1970 San Diego Chargers season

The 1970 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's first season in the National Football League (NFL) (As a result of the NFL-AFL Merger, where the league was broken into two Conferences, with the AFL teams moved into the American Football Conference), and its 11th overall.

1970 San Diego Chargers season
Head coach	Charlie Waller
General manager	Sid Gillman
Owner	Eugene V. Klein
Home field	San Diego Stadium
Results
Record	5–6–3
Division place	3rd AFC West
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

San Diego's 5-6-3 record was the first of seven consecutive losing seasons for the franchise. The 1970 Chargers are the last NFL team to record three ties in a single season, a record which will likely stand, as the NFL adopted overtime for regular season games in 1974.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 1970 NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	15	Walker Gillette	Wide Receiver	Richmond

Roster

1970 San Diego Chargers final roster

	Quarterbacks 13 Wayne Clark 14 Marty Domres 21 John Hadl Running backs 37 Gene Foster FB 26 Brad Hubbert 22 Dickie Post 47 Jeff Queen FB 42 Dave Smith 20 Russ Smith Wide receivers 19 Lance Alworth 49 Rick Eber 27 Gary Garrison 84 Walker Gillette Tight ends 83 Willie Frazier 89 Art Strozier		Offensive linemen 69 Ira Gordon G 65 Sam Gruneisen C 51 Bill Lenkaitis G 76 Terry Owens T 64 Jim Schmedding G 78 Walt Sweeney G 70 Russ Washington T 77 Bob Wells T Defensive linemen 86 Ron Billingsley DT 68 Bob Briggs DT 82 Steve DeLong DE 72 Joe Owens DE 79 Andy Rice DE 87 Tom Williams DE		Linebackers 60 Bob Babich 59 Pete Barnes 56 Bob Bruggers 50 Jack Protz 66 Rick Redman 81 Jeff Staggs Defensive backs 40 Joe Beauchamp CB 35 Chuck Detwiler 45 Speedy Duncan CB 44 Chris Fletcher FS 39 Jim Hill SS 24 Bob Howard CB 43 Jim Tolbert SS Special teams 15 Mike Mercer K 29 Dennis Partee P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics active, inactive, practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 20, 1970	Baltimore Colts	L 16–14	47,782
2	September 27, 1970	Oakland Raiders	T 27–27	42,109
3	October 4, 1970	at Los Angeles Rams	L 37–10	69,564
4	October 12, 1970	Green Bay Packers	L 22–20	53,064
5	October 18, 1970	at Chicago Bears	W 20–7	45,278
6	October 25, 1970	Houston Oilers	T 31–31	41,427
7	November 1, 1970	at Cleveland Browns	W 27–10	80,047
8	November 8, 1970	Denver Broncos	W 24–21	48,327
9	November 15, 1970	at Boston Patriots	W 16–14	30,597
10	November 22, 1970	at Oakland Raiders	L 20–17	54,594
11	November 29, 1970	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 26–14	50,315
12	December 6, 1970	Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–14	41,461
13	December 13, 1970	at Denver Broncos	T 17–17	50,959
14	December 20, 1970	Kansas City Chiefs	W 31–13	41,379

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Oakland Raiders	8	4	2	.667	4–0–2	7–2–2	300	293	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	7	5	2	.583	2–3–1	7–3–1	272	244	L2
San Diego Chargers	5	6	3	.455	2–2–2	4–4–3	282	278	W1
Denver Broncos	5	8	1	.385	1–4–1	3–6–1	253	264	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and honors

References