Regarding Joey Bosa’s much-examined Chargers career, which began in San Diego and ended Wednesday night with Bosa’s salary-driven release, goodwill-bonus points must be awarded because of Bosa’s mom, Cheryl Bosa.
She provided comic relief, of which the world could use much more.
When negotiations on her son’s rookie contract bogged down like no other NFL rookie’s negotiations in that summer of 2016, Cheryl posted on Facebook she wished the Bosas had “pulled an Eli Manning on draft day.”
Her reference was to Manning 12 years earlier jilting the Chargers to the Giants, a decision the quarterback would attribute to having heard worrisome things about San Diego’s NFL organization.
“Leave it to mom to mess up on Facebook,” Bosa told media at Charger Park after the deal got done.
A few years later, when Dean Spanos had moved the Chargers to Los Angeles, a silly media report forecast that the Chargers would be relocated to England. It got enough traction that Spanos, in a rarity, met with reporters to refute it.
Spanos, displaying why Chargers handlers preferred to keep him away from less controllable settings, larded his on-the-record rebuttal with profanity — every word of which a Sports Illustrated reporter posted on Twitter.
Cheryl Bosa noticed.
Underneath the invective-laden public post, she posted one word.
“Classy.”
Get Cheryl Bosa a free lifetime to any San Diego attraction of her choice.
Have her throw out the first pitch at a Padres game.
Joey Bosa finishes his Chargers career with 72 sacks and 87 tackles-for-loss, and that’s way too much production for his nine-year run in San Diego and then L.A. to be labeled a disappointment. On the other hand, injuries cost him almost 30% of the team’s games and eroded his performance in several other contests, including a lopsided playoff defeat at New England.
Add it all up, and Bosa’s numerous injuries kept him from fulfilling the expectations that came when he was taken No. 3 overall in the 2016 draft.
The final first-round pick of the San Diego Chargers, the defensive end spent most of his Bolts career in Greater L.A.
Perhaps there’s a career-gilding effect for athletes who play in America’s second-largest media market.
Consider the public declaration Wednesday that Bosa now stands as “one of the best Chargers ever.”
Perhaps Ian Rapoport, a longtime NFL insider with the L.A.-based NFL Network and the go-to media choice of the Spanoses, had too much coffee before he sent out his social media post.
Among Chargers careers, Bosa doesn’t rate in the top 10.
At his position, Leslie O’Neal had a better Chargers career. That’s beyond dispute.
Nor is Bosa the franchise’s silver medalist at his position. Earl Faison holds that distinction.
Though his career was much shorter, Faison earned All-Pro honors in five of his first six seasons. He earned All-Pro honors in 1963 while helping the Chargers win their only league title.
Bosa never made an All-Pro first team.
Fred Dean was an All-Pro end within a Chargers career, spanning six-plus seasons, in which he was far more durable than Bosa. The only reason Dean may not be an all-time Chargers great is that he had the good sense to push for a raise, leading owner Gene Klein to trade him to Bill Walsh’s 49ers, where he won two Super Bowls and cemented his Hall of Fame bonafides.
Linebacker Junior Seau, of course, had a much better Chargers career than Bosa did. Several Chargers offensive players who are enshrined in Canton hold an edge, too.
Bosa had a tremendous first (and only) season in San Diego, earning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had 10½ sacks in 12 games after sitting out the season’s first four games with a hamstring injury.
He would exceed 10 sacks in three other seasons and earn solid marks, on balance, as a run defender.
There were glitches to his body of work — too many offside penalties, too many containment busts against mobile ers and others, slamming his helmet after multiple false starts in the team’s playoff-game meltdown at Jacksonville — but Bosa had a fine career for Team Spanos.
If the team chooses to put him in its Hall of Fame, it wouldn’t be a horrible choice — although Hank Bauer, the former special teams great and short-yardage rusher, would be a much better one.
If Chargers tradition holds up, look for Bosa, 29, to reach his first Super Bowl with a different franchise.
