To refresh your recollection, in 2004 the Chargers held the number one pick in the draft and were set to use the pick on that year’s consensus number one pick, Mississippi quarterback Eli Manning. Eli Manning, a southern boy, wanted no part of San Diego and rumors have it that he forced the Chargers’ hand, requiring them to get as much value as they could for the pick in order to avoid a messy contract battle with the star quarterback. The Chargers ended up drafting and then trading Manning to the New York Giants in a draft-day trade for Giant’s top pick Philip Rivers (number 4 overall) and three other draft picks, one of which ended up being used to draft all-pro linebacker Shawn Merriman and another to draft kicker Nate Kaeding.

Well, the trade came full circle on Sunday as Rivers (lead a game winning drive that ended with a touchdown pass to Vincent Jackson with 21 seconds left on the clock), Merriman (2 sacks, including a game ending sack of Eli Manning) and Nate Kaeding (3 PATs, including the one that put the Chargers ahead 21-20) reminded the Giants of the 2004 trade that brought all three players to San Diego.

Although the results from today’s game may seem as if it is clear-cut that the Chargers got the better end of that draft-day deal, if you look back at the reults of the trade in totality it is still tough to say who got the better end of it.  Sure, Merriman is an all-pro linebacker and one of the most dominant at his position this decade, Kaeding is a top-tier kicker and Rivers is a pro bowler who puts up snazzy numbers year in and year out, but Manning has that ever so valuable Superbowl ring and has put up equally impressive numbers of late in his career.  Tough to say who got the better end of “the Trade” at this point, but if the Chargers can finally put the pieces together and win a Superbowl ring the analysis would become far more clear.

Why Should the NFL be in Los Angeles?

Why should anyone care about bringing the NFL to Los Angeles?  Well, the stats seem to suggest we should care.  Fact: Save New York, none of the current NFL cities have population counts that come anywhere near the 17 million residents living in and around the Los Angeles area.  Fact: Los Angeles is a city that can claim some of the most legendary athletes of all time (Magic Johnson, Kareem, Kobe, Manny Ramirez, Wayne Gretzky, Eric Gagne and Jerry West to name a few), some of the successful franchises and storied organizations in all of sports (Lakers/Dodgers) and some of the greatest weather and cultural centers in the world.   Fact:  The average home price and wage of a Los Angeles resident ranks near the top of all major cities in the nation.  Fact: All those stats suggest that the NFL is crazy to not have a team in such a great market.  The facts seem to overwhelmingly support Ed Roski and his team of developers contention that Los Angeles needs an NFL team.

Why Shouldn’t the NFL care about being in Los Angeles?

I’m not suggesting that the facts don’t support the contention that the NFL needs and team in Los Angeles (as a LA resident I would love to have the option of seeing a live game or two each season).  Yet, its hard to ignore the other facts.  Fact: Even with a population that dwarfs that of most any other county in the United States, Los Angeles is the city that drove not one but two NFL teams out of town almost fifteen years ago due to lack of fan support and dwindling revenues.  Fact:  To keep its residents entertained, Los Angles has Hollywood, hundreds of miles of beaches, six professional sports teams from the big 4 sports (Lakers, Clippers, Dodgers, Angels, Kings and Ducks), two major College Football programs (USC/UCLA) and a slew of teams in tier two sports (LA Galaxy, Chivas, Sparks, etc).  Fact: Los Angeles has gone almost 15 seasons without an NFL team and yet in that time the NFL has grown into the most popular sport in the United States.

While the stats support bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles, its not certain if the people of Los Angeles deserves an NFL team.  Lets face it, Los Angeles has such a wide variety of entertainment options available to its residents that the NFL is not a must like it is in places like Green Bay and Arizona.  Also, unlike New York, which has an equally impressive slew of entertainment options for its residents, Los Angeles is a sprawling town that is burdened with the lack of a solid public transit system and the lack of a historical affinity to its NFL franchise.  While the stats may support an NFL team heading back to Los Angeles, the history suggests that it may just end up being another failed attempt for the NFL.