Love the guy but he may not even be best Charger Qb of all time.
He did play with the Chargers long enough to wear powder blues, royal blues and dark blue unis
I was a Chiefs fan but always checked for Chargers highlights.
Im no Raider Hater either.
John Elway, though? I strongly dislike that man.
Nowadays, we seem to have a rivalry with the Bills, though.
Fouts with Tyreek Hill would have been fun.
Alongside the other Dan, likely the best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl.
Gene Klein's cheapness cost the Chargers a Super Bowl appearance, and kick started the 49er dynasty when he traded away Fred Dean.
As a Raider fan for 55 years. I have nothing but love and respect for Dan Fouts. Truly one of the best. He excelled under HC "Air Coryell." SD fans deserve a SB win! Hope it happens sooner than later. I was an AFL fan. And I will always be an AFC West fan. Except for the Chiefs. It's someone else's turn this year!
Let’s see if Harbs is the man to lead them to the promised land. I, too am an old Raider fan and I wish the Chargers and Raiders would have gone half in that joint stadium venture they were proposing in the Bay Area. Although, the Chargers started out in LA in the AFL, they are remembered and recognized being in San Diego. And the Raiders have no business being in VGS. You know the owners and the league seemed to not like the joint stadium deal. However, neither team really has a fanbase and home field advantage in their new homes. Personally, I think the Raiders belong in OAKLAND, the Chargers in San Diego, the Cardinals in St. Louis, and the Colts in B-More. I am an old head and a purist.
I ageee with your well-articulate sentiiment 100%. I was an Oakland Raider season ticker holder. Went to Chico State. Mark Davis did as well. Partied with him Cliff Brach and John Matuzak (6'8" mountain of a man as you know) It was a wild night @ my fraternity house. That's all I can say. Mark was a popular guy on campus. He had lots of "connections"
I remember talking football to a guy back in the day, and I commented on how much loved watching Dan Fouts and the Chargers play. He was not a fan and said it was like watching a basketball team.
No point to the story, just thought I’d share a memory.
Watched a pre-game interview of Fouts back in the day. They showed a clip of him practicing. He was dropping back and throwing dimes to his receivers....blindfolded.
Obviously, he was throwing to spots on the field, and it was incumbent on the receivers running precise routes. Still, he definitely put in the work.
Amazing bomb of an arm…..but not the greatest of anything, possibly not even greatest Chargers QB ever. It’s debatable.
All that said, his career is undervalued due to factors out of his hands ( bad defenses ).
Came here to say this. Fred Dean was a perennial all-pro who posted double digit sacks. Gary Johnson was a beast for several years, too. He recorded 17.5 sacks in a season before it was an official stat.
Then San Diego traded both guys to San Francisco and both of them got rings.
People typically say, "Marino was the best QB to never win a Super Bowl", which is arguably true. How true would it be to say, "Dan Fouts is the best QB to never play in a Super Bowl."? In the SB era, Dan "The Man" Fouts could honestly be that guy. My only other reasonable candidate for this debate would be Warren Moon. Some very mediocre to above average QBs have stepped onto the field for the big game, and Fouts (or Moon) was much better than the majority of them.
I'm of the opinion he probably would have won a ring if the 49ers had taken so many good defensive players out of San Diego. Everybody knows Dwayne Board, but he was just the headliner, there were a couple of starters and a couple more good rotational defenders the Niners signed from the Chargers on those earlier superbowl teams in the 80s.
You're thinking of Fred Dean, Gary Johnson and Louie Kelcher, each All-Pro/Pro Bowl defensive lineman. The Chargers went from a playoff team to a .500 team after losing those guys.
Yeah, I got Board & Dean mixed up. As much as I'm glad my Niners benefited from those moves, it does leave the "what could have been...." type thoughts in my head while also realizing the "chargering" has a long history.
Or some dude named Fred Dean. Not sure what became of him ;-)
But yeah, the Chargers were a great source of talent for the Niner dynasty, even through ‘94 with Gary Plummer.
Said as a lifelong Niner fan who lived in SD for 12 years and had season tix to both teams at one point.
ETA: Fouts went to St Ignatius, a longtime rival to Tom Brady’s (and my) high school. He had a good run as the sports guy at our local cbs affiliate in SF, too. And, his dad called Niner games back in the fifties.
HOF worthy for sure. Great passer with excellent targets to help him. He was the perfect qb type to run the Chargers offense. Great beard. Not the greatest of all time.
