Fans and the media in San Diego are getting fed up with the Chargers after Monday night’s second-half meltdown against the Broncos. But the Chargers are telling their critics to stop griping and start supporting the team.
The top headline at Chargers.com on Thursday evening reads, “Take a Chill Pill,” and the story it links to, written by Chargers Director of Public Relations Bill Johnston, takes San Diego to task for being full of negativity this week.
Although Johnston acknowledges that the loss to the Broncos was “bad,” “horrible” and “embarrassing,” he then goes on to say that everyone needs to calm down.
“Time to take a chill pill,” Johnston writes. “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.”
Johnston also points out that the Chargers have overcome bad starts to get to the playoffs before, and they can do it again.
“Your team is 3-3, tied at the top of the division, and has 10 games to play,” Johnston writes. “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.”
Johnston is right, of course, that a 3-3 team in a tie for first place in its division shouldn’t be written off for dead. But when even the team’s general manager is decrying “the mess this team is in,” it’s not surprising that plenty of people in San Diego have given up on the Chargers. And telling them to take a chill pill is unlikely to get them back.