Chargers rank among worst franchises in NFLPA report cards

Despite being in a temporary work space, the Chargers should have a higher bar than this tells us.

The NFL Players Association just handed out report cards to all 32 NFL franchises, with each team being evaluated in eight different categories. According the NFLPA, over 1,300 players were surveyed and each team received a full overview with details included regarding certain areas that may or may not have graded out well.

In my tweet below you can see how the Chargers fared in each category along with their ranking amongst the other 31 teams. For the complete overview, you can find it here.

For those who don’t want to go through the link, here’s a quick synopsis of their results:

* For what it’s worth, it should be noted that a lot of these grades reflect the fact that the Chargers are working out of temporary offices and facilities

• Treatment of Families (D-): The Chargers did not start well as they were ranked as the 27th-best team in terms of how the franchise treats the families of their players. They’re one of 14 teams who do not provide a “family room” on gamedays within the stadium to congregate in. The weirdest part about this is that the Rams — who share the same stadium — do, in fact, provide a family room at SoFi Stadium.
• Nutrition (F): Zero percent of players believe there’s enough room in the team’s cafeteria.
• Weight Room (C-): With the place being temporary, the weight room simply isn’t up to par with what a professional football team’s weight room should look and operate like. There’s just not enough room for everything the players would want to do.
• Strength Staff (A-): The majority of team’s graded their strength staffs well which is why the Chargers are ranked just 17th here despite earning an A-. Almost every player believes they receive an individual workout plan specifically tailored to their needs and abilities.
• Training Room (F-): This is where the Chargers fall the flattest. According to the report, the Chargers are one of four teams without a steam room and one of six teams without a sauna. In total, they’re one of just two teams with neither a sauna or steam room. On top of that, some respondents went as far as to call their hot/cold tubs “gross” and noted that maintenance on the tubs rarely occurs. This is one that’s truly unacceptable to hear.
• Training Staff (C-): The Chargers ranked 30th in this category and reportedly fired head trainer Damon Mitchell after receiving the results of this survey.
• Locker Room (D-): With it being temporary space, this one is unsurprisingly one of the worst categories. Until the Chargers finish their new team facility sometime in 2024, they’ll have to make do with one of the worst locker room situations in the NFL. One of the biggest complaints from players is that there are very few showers which creates very long wait times.
• Team Travel (B): This is where the Chargers rank the highest. Every player surveyed believes they have enough room while flying and no players are expected to have roommates in the hotels. Despite having a good grade for the most part, this area is brought down by the fact that the team travels on the same plane as the equipment. This apparently leads to players needing to wait an hour or more on the plane before takeoff while waiting for all the equipment to be stored.

Even in their current situation, waiting for their new team facilities to be built, it still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that they’re going without certain amenities that seem pretty standard throughout the league. Those notes about the training room amenities such as the tubs and lack of a sauna or steam room are pretty dang egregious. There isn’t an expectation to be one of the best prior to finishing their own facilities, but some of the shortcomings seem pretty unacceptable.

What do you all think of the survey results for the Chargers? Are they what you’d expect? What are the biggest surprises to you? Let me know all of your thoughts below!