San Diego’s never had a reputation for being ravenous football town, but that doesn’t make the fact that the Chargers have played what is very likely their last game in San Diego any easier to swallow for the fans who do care. Those fans showed up to cheer their asses off yesterday, and they were rewarded with a 30-14 victory and an emotional send-off.
It started with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter, when head coach Mike McCoy took a delay of game penalty so that he could remove Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates, and Malcom Floyd—who have played a combined 36 seasons in Chargers uniforms—to a standing ovation:
After the final whistle, Rivers gave an emotional interview on the field, in which he admitted that he had trouble calling plays in the huddle because he was so choked up:
Rivers would tear up again during his postgame press conference, which he held after staying on the field to sign autographs and give away his cleats, jersey, and hat.
Other players stayed at the stadium long after the game was over to sign autographs and talk to fans.
Safety Eric Weddle, who has played the whole of his nine-year career in San Diego, seemed like he didn’t want to leave:
When he eventually did exit the stadium, he did donuts in the parking lot:
No fan ever wants to experience losing their home team, but if you had to pick a way for the last game to go down, you could do a lot worse than what Chargers fans got yesterday.