Mayor Sits Down To Discuss Stadium With Ex-Chargers
- Updated: March 6, 2015
(Photo via @hardwina)
The San Diego Mayor, Kevin Faulconer, and a couple of members of the Citizens’ Stadium Advisory Group sat down Thursday morning with 12 ex-Chargers players to discuss keeping the team in San Diego.
According to the members present at the meeting, Mayor Faulconer, put a heavy emphasis on his desire to keep the team local as well as reassuring attendees that they will be informed if any information pops up regarding the new stadium. Oh, and he also would welcome their support with open arms. Surprised??
The Chargers’ franchise was created in 1961 and the Mayor strategically had a player from each decade in the meeting. Those involved were as follows, “retired center Nick Hardwick, outside linebacker Shawne Merriman, Pro Football Hall of Fame guard Ron Mix and center Don Macek. Cornerback Willie Buchanon, punter Darren Bennett, kicker John Carney, long snapper David Binn, linebacker Donnie Edwards, running back Hank Bauer, linebacker Jim Laslavic and linebacker Billy Ray Smith.”
The Mayor had the following to say after the meeting concluded:
“Great, positive meeting.”
“They know it’s important for the whole city to come together to get this done. It was a great cross-section of Chargers history, and what really came through is a commitment and a lot of passion. … It takes everybody working together to accomplish success. There is a lot of work to do. It’s great we have so many guys that are committed to the Chargers, and that really showed through.”
With other Chargers ex-front officers and stadium personnel in attendance, it was made clear to the players that the new arena would not be built for the sole use of the Chargers. UT San Diego reports, “it’d serve as a regional asset for such multi-use events as concerts, Super Bowls and soccer games that the area otherwise wouldn’t host.”
“Many praised what they described as a genuine commitment from the mayor.
“Everyone was on common ground in the room,” Merriman said. “We all agreed that we — along with some other people — can come together and keep growing the knowledge that people need to have about this issue.”
“(The mayor) wants as many supporters as he can get,” Carney said. “He wanted to find out what was the temperature of the former players. There’s men in that room who are now in the media or in law, very successful men in business, private enterprise. He wanted to know what our pulse was like regarding the stadium issue and the future of the Chargers. I think he understands and was certainly confirmed that we’re San Diego Chargers. We want the Chargers to remain here in San Diego.”
It will definitely be interesting to see where this takes the team. Will they stay in San Diego or move elsewhere? What do you think? Let us know!
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things San Diego Chargers and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, all the time!
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