Chuck Allen obit

Chargers mourn loss of LB Chuck Allen

 

He was not on the list.

The Chargers mourned the loss Thursday of one of the greatest linebackers in franchise history, announcing the death of Chuck Allen. He was 77.

Allen, a member of the Chargers Hall of Fame, was an inside linebacker for the organization during its first nine seasons in San Diego from 1961 to 1969. He was part of the 1963 AFL championship team, which defeated the Boston Patriots 51-10 at Balboa Stadium. The title remains the city’s lone major professional sports team title.

Regarded for his toughness, Allen spent the next two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelersw before capping his career with the Eagles in 1972. He worked as a long-time Seahawks personnel executive following his playing career.

“As linebackers are measured, he was on the small side,” said Jerry Magee, former San Diego Union-Tribune sportswriter. “But he was a hitter, and he played to the very best of his ability, which is all you can ask of a guy. … The thing that sticks out in my mind is they’re playing the Jets in Shea Stadium one night, and Chuck had suffered a severe injury — I think it was a broken leg — and he hopped all the way across the field on one leg in order to save the team a timeout. That’s the kind of guy he was.

He was a real competitor and a very good football player. Anybody who played with him had the greatest respect for him. He was just that kind of guy.”

The Chargers drafted the Washington standout in the 28th round of the 1961 AFL draft.

In 2009, he was one of five linebackers named to the franchise’s 50th Anniversary Team, joining Junior Seau, Woodrow Lowe, Billy Ray Smith and Shawne Merriman.

“On behalf of the Spanos family and the entire Chargers organization, we’d like to express our deepest sympathies to the Allen family,” said Dean Spanos, the Chargers’ chairman of the board, in a statement. “Allen’s quiet disposition hid a great competitor whose talents and leadership on the field helped the Chargers become the AFL champions in 1963 and cemented his place in the Chargers Hall of Fame.”