When you think of the greatest players in Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers history, names like LaDainian Tomlinson, Junior Seau and Dan Fouts quickly come to mind.
But the greatest individual performance by a Bolt? That came on January 5, 1964, courtesy of fullback Keith Lincoln. And the stakes couldn’t have been higher.
Sixty-one years ago, the American Football League – after just four seasons – had established itself as a major threat to the NFL. The last clubs standing in the 1963 campaign were the Chargers (11-3) and Boston Patriots (8-6-1), who met at San Diego’s Balboa Stadium in the AFL Championship Game.
The Chargers had the league’s best record while Boston had to defeat the Buffalo Bills (also 8-6-1) in an Eastern Conference playoff game to earn the right to play for the crown.
It was never a contest as San Diego rolled to a 51-10 victory.
Obviously, a rout of that magnitude suggests the Chargers had superlative play across the board, and that was certainly true.
The winners outgained the Pats 610 yards to 261, and a smothering defense recorded several sacks totaling negative 42 yards and forced a pair of turnovers. Jumping out to a 14-0 lead, it was 31-10 at the half and San Diego scored all 20 second half points.
Winning QB Tobin Rote capped off a league Most Valuable Player season with a terrific championship game performance, throwing for 173 yards and two TDs and rushing for another score.
On defense, Paul Maguire and Bob Mitinger each had interceptions.
However, Lincoln closed the day with 206 ground yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries; reeled in seven receptions for 123 yards; and completed a 24-yard pass on an option play. He was voted title game MVP, picking up 38 of 39 votes.
Days before the clash Boston coach Mike Holovak inadvertently predicted the future when asked how to stop Chargers halfback Paul Lowe.
“We don’t expect Lowe to gain 200 yards, but we’re not going to key on him,” Holovak told the Associated Press. “Key on Lowe, and Lincoln will kill you.”
The Patriots boss was right, although Lincoln said after the game he felt out of sorts in the first quarter.
“I didn’t feel real good there early in the game,” Lincoln said. “My legs sort of went out after I made those first couple of runs. The heat got me. I just didn’t seem to have life in my legs. I felt I might have trouble running the 100 as fast as (Chargers 320-pound lineman) Ernie Ladd.
“This is the greatest game I ever played, but running 50 yards seemed like running a mile.”
Lincoln’s first four carries went for 56, 67, 11 and 44 yards – an astonishing 44.5 yards per carry average.
“Our offensive line was just too much,” the 6-1, 215-pounder said. “Our line just tore them open. Not often do you see any of Boston’s linebackers getting knocked down, but today they were.”
He got no argument from Patriot defensive end Bob Dee.
“Lincoln is the best back in the league, bar none,” Dee said. “One time about five of us hit him and we couldn’t bring him down.”
And Chargers coach Sid Gillman had high praise for his star freight-toter as well.
“Lincoln is the best all-around back we have on the squad,” Gillman said.
No question, Lincoln’s exploits in the AFL Championship Game were epic, but he was hardly a one-hit wonder.
In an eight-year AFL career – seven spent with the Chargers – he rushed for 3,383 rushing yards and scored 19 touchdowns on the ground while tallying 19 more TDs on 2,250 receiving yards (165 catches).
He was a five-time AFL All-Star and two-time First Team All-AFL selection.
In the AFL Championship Game the following season, Lincoln was immortalized again as the recipient of “The Hit Heard ‘Round The World.” He was crumpled by Buffalo linebacker Mike Stratton on a vicious collision that broke one of Lincoln’s ribs and knocked him out of the game midway through the first quarter.
The Bills dethroned the defending champs with a 20-7 victory.
Lincoln, who was voted into the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1980, starred at Washington State before playing pro ball and was nicknamed the “Moose of the Palouse.” A member of the Cougars’ Hall of Fame – setting a school career rushing record (1,501 yards), a single season punting average record (43.4 in 1959), and a career punting average record (40.3) – Lincoln passed away in 2019.
Still, his legend and legacy live on.