66-26-28-49-34-79-27-19-25-36-29-19-0-68-77-79

K. Ferguson 66-73-53-65-70-24-30-56-32-74-25-20-23-33-27-21-0-71-83-76

D. Reese 57-76-76-56-65-20-24-48-33-78-23-19-24-34-29-20-0-73-71-81

J. Woodcock 54-78-68-53-60-17-19-45-34-76-22-18-24-33-28-19-0-71-73-76

G. Johnson 57-80-81-55-72-21-26-47-35-85-27-19-24-36-27-21-0-76-84-88

Kelcher 50-81-80-49-63-21-25-45-37-86-29-19-25-38-27-21-0-75-70-84

Webb 56-76-74-55-68-16-18-40-33-78-26-20-23-32-28-21-0-72-86-76

W. Young 48-82-90-47-62-22-26-38-38-80-27-19-25-36-29-19-0-65-72-79

L. King 71-69-64-71-70-32-38-47-32-86-26-20-23-34-27-20-0-74-81-68

Preston 74-67-70-73-73-35-40-58-30-79-24-22-21-29-25-21-0-72-73-62

Horn 68-73-77-67-67-36-39-52-33-86-22-19-23-32-24-20-0-75-82-66

Laslavic 66-72-80-65-67-37-43-46-32-84-20-20-22-28-25-22-0-72-85-63

Lowe 69-75-82-68-73-46-50-50-32-82-25-23-23-31-27-21-0-78-85-72

Bradley 71-69-54-69-71-33-39-48-31-78-23-21-22-31-24-22-0-72-72-62

Thrift 68-71-57-67-68-33-37-51-30-75-22-20-23-32-24-19-0-70-77-67

Buchanon 86-54-86-85-85-56-58-73-28-69-21-20-14-16-23-20-10-73-78-74

M. Williams 86-57-80-85-85-58-58-70-29-72-23-22-15-16-22-21-10-73-80-64

Ellis 86-50-82-84-84-56-59-77-27-62-21-22-13-16-21-20-10-70-75-62

W. Henderson 81-46-48-80-78-55-57-75-25-48-19-20-12-15-19-19-34-70-74-57

I. Phillips 84-50-45-83-83-53-58-72-23-55-20-21-13-16-21-20-10-69-70-60

G. Edwards 82-58-91-81-81-56-58-70-28-76-23-21-15-20-24-22-32-72-74-66

Gregor 80-52-54-79-79-54-58-74-26-68-22-20-14-17-23-20-47-73-67-57

P. Shaw 85-57-71-84-84-55-56-78-29-73-23-19-13-16-22-20-51-75-74-63

Duncan 86-52-60-85-83-52-57-80-26-65-22-20-13-15-23-22-30-71-64-55

Benirschke 52-27-72-51-46-47-46-56-17-16-23-20-12-14-92-81-0-45-73-46

G. Roberts 42-34-67-40-40-45-43-45-19-18-22-19-12-14-84-77-0-43-65-48

Tight End Kellen Winslow's finest hour came in the Divisional Playoff game at Miami. He caught 16 passes for 166 yards, caught a TD pass to give the Chargers a 31-24 lead after Miami scored 24 consecutive points. At the end of regulation, he would block a 43 yard field goal attempt to force overtime. He would need to be aided off the field after being physically drained on that steamy Miami evening.

1981 San Diego Chargers Individual Statistical Leaders:

Passing: Dan Fouts, 4802 yds., 59.1 comp. pct., 33 TDs, 90.6 rating

Rushing: Chuck Muncie, 1144 yds., 19 TDs, 4.6 avg.

Receiving: Charlie Joiner, 70 rec., 1188 yds., 7 TDs

Touchdowns: Chuck Muncie, 19 (19 rush., 0 rec.)

Interceptions: Willie Buchanon, 5 int., 31 yds., 0 TDs

Points: Rolf Benirschke, 112 (19 FG’s, 55 PAT’s)

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1981 AFC WESTERN DIVISION STANDINGS

1^st Place – San Diego (10-6)

2^nd Place – Denver (10-6)

3^rd Place – Kansas City (9-7)

4^th Place – Oakland (6-10)

5^th Place – Seattle (5-11)

Quarterback Dan Fouts was selected as NFL All-Pro for the third consecutive season as he led the NFL in passing yards (4802) and passing TDs (33), while finishing second in the league with a 90.6 passer rating in 1981.

Wide Receiver Charlie Joiner led the Chargers with 1188 receiving yards in 1981 and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl representing the AFC.

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