A small tattoo parlor in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood does not specialize in ink removal, but for a moment, it forgave the fact. One of its artists felt inspired last Wednesday evening and, from the backroom, retrieved a wood-grip handsaw with a 2-foot-long, tooth-edged blade.

He sketched a message onto the blade in mechanical pencil. He then traced over it in red-orange colored pencil.

Finest Tattoo & Art Company is building a new office decoration, which it’ll paint and display if events dictate.

“Free Chargers tattoo removal,” the jagged saw blade reads.


Local tattoo artists estimate that thousands of San Diego residents have at least one Chargers-logo tattoo. While many vow to keep theirs unaltered should the team relocate to Los Angeles this week, not all say they will. Various parlors and tattoo removal clinics are prepared to accommodate the latter group.

A saw won’t do.

1 / 9 Manny Sanchez sports a San Diego tattoo while tailgating before the Chargers-Lions game at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred) 2 / 9 Chargers season ticket holder Douglas Vasquez holds his son Gabriel, 4, in the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium before the Dolphins game. (K.C. Alfred) 3 / 9 Carlos Rodriguez sports a Chargers tattoo while tailgating before the Chargers-Lions game at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred) 4 / 9 A Chargers fan sports a tattoo during a Chargers game against the Lions at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred) 5 / 9 Aaron Zuniga sports a Chargers tattoo while tailgating before the Chargers-Lions game at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred) 6 / 9 Rudy Ortega sports a Chargers tattoo while tailgating before the Chargers-Lions game at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred) 7 / 9 Jose Lopez shows his support for his team during a Chargers-New York Jets game in 2008. (Sean M. Haffey) 8 / 9 Jesse Magallanes of Mira Mesa has a tattoo with Junior Seau’s #55 on his arm as he visits the player’s home in the days after his death in 2012. (Charlie Neuman) 9 / 9 Fan David Pote represents with a Chargers tattoo before the Chargers-Cardinals game in Phoenix, Sept. 8, 2014. (K.C. Alfred)

There are more acceptable methods to address a Chargers tat that seems tainted to its owner.


Michael Speaker, manager of Tattoo Laser Removal Clinic, a medical corporation in San Diego, specializes in the business of regret. While he hopes the Chargers do not relocate, he called it “inevitable” for business to increase in the event they do.

“There are so many things that people want off of them: exes’ names, fairies, skulls, job-stopper tattoos, which are in the neck and hands,” Speaker said. “There’s plenty of regret out there. … Whether it’s an ex-wife or an ex-team, we take it off if that’s the patient’s desire.”

It can be easier said than done.

Chargers logos, be it the arched lightning bolt or horse-clad shield, often feature powder blue and yellow as colors. Those are among the most difficult to remove, as light colors reflect light compared to dark ones that absorb it. A Raiders tattoo is easier to remove than a Chargers tattoo. The latter may require special technology, specifically a dual-pulse laser, to complete the job.


Tattoos also can be faded, not totally removed, if a patient plans to cover up the art, looking to prevent the old one from bleeding into the new one.

On average, laser removal requires five to 10 treatments with six to 12 weeks between each treatment at his clinic, Speaker said. The entire process can be completed in about a year to a year and a half — before any stadium in Carson or Inglewood is fully constructed.

Marc Bennett owns Propaganda Tattoo, which has two San Diego locations.

Beginning in 2007, the company ran an annual playoff-time promotion in which, for one day, it offered free Chargers lightning-bolt tattoos. Hundreds lined up outside the Point Loma store, and many had to be turned away. Given how the Chargers could be approved to relocate during the NFL owner meetings in Houston on Tuesday and Wednesday, he has planned a new promotion for laser removal at his College Area shop.


Anyone with a Chargers tattoo whose size fits into a business card — the free ones in 2007 would qualify — will receive their first removal treatment for $21.

The price is inspired by LaDainian Tomlinson’s jersey number.

“It’s a shame that it comes down to this,” Bennett said.

Removal is one option.


Modification is another.

Carlos Rodriguez sports a Chargers tattoo while tailgating before the Chargers-Lions game at Qualcomm Stadium. (K.C. Alfred)

Carlos Rodriguez, 29, has a tattoo half-sleeve, covering his upper left arm. It features the Chargers-logo horse as its centerpiece with an arched lightning bolt directly below. He got it done at Cal State Crew, located in the Chula Vista Mall.

If the Chargers relocate, he will return


“I’ll add the year they got to San Diego and the year they left,” Rodriguez said. “It’ll have those two dates on it. My uncle Rudy Ortega has two big lightning bolts on his forearms. He’s going to do the same.”

Others have similar thinking.

Derrick Miller, 34 of Carlsbad, plans to add the dates 1961-2016 below his Chargers tattoo if the franchise relocates this year to Los Angeles. (/ Derrick Miller)

Derrick Miller, 34, is a Carlsbad native who grew up a Chargers fan. He never fashioned himself as someone to get a tattoo but, in 2010, made an exception for a large, gray lightning bolt that stretches over the left side of his torso. He intended someday to add a Lombardi Trophy below the bolt with the year the Chargers won the Super Bowl. If they relocate this year, a “1961-2016" stamp will assume their place.


Israel Paz, 32, and Fabian Alvarez, 30, attended the final Chargers home game on Dec. 20 against the Dolphins. As they separately tailgated for maybe the last time, both planned to no longer support the Chargers should they move. They expressed intent to keep their tattoos but add the words “San Diego.”

“It’s going to be a throwback,” Alvarez said of his tattoo. “I’m a San Diego Chargers fan, not a Southern California Chargers fan, not an L.A. Chargers fan. A San Diego Chargers fan. If they leave, football is dead.”

Team tattoos are forever.

Until they aren’t.