The 1961 San Diego Chargers season was the team's second in the American Football League. Following a move from Los Angeles, it was the Chargers' first season in San Diego, where the team remained until returning to Los Angeles in 2017.
The Chargers won their first eleven games and clinched the Western Division by mid-November. They lost form in December, with only one victory in their final three regular season games, and finished at 12–2, six games ahead of runner-up Dallas. Like the previous season, the Chargers' season ended with a loss to the Houston Oilers in the AFL championship game, this time 10–3 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.
San Diego's defense had a historic campaign, setting AFL/NFL records for most total takeaways (66), most interceptions (49), and most interceptions returned for touchdowns (9). All three of these records still stand . Defensive backs Charlie McNeil, Bob Zeman, and Dick Harris were the biggest contributors to the interceptions record, with 24 between the three of them.
At the linebacker position, rookie Chuck Allen played well enough that he was named Rookie of the Year and Most Inspirational Player by his teammates, despite breaking his ankle early in November and missing the latter half of the season. Quarterback Jack Kemp was voted the Chargers' MVP. He passed for over 2,600 yards, and Dave Kocourek caught passes for over 1,000 yards. Kemp, however, struggled with interceptions as the season wore on, and threw four in the title game defeat.
Offseason
Relocation
The Los Angeles Chargers struggled to attract fans throughout their opening season. For their first exhibition game, the attendance was 27,778, well short of the anticipated 45,000. Five days later, owner Barron Hilton professed both disappointment at a crowd of under 12,000, and hope for an increase once the regular season began, especially if Los Angeles fielded a winning team. In the event, the Chargers pulled under 18,000 for their regular season opener, peaked with 21,805 against the eventual AFL champion Oilers, and mustered fewer than 10,000 against Denver on December 11, the day they clinched their division.
The Chargers finished the season 10–4, yet averaged an attendance of just 15,768 over their seven regular-season home games. By contrast, the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL pulled in over 77,000 fans for a game late in a mediocre 4–7–1 campaign. The 1960 AFL Championship Game was moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum to Jeppesen Stadium, home of the opposing Houston Oilers. This move was made with the consent of the Chargers' head coach and general manager, Sid Gillman, amid fears that broadcasters might be put off by rows of empty seats in the showpiece game. Gillman later quipped, "It would have been the first championship game ever played for the personal amusement of bellhops and players' wives." Funding the team proved a major financial drain for Hilton, with losses estimated at $900,000 from its founding through to the end of the 1960 season.
With the Chargers failing to make an impact in Los Angeles, San Diego was rumoured as a likely alternative location for the team as early as December 1960, with the AFL Title game still to be played. Balboa Stadium was proposed as a venue; Hilton expressed concerns over the size of the stadium after surveying it early in January, but was impressed by the enthusiasm of city administration. Jack Murphy, a journalist with the San Diego Union, was instrumental in building local enthusiasm for the Chargers; by late January, advanced ticket sales stood at approximately 24,000. Hilton met with San Diego City Council on January 25, agreeing a contract that would see renovations to Balboa Stadium; its capacity was boosted from 23,000 to 34,000 by the construction of an upper deck, beginning in May 1961. The San Diego Chargers were officially born on February 10, when the AFL owners voted unanimously to allow the move.
AFL draft
The AFL conducted their draft for the 1961 season in the winter of 1960, with the first six rounds conducted on November 21–22, and the remaining twenty-four on December 5–6. In contrast to the largely randomised AFL draft of 1960, the 1961 edition employed a 30-round structure, with the Chargers choosing seventh in each round. Having received the Texans' sixth-round pick in a trade, they had 31 picks in total.