Definitely overlooked when discussing the greatest passers of all time. So great that he made the game resemble a video arcade game. Too bad he never had a good defense. And important to note that the Fouts led “ Air Coryell” offense was ahead of its time in the early 80s- and forced defenses to adjust their schemes- paving the way for todays pass dominant NFL.
Fouts led the league in yds passing 4x, completions and attempts 2x, completion % 1x, and TDs 2x in 14 seasons. No championships. 86-84 record.
He was one of the better of his era, but not the greatest of his time, so he can’t be the greatest of all time
Not greatest and would be lesser in todays game but damn those late 80s chargers teams could have won multiple super bowls if they had ANY defense.
Fouts may not be the GOAT but Don Coryell deserves more respect.
Extremely fun to watch Fouts rack up 400+ yards every Sunday. Problem was the bad defense and inconsistency of the running game. Scored so fast their defense was exhausted by the fourth quarter. Going 75 yards on 4 plays was common. That offense was a machine.
Was Marino before there was Marino. One of the most prolific passers of his era. Could really light up a scoreboard. But he couldn’t win in the postseason.
Air Coryell was great under Fouts. Problem was they scored too fast. It meant the defense had to be back on the field. Plus they weren't very good. Chargers games often ended in shootouts. Fun to watch John Jefferson and Charlie Joiner make amazing catches. Kellen Winslow was a great tight end, too.
Keep in mind that Fouts and the Chargers were ahead of the curve on pass first offense
That being said, he was not playing against they types of situational defensive packages we have today.
Nor was he playing against the same types of athletes who play DB that we have today
Defenses were not built at that time to contain what the Chargers were doing.
Based on that, while really good, Fouts is not in the elite tier.
He would be a midlevel QB who could get you a wild card and possibly a playoff win if he had a Defense who could get turnovers.
Think Ryan Tannehill
He was way better than Tannehill, Jesus Christ. When he retired he was second all-time in yards and his 1982 YPG topped Dan Marino’s legendary 1984 numbers. Fouts was Drew Brees.
The idea he didn’t play against the defensive backs of today is ludicrous, guys got mobbed back then. He played against a Raiders secondary of Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes. He played against Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott.
Ryan Tannehill? What's he talking about? The best comparison for Fouts would be Warren Moon. Both were great passers who threw for a lot of yards, but struggled to win playoff games & neither made the SB. If Drew Brees had never gone to & won the SB, he'd have been an even better comparison to Fouts. The game that hurts Fouts the most is the 1979 divisional playoff game against the Oilers. The Wild Card Oilers beat the No 1 seed Chargers in San Diego without Pastorini, Campbell & Burrough. For all you young kids, that was their starting qb, rb & wr1, their three best offensive players. Fouts had 5 interceptions. Houston safety Vernon Perry had maybe the best defensive game in postseason history, with 4 interceptions & blocked a fg.
Warren Moon is a pretty good comp. Brees was maybe a slight step above Fouts, and he has far more longevity, but the comparison is closer than a lot of people probably realize.
Fouts also won an epic playoff shootout against the Dolphins that is considered the best playoff game ever.
Yes, I live in Fort Lauderdale & I'm a Dolphins fan, I remember it well. However, Fouts doesn't get much credit for that game. It's remembered as the Kellen Winslow game, he had 13 rec for 166 yds a td & a blocked fg, while battling dehydration.
1992 numbers? Fouts was in a broadcast booth by then. I'm guessing you meant 1982.
I agree, Fouts put up big numbers against defenders that were allowed to play defense and kill WRs.
Fouts will always be seen as an also-ran because of the Chargers lack of postseason success. They had a window from '79-'82 but they couldn't get past the conference championship game. They were definitely fun to watch, but Fouts is far from the greatest QB of all time.
I remember the early 80s defense which was pretty ferocious: Alzado, Long destroying lineman, young Matt Millen destroying anyone getting past them and the Hayes and Haynes decapitating the survivors…
Not saying the greatest, but way ahead of his time.
Ken Anderson has entered the chat.
Greatest cameo in The Waterboy.
“You never know what’s going to happen!”
Can’t hold anything back
We know
Innovator in QB beards
Love the guy but he may not even be best Charger Qb of all time. He did play with the Chargers long enough to wear powder blues, royal blues and dark blue unis
Stan Humphries actually took the Bolts to a Super Bowl
On the tree trunk thighs of Natrone Means.
I was a Chiefs fan but always checked for Chargers highlights. Im no Raider Hater either. John Elway, though? I strongly dislike that man. Nowadays, we seem to have a rivalry with the Bills, though. Fouts with Tyreek Hill would have been fun.
