Friesz sad to see Chargers leaving San Diego

John Friesz said he was a little sad earlier this week when he heard the news the San Diego Chargers were relocating to Los Angeles next season.

And that’s not just because San Diego was where he met his wife.

And not because the Chargers were his favorite team growing up.

After starring at Coeur d’Alene High and the University of Idaho, Friesz, Coeur d’Alene’s link to the NFL, was drafted by the Chargers in the sixth round of the 1990 NFL draft. He spent the first four seasons of his 11-year NFL career in San Diego.

“Sad was one of the first things that came to my mind, just for all the people who have lived there and supported it,” Friesz said the other day. “Even though the Chargers haven’t won as many games as people would like ... there’s still a real good following there. Just sad for the fans, sad for the people within the organization, they’ve got two choices — they can move, or find a new job. And that’s unfortunate, especially for those who have made it their career.”

THE CHARGERS, who spent the last 56 seasons in San Diego after playing their first season in Los Angeles, are coming home ... sort of.

You know the drill. Team needs new stadium. Owner wants city/fans to pay for it. Vote for new stadium fails. Owner picks up team and moves.

Friesz, who won the Walter Payton Award in 1989 as the top player in NCAA Division I-AA football, remembers San Diego fans as being very passionate about their Chargers — but also just as passionate about other NFL teams as well.

“The problem in San Diego is that it’s sort of a melting pot area. Everybody loves to get transferred for work to San Diego, or retire there. So many people there are from other parts of the country.”

So the stands at Qualcomm Stadium were often littered with large amounts of fans for the visiting team. And Qualcomm was one of those cookie-cutter stadiums built to house baseball and football. Because of that, the best seats for football were often not very good seats.

“It’s not the No. 1 thing to do in San Diego,” Friesz said of going to Chargers games. “There’s a lot of people who choose to go golfing, there’s a lot of people who choose to go to the beach, there’s a lot of things to do. There’s two people — there’s the person who is proud of the hometown Chargers, and believes this is going to be the year. But the reality is, there’s a lot of other people that really are indifferent to it, and I think that’s one of the reason it (the vote for a new stadium) didn’t pass.”

AMONG THE fond memories Friesz has of San Diego is meeting his wife, Julie, there in the fall of 1990, his rookie year.

“I went into a place to get a haircut, and she used to do nails for a living and I saw her across the way, and I asked the (stylist) about Julie, and she said ‘Julie’s really nice, but she has a boyfriend.’ Another haircut or two later she said ‘Oh, Julie doesn’t have a boyfriend anymore.’”

Their three boys — Carter, a sophomore at Coeur d’Alene High; Hunter, a junior at Idaho and Jake, a freshman at Idaho — were all born in Seattle, where John played from 1995-98. John noted that Carter’s current gym bag is an old Chargers’ bag from John’s time in San Diego.

“Somewhere in the early Dan Fouts career is when I started following them,” John recalled. “That was my favorite team back then. I really liked Fouts, and liked how he played. He didn’t move around very much on the field, and neither did I, and he had a lot of success being able to stay in one spot and I thought, well, that’s the guy that I emulate, he’s getting it done with limitations, then so can I.

It was pretty neat playing there, getting the jersey, meeting him for the first time. Those were all big moments for me.”

WHEN NOT spending one-on-one dad time with his sons, John enjoys watching the NFL — often with the family.

These days, his Chargers apparently love L.A. Soon, we’ll see if L.A. loves the Chargers in return.

“I don’t see how it’s going to work, I really don’t. There’s just not a lot of Chargers fans in LA. There never has been, and I don’t know when there will be.”

Friesz, who passed for 8,699 yards and 45 touchdowns with 42 interceptions in the NFL, spent enough time in the league to understand the money side of the NFL. Even though he doesn’t have to like it.

“It makes me sad that they’re not there anymore. My wife is from San Diego, her parents and all sorts of family are big San Diego Chargers fans and it’s just gone. Even though it’s been a long time coming, it just still feels like they left in the middle of the night. It’s like all of a sudden, I can’t believe it just happened.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.