SDUT: Chargers Ingram, Allen fumble with fans

[Robin Miller]

[RM: But Acee only called out Ingram on Twitter yesterday, not Allen.]


Chargers Ingram, Allen fumble with fans

The players used social media to demand that fans attend games — after
4-12 season

By Bryce Miller | 12:16 p.m. Jan. 30, 2016


Whoa, whoa, whoa. Tap the brakes, Melvin Ingram. Take a minute to think,
Keenan Allen.

On a postcard-perfect day filled with the most Chargers-related joy
since the jersey of touchdown-scoring magician LaDainian Tomlinson was
retired, a couple of players suffered monumental brain cramps.

Team chairman Dean Spanos sparked NFL hope more rare in these parts than
the Hope Diamond itself when he announced Friday that the Chargers would
play in San Diego for 2016 — and potentially far beyond.

There’s hope. It could be fool’s gold. It could be short-lived. But
hope, it is.

Then, Ingram and Allen jumped on Twitter and started bossing around
their fan base. Ingram wrote, “Every home game better be sold
out..Charger blue everywhere Fans got what they wanted Now come
support.” Allen added: “The stadium better be packed. The fans got what
they wanted.”

In a season filled with an avalanche of injuries, a couple of cramps
might not be surprising — but it was galling.

Let’s get one thing straight: Teams that finish 4-12 don’t get to demand
things of its fans.

Do you have any concept of what it takes to attend NFL games? It doesn’t
matter in your world, because you’re paid millions. But it matters in
most of ours. It takes hundreds of dollars to buy tickets for just one
game, to park a car, visit a concession stand and, for the financially
fearless, buy a program or souvenir.

What did the thousands and thousands of loyal fans who did show up get
for torpedoing bank accounts in a city already among the most expensive
in the nation? They got 4-12.

Look closer and, miraculously, the return on investment spiraled even more.

None of the four teams the Chargers beat — the Lions, Browns, Jaguars
and Dolphins — posted winning records. Two, the Browns and Dolphins,
finished dead last in their divisions. The others, second to last.

Qualcomm Stadium, even with a troubling share of opposing fans at times,
finished 19th in the 32-team league in attendance — despite the team
tripping over itself inside it tying for the 30th best record.

Make demands? You should be saying, “Thank you.”

Did you somehow forget the tsunami of support after the Miami game, when
fans crushed on top of each other long after it was over to reach out
and say thanks to you, to say you mattered, in case the opportunity
proved to be the last?

Did your cramping cranium blot out the image of the throng lining
Chargers Park in the dark after you returned from Denver with a
season-ending loss, the fourth in five games?

And you’re willing to risk calling out that fan base? Try this: Win some
games. While you’re at it, win some meaningful ones. Make the playoffs.

You want crowds? What in your right mind do you think would happen in
Inglewood, where you would be the fourth or fifth or eighth best option
in town? There are the Dodgers, Lakers, USC, UCLA, Clippers, Kings,
Ducks and a Rams team with a history, a head start and about 50,000
ticket ordering commitments.

Allen, to his credit, tried to clarify his comments a few hours later:
“Those last messages weren’t shots at the fans. It was me keeping it
real with what needs to happen in OUR stadium!”

The Union-Tribune requested late Saturday afternoon to speak with both
players. A team spokesperson said they could not be reached, but a
back-pedaling tweet from Ingram followed late Sunday morning.

Ingram wrote, “I would never questioned (sic) the fans commitment I kno
there (sic) committed... My last tweet was saying now let’s sell out
every home game....” He continued: “And make 2016 a special season
there’s no place like San Diego and I'm glad to still be here...
#SanDiegoChargers4life”

At that point, however, it felt like damage control — no matter the
sincerity.

A tour of social media showed damage already had been done.

Comedian, actor and national radio host Jay Mohr tweeted: “Um
@Keenan13Allen @MelvinIngram ‘Fans got what they wanted’? Millionaires
get to PLAY in most beautiful city in USA. What was it YOU wanted?” He
chided: “What a PR disaster. All @Chargers players follow me: ‘What a
blessing to be home in San Diego in front of the greatest fans on Earth.’ ”

One letter to the Union-Tribune from a fan from Oceanside gauged the
frustration, as well.

He wrote, I “have to say how completely disgusted and turned off I am by
Charger players Allen and Ingram saying that the stadium ‘better be
packed’ and ‘every home game better be sold out.’ After their play on
the field in 2015 — and after what the Spanos family has put San Diego
through? And now we ‘better’ show up? I don’t think so. I’ll spend my
money on something else.”

Ingram and Allen need to learn from veterans like Philip Rivers, Eric
Weddle and Malcom Floyd, who greeted fans and signed autographs until
their hands ached after the Miami game. Weddle stayed so long that the
grounds crew had to wait until he stopped sprawling across the midfield
logo to dig it up for the upcoming Holiday Bowl.

That’s the response. That’s the reaction. That’s a show of appreciation
and respect for the people who pay the Chargers’ bills.

Running back Danny Woodhead showed smarts and savvy on Twitter: “Can’t
wait for this season and knowing we will be playing at HOME! Let’s go
San Diego!” Mohr noticed: “See the difference in the message? ‘Can’t
wait’ ‘HOME’ Kid gets it.”

To Ingram and Allen: No one is questioning your ability, your effort or
your commitment. Continue to use your uncommon skill, speed, strength
and sweat to help San Diego find more and more reasons to support its
Chargers.

Next time, use your heads as well.

On Twitter: Bryce_A_Miller

[gmone...@mailandnews.com]

They should be asking their o and d linemen to show up, not the fans!