The Los Angeles Chargers are set to retire the numbers of wide receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow at halftime during the team's Week 1 game versus the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 10. Each Pro Football Hall of Famers, Joiner wore No. 18 with the Bolts, while Winslow donned No. 80.
The ceremony will also honor the late Don Coryell, who coached both Joiner and Winslow during his nine-year tenure as the Chargers' head coach. Coryell was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame earlier this month.
These will be the fifth and sixth numbers retired by the Chargers, and the ceremony will be hosted by another player whose number was retired -- quarterback Dan Fouts, who completed plenty of passes to both honorees.
"With Coach Coryell finally in Canton where he belongs, new generations of NFL fans are just now learning about the man who forever changed our game," Chargers owner Dean Spanos said in a statement. "I know he felt, however, that none of what he accomplished would have been possible without the trio of Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow -- and I know they feel the same way about him to this very day. Charlie and Kellen are two of the greatest offensive weapons to ever set foot on the gridiron, and it's time for new generations of NFL fans to be made aware of their role in making the modern NFL what it is today. Retiring their numbers is yet another way to ensure they will forever be recognized for their accomplishments to this great game while also uniting them with their quarterback, number 14, in football immortality."
Joiner played 11 of his 18 seasons with the Chargers from 1976-1986, racking up three Pro Bowls, four 1,000-receiving-yard seasons, and an Associated Press first-team All-Pro nod in that time. At the time of his retirement, Joiner was the league's all-time leader in receptions (750) and receiving yards (12,146), and still ranks within the top 50 and top 30 in those categories, respectively. He was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.
Winslow spent the entirety of his career (1979-1987) with the Chargers, and became the first tight end to have consecutive seasons with 1,000-plus receiving yards and have three seasons of 85-plus catches. He was the only tight end in history at the time of his retirement to have recorded at least 500 receptions, 6,000 receiving yards and 45 touchdown catches in his career, earning him a spot on the NFL 100 All-Time team. Winslow was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1995.
