The 1964 San Diego Chargers season was their fifth as a professional AFL franchise; the team failed to repeat as AFL champions after winning the championship in 1963 with a record of 11–3, and finished at 8–5–1. San Diego struggled at the start and finish of the season, but a six-game winning streak in the middle proved to be enough to win the AFL West, in a league where the two strongest teams were in the Eastern division.
San Diego's defense was among the league's best, with defensive linemen Earl Faison and Ernie Ladd both voted All-AFL players, and young defensive backs Dick Westmoreland and Speedy Duncan both contributing, the latter showing ability as a kick returner. On offense, flanker Lance Alworth was the central figure, with over 1,200 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns. Veteran quarterback Tobin Rote was phased out as the team's starter during the course of the season, replaced by third-year John Hadl. Meanwhile, former Charger quarterback Jack Kemp featured on a Buffalo Bills team that defeated San Diego three times, including in the AFL title game. Alworth missed the title game due to injury, and running back Keith Lincoln was knocked out of it in the opening quarter by Mike Stratton's "Hit Heard ‘Round the World". San Diego led 7–0 before Lincoln's injury, but failed to score afterwards and lost 20–7.
Offseason
AFL draft
The 1964 AFL draft took place on November 30, 1963, late in the previous season; the Chargers had 28 picks across 26 rounds. Two days later, the rival NFL conducted their own draft.
San Diego was one of several AFL teams who had trouble signing their top picks. Of their first eleven choices, they signed only one, offensive lineman Gary Kirner, while nine spent 1964 with various NFL clubs. These included the Chargers' first four picks, who had all signed for the other league by mid-January. One of these, receiver Dave Parks, made the next three Pro Bowls for San Francisco.
Kirner went on to spend his entire six-year career in San Diego, though he only started 29 games in that time. The Chargers had a significant pick in the 13th round with safety Kenny Graham, who they signed in May. He started 11 games as a rookie and 75 in six years with the Chargers, being voted to four AFL All-Star games and one AP All-league team. He was also named to the AFL All-time second team in 1970.
1964 San Diego Chargers draft Round Pick Player Position College Notes 1 8 Ted Davis Linebacker Georgia Tech 50th pick in NFL draft; signed by Baltimore Colts 2 16 John Kirby Linebacker Nebraska 62nd pick in NFL draft; signed by Minnesota Vikings 3 24 Perry Lee Dunn Running back Mississippi 45th pick in NFL draft; signed by Dallas Cowboys 4 32 Dave Parks * Split end Texas Tech 1st pick in NFL draft; signed by San Francisco 49ers 5 36 Pete Goimarac Center West Virginia 86th pick in NFL draft 5 40 Gary Kirner Guard USC 6 48 Willie Brown Wide receiver USC 32nd pick in NFL draft; signed by Los Angeles Rams 7 51 Roger Anderson Defensive tackle Virginia Union 96th pick in NFL draft; signed by New York Giants 8 56 Pat Batten Fullback Hardin-Simmons 30th pick in NFL draft; signed by Detroit Lions 8 64 George Seals Guard Missouri 52nd pick in NFL draft; signed by Washington Redskins 10 74 Bob Long Split end Wichita State 44th pick in NFL draft; signed by Green Bay Packers 10 80 Dick Bowman End Syracuse 80th pick in NFL draft; signed by Hartford Charter Oaks (ACFL) 11 88 Bob Horton Linebacker Boston University 168th pick in NFL draft 12 96 Ron Carpenter