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    Why Are the Chargers’ Uniforms Different? Explaining the Throwback Look on Sunday Night Football

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    What era are these uniforms from? How many different combinations will the Chargers wear this season?

    The Los Angeles Chargers are wearing navy blue pants and navy blue jerseys with a white helmet against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football. The team wore navy as the primary color during the mid-1980s when the team was located in San Diego and through the team’s first couple of seasons in Los Angeles.

    The Chargers will be wearing navy blue jerseys and pants with a white helmet for the 13th time, and they are 6-6 with this combo. The helmet is slightly different, with the lightning bolt, face mask, and number in navy blue.

    Who Played in the Navy Blue Jerseys for the Chargers?

    Pro Football Hall of Famers Dan Fouts, Kellen Winslow, and Charlie Joiner wore navy blue jerseys in their final seasons with the Chargers. They played the majority of their careers wearing the Chargers’ royal blue jerseys.

    Linebacker Junior Seau played for the Chargers from 1990 to 2022, when he was named to the Pro Bowl 12 times. He wore navy blue, and also getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 after finishing his career with the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.

    MORE: PFN’s FREE NFL Playoff Predictor

    Running back LaDainian Tomlinson was another Charger great to wear navy blue. He led the NFL in rushing twice and scored an NFL-record 31 touchdowns during the 2006 season as a member of the Chargers. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

    The Chargers wore navy blue jerseys in the franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance following the 1994 season. San Diego lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 49-26, in Super Bowl XXIX.

    How Many Uniforms Do the Chargers Have?

    Los Angeles has four different styles of uniforms ready for this season. The primary uniforms feature a powder blue jersey with white pants or a white jersey with gold pants. These jerseys are a throwback to the team’s original appearance from the 1960s, when they competed in the AFL in Los Angeles and San Diego.

    According to the team’s website, team owner Barron Hilton associated “charge” with a lighting bolt, and he also liked the bolts on the Air Force helmets. He had a “Chargers Bolt,” which was designed for the team to be worn on the helmet, jersey, and pants.

    The other jersey the Chargers will wear is a royal blue jersey and pants with slight modifications to the helmet. This is a tribute to the team’s look from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, when Fouts led the team to two straight AFC Championship Games in 1980 and 1981.

    The Chargers will only wear the navy blue uniforms in Week 12 and the royal blue uniforms in Week 14.

    Want to predict the rest of the 2023 season with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? Looking for the most up-to-date NFL standings? What about a breakdown of team depth charts or the NFL schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with that and more! 

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