San Diego Chargers Tell Fans to “Chill Out” over Losses

The way San Diego Chargers fans were actin on Monday during the team’s epic collapse against the Denver Broncos, you’d think the game was a win or go home type of situation. This is exactly what they the Chargers website said following intense fan backlash following the loss to Peyton Manning, and the lamenting of fans didn’t end there.

Usually team websites never out down the pom-poms and rarely go anywhere but up their fans behinds. But the Chargers are taking a stand and told their fan base to “chill out” with their angst over the woeful start. Chargers Director of Public Relations Bill Johnson went on a rant that has Chagers fans fuming and the rest of the NFL watching like their watching the Real Housewives of San Diego.

"Listening to some of you out there, you’d think Monday night was “win or go home” and the Chargers are now packing their bags.“The Chargers are finished. Done,” said one scribe.Another wrote, “Bye, bye Chargers. Put a fork in them.”Sometimes I think Twitter was invented to give people a chance to puff out their chests and talk big, saying things they never would say to someone’s face."

But it didn’t end there. Johnson was literally just getting started when it comes to the influence of the media — in particular sports talk radio– has on the fans and how they view the team.

"And talk radio … don’t get me started. The old adage your mom used to preach — “If you don’t have anything good say, don’t say anything” — seems to have evolved to “if you don’t have anything good to say, call sports talk radio.”Time to take a chill pill.  No one knows what will happen this season, yet alone the next game. That’s the beauty of the National Football League.  I don’t know, you don’t know, no one knows what’s going to happen. […][…] If you want these players and coaches to succeed, then support them.  Don’t tear them down.  What you want and what we all want, including your team, is to know people believe in them.Look at it this way.  We want our loved ones to succeed, and we’ll do whatever it takes to help them.  But when they make mistakes, like we all do, we would never criticize or belittle them publicly.Your team is 3-3, tied at the top of the division, and has 10 games to play.  If the Chargers are your team, get behind them and stay behind them.  We’re all at our best when we know others believe in us."

Now, I’m not a public relations expert, but when you’re dealing with a rabid, less than rational fan base and you work within the organization said fan base is obsessed with and you blast them like you’re Jim Rome, things won’t end well. I love it when people tell other people who are acting irrational to “chill out”, but Johnson has breached a certain code of ethics by going rouge like he’s a sports writer.

We don’t care what Johnson’s opinions are, that’s not what he’s paid for. Like it or not, Johnson’s job is to kiss up to fans and make sure the money they earn becomes money the Chargers have earned.  American’s are a difficult and often easily ruffled bunch and telling them to “chill out” rarely goes over well. The question now is what happens to Johnson. If he was acting in the name of the team, that’s one thing. But if he is a lone gunman on this one, then he’s likely getting the ax. If one thing is true in America it’s that if people get offended by someone they call for their head on a pike.

Does Johnson deserve to get fired, that’s up to the court of the people. A court full of irrational, often drunk and non-sensical, albeit passionate people that need to really chill out.