Chargers welcome Fred Dean into Hall of Fame

Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008
By Tom Shanahan, Chargers.com

Whenever Fred Dean sits down to write his speech for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Aug. 2 in Canton, Ohio, he says he finds himself stopping and starting over.

“I start to write down names of people that have been inspirational in my life, and then I’m afraid if I mention too many people I’ll leave somebody out,” Dean said. “I’m always scratching things out and starting over.”

If Dean doesn’t get it just the way he wants it on Aug. 2, he’ll get another chance to give a speech on Oct. 12 when he is enshrined in the Chargers’ Hall of Fame at halftime of the Bolts’ game against the New England Patriots at Qualcomm Stadium.

“I’ll probably just end up speaking from my heart,” Dean said.

Chargers Executive Vice-President-Executive Officer A.G. Spanos made the announcement that Dean will be the 34th member of the Chargers Hall of Fame on Tuesday at Sports at Lunch at the Hall of Champions.

Dean was joined on stage by two of his closest teammates from their Air Coryell days -- defensive tackles Gary Johnson and Louie Kelcher -- while former Chargers player and current Chargers radio analyst Hank Bauer served as the moderato r the event.

Dean joins 12 members of the Air Coryell Chargers, which includes Johnson and Kelcher, to be named to the Chargers’ Hall of Fame.

“I’m just elated this is happening to me,” Dean said. “The feeling is overwhelming. We were all together last night for dinner, and there was just so much inside me, I didn’t know what was going to come out.”

Bauer said there was a lot of storytelling and laughing as they recalled how close they were as a team.

“We had so much fun together,” Bauer said, “We were the only team in history that didn’t want training camp to end, because we didn’t want to go home.”

Dean was drafted by the Chargers in 1975 out of Louisiana Tech as an outside linebacker. Although he played defensive end in college and the Chargers drafted him as an outside linebacker, Dean convinced then-head coach Tommy Prothro and his staff to switch him back to defensive end.

He was undersized at 230 pounds, but he used his quickness to go with unusual strength for a man his size. Dean is credited with 100 sacks in his 141 games with the Chargers and San Francisco 49ers, although sacks didn’t become an official statistic until 1982.

“I was quick, but I was also very strong,” Dean said. “When I was in that (defensive end) stance, I felt comfortable. I could swing out and rush hard.”

Dean finished the 1978 season with 15.5 sacks when the Chargers posted a winning season after Don Coryell took over for Prothro early in the season.

Dean had nine sacks in 1979 and 10.5 in 1980 when he helped the Chargers with back-to-back AFC West titles and advance to the AFC Championship game in the 1980 season.

A contract dispute with the late Gene Klein, who owned the team at the time, led to the Chargers trading Dean to the 49ers early in the 1981 season. Dean finished the year as the NFC Defensive Player of the Year as the 49ers won their first Super Bowl under the late Bill Walsh.

Dean’s most productive sack season was 1983 when he had 17.5, including a then-NFL record of six in one game against the New Orleans Saints.

The Chargers’ 1975 draft was one of the best in franchise history, including three-fourths of the defensive line. In addition to Dean in the second round, Johnson was taken in the first round out of Grambling State and Kelcher in the second round out of SMU.

“Fred could be off the wall sometimes,” Kelcher said, “But he always gave you 180 percent.”

Added Johnson, “Fred was a great pass rusher that made everyone else on the defensive line better.”

Several former Chargers turned out to the announcement, including former teammates Ed White, Willie Buchanon, Pete Shaw and Ralph Perretta.

Other Chargers that were unable to attend will be invited by the Chargers to attend the Oct. 12 game when Dean’s name will be added to the Hall-of-Fame names that ring the stadium.