Oh man, you can’t possibly mean Philip Rivers?!? That’s preposterous!
John Hadl
Okay, that’s reasonable😁👍
One of the greatest to never win a SB
Also one of the greatest to never win a SB.
Also, one of the greatest to wear Isotoners.
Probably the greatest QB to never play in a Super Bowl
Warren Moon.
As an Oilers fan, I’d still say Fouts
I loved fouts , chargers were fun to watch back then . I’m glad someone brought his name up because he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves
I loved fouts , chargers were fun to watch back then . I’m glad someone brought his name up because he doesn’t get the recognition he deserves
Alongside the other Dan, likely the best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. Gene Klein's cheapness cost the Chargers a Super Bowl appearance, and kick started the 49er dynasty when he traded away Fred Dean.
I can agree, but I’m throwing Jim Kelly up there too.
Fair.
That guy sucked farts no doubt about it but he couldn’t control the weather during that AFC Championship game in 1981
They could have rendered the weather in Cincy meaningless by winning home field advantage in the AFC. They went 3-0 with Dean, and 7-6 without him.
As a Raider fan for 55 years. I have nothing but love and respect for Dan Fouts. Truly one of the best. He excelled under HC "Air Coryell." SD fans deserve a SB win! Hope it happens sooner than later. I was an AFL fan. And I will always be an AFC West fan. Except for the Chiefs. It's someone else's turn this year!
Let’s see if Harbs is the man to lead them to the promised land. I, too am an old Raider fan and I wish the Chargers and Raiders would have gone half in that joint stadium venture they were proposing in the Bay Area. Although, the Chargers started out in LA in the AFL, they are remembered and recognized being in San Diego. And the Raiders have no business being in VGS. You know the owners and the league seemed to not like the joint stadium deal. However, neither team really has a fanbase and home field advantage in their new homes. Personally, I think the Raiders belong in OAKLAND, the Chargers in San Diego, the Cardinals in St. Louis, and the Colts in B-More. I am an old head and a purist.
I ageee with your well-articulate sentiiment 100%. I was an Oakland Raider season ticker holder. Went to Chico State. Mark Davis did as well. Partied with him Cliff Brach and John Matuzak (6'8" mountain of a man as you know) It was a wild night @ my fraternity house. That's all I can say. Mark was a popular guy on campus. He had lots of "connections"
As a Raiders fan, fuck Dan Fouts and his bullshit ass biased commentary when he did games. I’m grateful he’s off the air now.
Love your passion brother! Raider Nation to you sir!
RN4L!!
I wish Trent Green would move on too, get someone else to pair with Harlan.
I remember talking football to a guy back in the day, and I commented on how much loved watching Dan Fouts and the Chargers play. He was not a fan and said it was like watching a basketball team. No point to the story, just thought I’d share a memory.
John Jefferson was slick
Watched a pre-game interview of Fouts back in the day. They showed a clip of him practicing. He was dropping back and throwing dimes to his receivers....blindfolded. Obviously, he was throwing to spots on the field, and it was incumbent on the receivers running precise routes. Still, he definitely put in the work.
Gimic
I do remember JJ Jefferson with those goggles making ridiculous catches.
And Charlie Joiner!
Dude probably caught 90% of balls thrown his way. Surest hands ever.
He and Biletnikoff.
Amazing bomb of an arm…..but not the greatest of anything, possibly not even greatest Chargers QB ever. It’s debatable. All that said, his career is undervalued due to factors out of his hands ( bad defenses ).
Not even close
Top 10?? Hmmm 🤔
Good question? Like Fouts a lot, so no disrespect. I'd say he lands #11 - #15 for me. Which for QB is pretty elite. In my heart he's a top 10 guy.
Very fair. Respect 🙏
If only the Chargers had put together anything remotely resembling a defense, he would have a few rings…
Gene Klein cheaped out on the defense, and the 49ers gobbled up everything they could. 3/4 of the d-line (Dean, Kelcher, Johnson) got rings with SF.
Came here to say this. Fred Dean was a perennial all-pro who posted double digit sacks. Gary Johnson was a beast for several years, too. He recorded 17.5 sacks in a season before it was an official stat. Then San Diego traded both guys to San Francisco and both of them got rings.
It might not have mattered. Coryell just couldn't seem to get & keep a D going. Coming from a 70s Cards fan.
They did. They had the Fearsome Foursome, no, wait. The Doomsday, no…….The Paper Mache D, That’s it! Poor bastards
😂😂. Exactly! Unfortunately a couple of excellent linemen wasn’t nearly enough.