Linebacker Texas A&M 13 104 Kenny Graham * Defensive back Washington State 162nd pick in NFL draft 14 112 Howard Kindig Defensive end Los Angeles State 170th pick in NFL draft 15 120 Ed Mitchell Guard Southern 166th pick in NFL draft 16 128 Bob Daugherty Halfback Tulsa 99th pick in NFL draft; signed by 1966 San Francisco 49ers 17 136 John Farris Guard San Diego State 147th pick in NFL draft 18 144 Bob Robinson Guard Mississippi 135th pick in NFL draft 19 152 Paul Cercel Center Pittsburgh 213th pick in NFL draft; signed by 1965 Philadelphia Bulldogs (COFL) 20 160 Dick Klein Tackle Wichita State 67th pick in NFL draft 21 168 Allen Robinson Halfback BYU 216th pick in NFL draft 22 176 Chuck Hinton Center Mississippi 208th pick in NFL draft; signed by New York Giants 23 184 Ron Smith Quarterback Richmond 131st pick in NFL draft; signed by 1965 Los Angeles Rams 24 192 Bill Van Burkleo Halfback Tulsa Signed by 1966 Toronto Argonauts 25 200 Tommy Lucas Guard Mississippi 268th pick in NFL draft 26 208 Frank Kinard Fullback Mississippi 264th pick in NFL draft Made roster Made at least one AFL All-Star game or NFL Pro Bowl during career Played in the NFL in 1964
Departures and arrivals
San Diego signed defensive back / kick returner Leslie "Speedy" Duncan as an undrafted rookie. He went on to play in three AFL All-Star games in seven seasons with the Chargers, eventually being inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1995.
Guard Sam DeLuca, who had returned from retirement the previous season, was sold to the Jets on July 9 for an undisclosed sum. Paul Maguire was placed on waivers later in July. Maguire, who had doubled as a linebacker and punter since the Chargers' inaugural campaign in 1960, was claimed by the Bills. In August, fullback Bobby Jackson, who had scored nine touchdowns over the past two seasons, was sent to Oakland on a loan deal of unknown duration. In the event, he never returned to the Chargers.
George Blair, a defensive back who had led the league in field goal percentage the past two seasons, sustained a knee injury early in the season; this proved to be career-ending. Herb Travenio was brought in as a replacement, but was released after only three games. He would return the following season with more success. He was replaced by 45-year old Ben Agajanian, back with the team after four years. Agajanian, too, picked up a career-ending injury, and Keith Lincoln handled the kicking duties for the rest of the season.
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason
Lincoln, who had ended the previous season as MVP of the AFL Championship Game, began the new one by scoring the first two Chargers touchdowns of their exhibition schedule. He opened the scoring against Denver with a 13-yard catch from Tobin Rote, then put San Diego ahead to stay with a 45-yard run; Lance Alworth and Keith Kinderman added further touchdowns in a 34–20 win. The Chargers followed this with a high-scoring win over the Oilers, played on neutral ground in Little Rock, Arkansas. San Diego trailed 10–0 before Lincoln's touchdown pass to Dave Kocourek sparked a run of 30 consecutive points, with John Hadl throwing three touchdown passes. Houston came back with 21 unanswered points to lead again, and later responded after Lincoln had scored from a yard out, going ahead 38–37. Late in the game, Earl Faison recovered a fumble, and Hadl completed three passes to Alworth on a 12-play, 62-yard drive that culminated in Kinderman's game-winning 3-yard run, 72 seconds from time.
