We are 64 days away until the LA Chargers are scheduled to be back in action.
Counting today, there are officially 64 days until the LA Chargers‘ scheduled Week 1 matchup against first overall pick Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. That is, as long as the 2020 NFL season goes as planned, which certainly is not a guarantee.
To count down the potential 2020 season, we have been naming the best players in Chargers’ history to wear each number that coincides with the number of days remaining until that Week 1 matchup.
Ironically, the only current Charger that has been named is not even a great one. Sam Tevi is the greatest number 69 in team history and he probably won’t even be starting for the team in 2020 unless Bryan Bulaga or Trey Pipkins get hurt.
Tevi will remain as the only current Charger thus far to earn the honor as the current number 64, as listed on the LA Chargers roster, is Cole Toner.
The number 64 has not really had any great players don the number and there is a good chance you might not have ever heard of the best player to wear the number.
The best number 64 in LA Chargers’ history: Pat Shea
The number 64 is not a good one in the slightest. Pat Shea is the all-time leader in Approximate Value for any player to wear number 64 in LA Chargers’ history and he still only has a career AV of 19. There is not a single player who has wore the number for more than four seasons.
So heck, I would not even count Gilliam out in being named the best number 64 in team history. While he has not even made the roster, all he really needs is 2-3 solid years and he will be in the running for the honor.
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Shea is the longest-tenured number 64 in team history as he spent four seasons with the Chargers from 1962 to 1965. He was undrafted out of USC but was a local player, having grown up in La Jolla.
Shea did not get a chance to start in his rookie season, appearing in only five games as a backup, but he did become the team’s starting right guard for the next two and a half seasons. He started all 14 games in both 1963 and 1964 and started eight games in 1965.
In his two full seasons as a starter, Shea accumulated eight AV per season.
Shea was part of the 1963 Chargers team that won the AFL Championship. He, unfortunately, passed away in 2013 at the age of 73.