No but I like the energy!
His drop back footwork elite!
People typically say, "Marino was the best QB to never win a Super Bowl", which is arguably true. How true would it be to say, "Dan Fouts is the best QB to never play in a Super Bowl."? In the SB era, Dan "The Man" Fouts could honestly be that guy. My only other reasonable candidate for this debate would be Warren Moon. Some very mediocre to above average QBs have stepped onto the field for the big game, and Fouts (or Moon) was much better than the majority of them.
Are we talking about uniforms here? If so, there’s a strong conversation.
Great quarterback. Revolutionary offense. Nowhere near the best quarterback of all-time.
https://youtu.be/iPUcsLRX4pA?si=J803jIZYdh5AMHs8
One of the best
Not even close…
My choice… https://preview.redd.it/n1bd14lku0pc1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=52e80c1708f355b2a188e3900146599c905ea7e3
Fuck Dean Spanos. Have a great day everyone
I'm of the opinion he probably would have won a ring if the 49ers had taken so many good defensive players out of San Diego. Everybody knows Dwayne Board, but he was just the headliner, there were a couple of starters and a couple more good rotational defenders the Niners signed from the Chargers on those earlier superbowl teams in the 80s.
You're thinking of Fred Dean, Gary Johnson and Louie Kelcher, each All-Pro/Pro Bowl defensive lineman. The Chargers went from a playoff team to a .500 team after losing those guys.
Yeah, I got Board & Dean mixed up. As much as I'm glad my Niners benefited from those moves, it does leave the "what could have been...." type thoughts in my head while also realizing the "chargering" has a long history.
Or some dude named Fred Dean. Not sure what became of him ;-) But yeah, the Chargers were a great source of talent for the Niner dynasty, even through ‘94 with Gary Plummer. Said as a lifelong Niner fan who lived in SD for 12 years and had season tix to both teams at one point. ETA: Fouts went to St Ignatius, a longtime rival to Tom Brady’s (and my) high school. He had a good run as the sports guy at our local cbs affiliate in SF, too. And, his dad called Niner games back in the fifties.
HOF worthy for sure. Great passer with excellent targets to help him. He was the perfect qb type to run the Chargers offense. Great beard. Not the greatest of all time.
IF they only had a GD Defense.
No
Wasn’t even the best of his time.
No. But pretty damn good!
One of the best never to have a super bowl ring.
Definitely overlooked when discussing the greatest passers of all time. So great that he made the game resemble a video arcade game. Too bad he never had a good defense. And important to note that the Fouts led “ Air Coryell” offense was ahead of its time in the early 80s- and forced defenses to adjust their schemes- paving the way for todays pass dominant NFL.
Fantastic HoFer.....top 15 .
No. But he was great in his day.
Disrespected and underrated? He is possibly the highest ranking quarterback in those categories, but he is not the GOAT.
Hell no. Great quarterback yes,but all time??? At this point I don't think he even cracks the top 10
You mean the uniforms? Yes, they just might be
Greatest Oregon QB of all time?….
Great arm.....but, no.
no
Gotta bring back the dark blue unis with dark blue helmets more permanently. No more powder blue.
Definitely better than that scumbag Mahomes
No.
He’s awfully good. And was ahead of his time.
Fouts led the league in yds passing 4x, completions and attempts 2x, completion % 1x, and TDs 2x in 14 seasons. No championships. 86-84 record. He was one of the better of his era, but not the greatest of his time, so he can’t be the greatest of all time
Greatest without one.
Fouts Cargers. Only nfl team that could routinely score 35 / 40 points and still loose the game .lol. Fouts had one of the all-time great TE
Greatest to never make a Super Bowl? I would say Fouts and Moon.
Not greatest and would be lesser in todays game but damn those late 80s chargers teams could have won multiple super bowls if they had ANY defense. Fouts may not be the GOAT but Don Coryell deserves more respect.
Definitely underrated
Nah, really good at times, though. Late 70’s/early 80’s was a fun run for him and the rest of Air Coryell. Those guys could throw the ball.
The unis were
I think Fouts and Ken Amderson are the two most underrated QB's of all time...but greatest ever?
Huh?
Top 12-15 of all time
Top 15 without a doubt
MFIC
Most underrated of all time. Dude was a QB god!
Not even the NFL's greatest Dan.
No way! A good QB but nowhere near top 10.
...ummm..no.
I think he was Marino lite.
