Eric D. Williams, ESPN Staff Writer 5y

From rags to riches: Alex Spanos built Chargers as family-run business

COSTA MESA, Calif. -- A tough-minded businessman who believed in hard work and fulfilled a lifelong dream by purchasing an NFL franchise -- that was Los Angeles Chargers owner Alex Spanos.

Spanos died Tuesday at the age of 95 after a long battle with dementia, surrounded by family and friends in his Stockton, California, home.

"Alex Spanos is an American success story, driven by a tireless work ethic inspired by his humble beginnings as the son of Greek immigrants," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a prepared statement. "Alex became one of the country's most successful businessmen, but he never forgot his roots and the call to help others."

Spanos' oldest son Dean took over day-to-day business operations in 1994, and served as the lead person in the decision-making of the family moving the team from San Diego to Los Angeles in January 2017.

Those who knew and had regular dealings with Alex Spanos described him as loyal and caring, but also someone focused on making things happen his way.

"He was very, very tough and demanding, and had high expectations," said longtime San Diego-area sports columnist Jay Paris. "He wasn't going to try and beat around any bush or even a branch. He would let you know what was going on."

Paris went on to say Spanos was an absentee owner who would fly in from Stockton to attend games on the weekends and once during the week to check on business operations.

"When he was coming, you knew it because there'd be people headed the other direction, trying to look busy or trying not to catch his eye," Paris joked.

And he wasn't always beloved by Chargers fans.

"He really came in on the fumes of Air Coryell," Paris said. "He was the guy who had to tell [quarterback] Dan Fouts to move along. He was the guy who had to fire [coach] Don Coryell. So those are two pretty big marks against you right off the bat, and then you're not playing well.

"And you're flying in, so you're really not a San Diego guy. So it was kind of a tough sell, because [former owner] Gene Klein was the opposite. He was from Rancho Santa Fe, he was a horse racing guy and maybe the biggest thing was he sued Al Davis -- so suing the owner of your archrival, you definitely liked that guy."

Spanos was a self-made man who quit working at his father's bakery to go out on his own, taking out an $800 loan and starting a catering service for migrant workers in 1951, selling bologna sandwiches on white bread out of the back of his truck.

In four short years he grew that into a million-dollar business, then started a construction company in 1960 that eventually matured into the largest developer of multifamily homes by 1977.

Spanos purchased 60 percent of the Chargers in August 1984 from majority owner Eugene Klein for $70 million. Over the next decade, Spanos bought out shares of several minority owners and now owns 97 percent of the team, which has been passed down to his four children.

Former Chargers running back and special-teams coach Hank Bauer remembers Spanos as an owner who initially tried to apply his business acumen -- unsuccessfully -- to the football world.

"He wanted to come in and run the football operation like the business he ran, and he thought that would be successful," Bauer said. "And it wasn't, because football is a very unique and complicated football/business. And so it took him awhile to figure it out."

After five losing seasons, not counting the strike year, Spanos finally hired someone to build a football team by bringing in general manager Bobby Beathard from the Washington Redskins in 1990.

And in five years, Beathard had the Chargers in the Super Bowl after the 1994 season, the signature moment of Spanos' ownership of the team.

"It was almost the culmination of his life," said Jim Steeg, who worked as an executive for the Chargers from 2004 to 2010. "I think he always wanted a football team, that was kind of one of his dreams he had when he got the team in 1994 from Gene Klein. And for them to get to the Super Bowl, it was kind of the ultimate achievement for him and what he did because the team meant so much to him for what was going on."

Spanos also helped bring two Super Bowls to San Diego, one in 1998 and another in 2003. An active member of the Republican Party, Spanos was influential in bringing the Republican National Convention to San Diego in 1996.

Spanos' Greek heritage was important. In 2008, the president of the Republic of Greece, Karolos Papoulias, awarded Spanos the Medal of the Commander of the Order of Honor.

And Although he remained in Stockton, he participated in philanthropy work in the San Diego community and abroad. The annual high school football All-Star game for seniors in San Diego is sponsored by the Spanos family and still bears his name.

A story that typified his generosity, Spanos turned his private plane into a hospital jet and sent it to Cambodia to pick up a Stockton woman who had suffered burns and did not have adequate facilities for treatment. Spanos then brought her back to the United States on his own dime.

"When he had an opinion, he believed in it, fully," Steeg said. "He was very passionate about it, and he would follow through and do whatever it was. When he formed his opinion of what was going to take place, boy, he did it. It wasn't half-ass."

Steeg said on game days Spanos had a card room set up in the office at the team headquarters. He and his friend would play cards on Saturday all day, and then show up in the back of his suite on Sunday and play cards until kickoff.

"Nobody got to the stadium before Alex Spanos on game days," Paris said. "He'd sit up there and play gin rummy from like 8 a.m., and they'd sit up there and have breakfast, play through until the 1 p.m. kickoff.

"You'd peek in there and you'd see Barron Hilton and Bob Hope -- guys like that. It wasn't quite like us playing for a penny a point."

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