Lincoln scored again at Kansas City, where the Chargers trailed 14–12 at halftime. Rote and Don Norton combined on touchdown passes of 90 and 18 yards in the second half, giving San Diego their third consecutive win. The run came to an end in their fourth game, Paul Lowe scoring their lone touchdown in a 34–6 loss to the Jets, a game played before a sparse crowd in Atlanta. Former Charger Dick Wood threw three touchdown passes for New York. Finally, the Chargers returned home and defeated their Californian rivals Oakland 24–10. Rote and Norton once again connected for two touchdowns, either side of a Gerry McDougall run.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 8 Denver Broncos W 34–20 1–0 Balboa Stadium 26,293 2 August 15 vs. Houston Oilers W 44–38 2–0 War Memorial Stadium, (Little Rock) 27,000 3 August 22 at Kansas City Chiefs W 26–14 3–0 Municipal Stadium 28,653 4 August 29 vs. New York Jets L 6–34 3–1 Cheney Stadium, (Atlanta) 8,200 5 September 5 Oakland Raiders W 24–10 4–1 Balboa Stadium 16,746
Regular season
Summary
Rote and Hadl split time at the quarterback position, as they had done the previous year - this time, however, the younger Hadl started eight out of fourteen games, having been exclusively a replacement in 1963. Hadl finished with 2,157 yards to Rote's 1,156, and threw twice as many touchdowns (18 to 9) against the same number of interceptions (15), while posting a 6–2 record as a starter. Alworth was again the leading receiver, ranking third in the league for yardage with 1,235, and first for touchdowns (13). He also rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and averaged 10.5 yards per punt return, second best in the league. End Don Norton and tight end Kocourek added 669 and 593 receiving yards respectively. The ground attack was weakened by an early-season injury to Paul Lowe, who missed two games and finished with only 496 yards on the season. Lincoln became the leading rusher with 632 yards, but his average yards per carry slipped from 6.5 a year earlier to 4.1 in 1964.
The defense continued to be one of the league's better units, ranking 1st against the pass and 4th against the run. Defensive end Faison unofficially had a team-high sacks and was a first-team All-Pro, while linebackers Chuck Allen and Frank Buncom were both voted to the AFL All-Star game, and second-year cornerback Dick Westmoreland led the team with six interceptions. The kicking game was unreliable after Blair was injured early in the season. Herb Travenio and Ben Agajanian played in three games each before Lincoln was given the job in mid-November. Collectively, the team made 12 of 26 field goal attempts, going just 5 of 17 from distances of 20 yards or more. Hadl doubled as the punter – his average of 39.5 yards per kick put him seventh out of eight in the league.
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 12 Houston Oilers W 27–21 1–0 Balboa Stadium 22,632 Recap 2 September 20 Boston Patriots L 28–33 1–1 Balboa Stadium 20,568 Recap 3 September 26 at Buffalo Bills L 3–30 1–2 War Memorial Stadium 40,167 Recap 4 October 3 at New York Jets T 17–17 1–2–1 Shea Stadium 46,828 Recap 5 October 9 at Boston Patriots W 26–17 2–2–1 Fenway Park 35,095 Recap 6 October 18 Denver Broncos W 42–14 3–2–1 Balboa Stadium 23,332 Recap 7 October 25 at Houston Oilers W 20–17 4–2–1 Jeppesen Stadium 21,671 Recap 8 November 1 Oakland Raiders W 31–17 5–2–1 Balboa Stadium 25,557 Recap 9 November 8 at Denver Broncos W 31–20 6–2–1 Bears Stadium 19,670 Recap 10 November 15 at Kansas City Chiefs W 28–14 7–2–1 Municipal Stadium 19,792 Recap 11 Bye 12 November 26 Buffalo Bills L 24–27 7–3–1 Balboa Stadium 34,865 Recap 13 December 6 New York Jets W 38–3 8–3–1 Balboa Stadium 25,753 Recap 14 December 13 Kansas City Chiefs L 6–49 8–4–1 Balboa Stadium 26,562 Recap 15 December 20 at Oakland Raiders L 20–21 8–5–1 Frank Youell Field 20,124 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries All game reports use the Pro Football Researchers' gamebook archive as a source.
Week 1: vs. Houston Oilers
Rote threw three touchdowns as San Diego began their title defense with a win. Houston had the first scoring chance - they opted to fake a 33-yard field goal, but George Blanda was brought down by Westmoreland and Emil Karas for a loss of 14 yards. The Chargers responded by driving 60 yards in five plays, with Alworth catching a 31-yard pass and Rote finding Kocourek for the opening score from a yard out. Blanda responded with a touchdown pass on 4th and goal, Blair missed a 31-yard kick for San Diego, and it was 7–7 at halftime.