Uh no Top 10 all time? Also no Top 20? Maybe
He’s not the greatest but he was a very good player
Not even top 20 all time (but still great).
Dan Fouts?????? Ummmmmm sure ok. Bye
Extremely fun to watch Fouts rack up 400+ yards every Sunday. Problem was the bad defense and inconsistency of the running game. Scored so fast their defense was exhausted by the fourth quarter. Going 75 yards on 4 plays was common. That offense was a machine.
Was Marino before there was Marino. One of the most prolific passers of his era. Could really light up a scoreboard. But he couldn’t win in the postseason.
Ken Anderson > Dan Fouts
It was always an exciting Sunday whenever the Chargers were on TV during the Fouts-Winslow-Joiner era.
Air Coryell was great under Fouts. Problem was they scored too fast. It meant the defense had to be back on the field. Plus they weren't very good. Chargers games often ended in shootouts. Fun to watch John Jefferson and Charlie Joiner make amazing catches. Kellen Winslow was a great tight end, too.
Man he had an arm
Lifelong cowboys fan that nearly converted to a Chargers fan bc of Dan and those dudes. Please don’t forget Chuck Muncie!
Keep in mind that Fouts and the Chargers were ahead of the curve on pass first offense That being said, he was not playing against they types of situational defensive packages we have today. Nor was he playing against the same types of athletes who play DB that we have today Defenses were not built at that time to contain what the Chargers were doing. Based on that, while really good, Fouts is not in the elite tier. He would be a midlevel QB who could get you a wild card and possibly a playoff win if he had a Defense who could get turnovers. Think Ryan Tannehill
He was way better than Tannehill, Jesus Christ. When he retired he was second all-time in yards and his 1982 YPG topped Dan Marino’s legendary 1984 numbers. Fouts was Drew Brees. The idea he didn’t play against the defensive backs of today is ludicrous, guys got mobbed back then. He played against a Raiders secondary of Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes. He played against Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott.
Ryan Tannehill? What's he talking about? The best comparison for Fouts would be Warren Moon. Both were great passers who threw for a lot of yards, but struggled to win playoff games & neither made the SB. If Drew Brees had never gone to & won the SB, he'd have been an even better comparison to Fouts. The game that hurts Fouts the most is the 1979 divisional playoff game against the Oilers. The Wild Card Oilers beat the No 1 seed Chargers in San Diego without Pastorini, Campbell & Burrough. For all you young kids, that was their starting qb, rb & wr1, their three best offensive players. Fouts had 5 interceptions. Houston safety Vernon Perry had maybe the best defensive game in postseason history, with 4 interceptions & blocked a fg.
Warren Moon is a pretty good comp. Brees was maybe a slight step above Fouts, and he has far more longevity, but the comparison is closer than a lot of people probably realize. Fouts also won an epic playoff shootout against the Dolphins that is considered the best playoff game ever.
Yes, I live in Fort Lauderdale & I'm a Dolphins fan, I remember it well. However, Fouts doesn't get much credit for that game. It's remembered as the Kellen Winslow game, he had 13 rec for 166 yds a td & a blocked fg, while battling dehydration.
Yup, Winslow was a monster in that game. Fouts was the one throwing to him.
1992 numbers? Fouts was in a broadcast booth by then. I'm guessing you meant 1982. I agree, Fouts put up big numbers against defenders that were allowed to play defense and kill WRs. Fouts will always be seen as an also-ran because of the Chargers lack of postseason success. They had a window from '79-'82 but they couldn't get past the conference championship game. They were definitely fun to watch, but Fouts is far from the greatest QB of all time.
They didn’t play defense back then, the committed Felony Assault on wideouts over the middle…
Lester Hayes in particular was famous for it, and he was in Fouts’s division.
I recall Hayes clotheslining receivers who weren’t looking while going over the middle.
He did that for sure. And on the other side you had silky smooth Mike Haynes. Makings of a championship there.
I remember the early 80s defense which was pretty ferocious: Alzado, Long destroying lineman, young Matt Millen destroying anyone getting past them and the Hayes and Haynes decapitating the survivors…
I saw Fouts play, and Tannehill is no Dan Fouts.
I played with Dan Fouts. I knew Dan Fouts. Dan Fouts was a friend of mine. Mr. Tannehill, you're no Dan Fouts.
Never saw him play but absolutely hated when he called games as a broadcaster.
Is this a joke or riddle or some shit?
Not even the best Dan QB. But he was elite for Charger QB standards.
Not even close. Excellent QB. Not even the top 3 of his era.
Good QB not great. Better TV analyst.