Fred Maas was so certain he would be needed to work out the final details of a plan that would keep the Chargers in their hometown of more than a half-century that he canceled a planned trip.

At Dean Spanos’ request, Maas decided to remain in San Diego instead of seeing to business in the Midwest and then attending the wedding of a close family friend.

That decision was made the evening of Jan. 10.

On the afternoon of Jan. 11, Spanos alerted the NFL of his intentions to relocate the Chargers to Los Angeles.


As we move on from the move, we must accept that we almost certainly will never know the truth about why Spanos ultimately decided to give up on San Diego.

Perhaps Spanos was right in his final assessment that the money some owners had assured him could be gotten was never feasible. Or perhaps he made the biggest decision of his life out of impetuous frustration. Two sources who had spoken with NFL officials involved in the efforts said the NFL maintained it could have gotten a deal done to help the Chargers remain in San Diego if given a few more days.

The problem in ascertaining absolute truth in this case is that there are too few people who know the entire story.

And, really, it behooves the NFL to have the origins of the new L.A. Chargers shrouded in mystery. There have been too many missteps and possibly too much misdirection.


That said, the following account of the demise of a San Diego institution is pieced together from accounts by sources in San Diego, Los Angeles, New York and places in between – people in and around the machinations whose information has proved as reliable as any versions given over the course of this saga. Their independent accounts of what transpired and what was attempted – being that they are sources from the league, other teams, city government and the Chargers – provide a sketch of the final days of San Diego’s NFL team.

We are still left with questions about what was real — in particular, the money – and why Spanos ultimately pushed the eject button.But virtually everyone queried for this story over the past week indicated Spanos was desperately trying to find a way to keep his team in San Diego before finally, abruptly deciding he could not.

The quick denouement of the Chargers’ 56 years in San Diego blindsided Maas, the businessman who continued to work for the Chargers as their liaison with San Diego officials after the team’s Measure C initiative failed.

“As of Tuesday I was hopeful we could consummate a deal to keep the team here and was making plans and provision to do just that,” Maas said, referring to the night of Jan. 10. “But at the end of the day, these were high-stakes games with a lot of risk.”


Maas declined to elaborate, not wanting to “pile on” Spanos and remaining steadfast that the Chargers chairman wanted to stay in San Diego and that the liability for how the departure played out lies with many parties and circumstances.

Maas maintained in a Friday morning conversation that he is still in shock.

That feeling is consistent with the feeling around the country among many close to the process.

At a rally in which the Chargers welcomed themselves to Los Angeles this week, the mood certainly reflected that same lingering astonishment. The incredulity was evident on the faces and in the voices of two league executives who said there was merit in reading into the absence of any gushing over Spanos or the Chargers’ arrival during NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s address at the team’s welcome rally.


This relocation is an idea few people in the NFL think is a good one and that some fear could be a disaster for a proud family that could ultimately be undone by the inapt pride of its substitute patriarch.

In the end, while Spanos did something many who know him felt was highly uncharacteristic when he made a decision that went against the grain, how he arrived at that decision in the decisive instant seems to have been entirely within his disposition. He was fed up, and he walked away. Anyone who has dealt with him in San Diego over the years knows that is consistent with how Spanos reacts in negotiations.

It is why we will also never be able to agree on a definition of “tried” as it pertains to the Chargers’ supposed 15-year quest for a new stadium.

At virtually every juncture, there are multiple facets to explain how the process of getting a new stadium in San Diego broke down. Certainly, over the course of the past decade-plus, inertia and ineptness by city government was at times an issue. Economic woes, locally and nationally, disrupted efforts. But even in instances Spanos claimed to have had deals in place and blamed others for those proposals not coming to fruition, there are accounts from multiple sources that say it was Spanos refusing to budge in dealings with potential development partners that led to the dissolving.


To the end, the Chargers were “trying” on their terms and with their hand out.

There had been over the course of several weeks discussions between the Chargers and league representatives, including some of Spanos’ fellow owners, about what extra financial assistance could be provided to help the Chargers remain in San Diego.

The common thought was the Chargers needed an extra $175 million to bridge the gap between what was seemingly available from the team, NFL and San Diego officials. But there was also a late push by the Chargers to cobble together more money to finance a smaller stadium built without public funds.

A person close to discussions about privately financing a stadium said the money would have come from “a variety of sources,” including the NFL. Spanos entertained that concession because he was concerned what would happen if he waited on a November 2018 election and lost. The team had begun exploration on cost and was investigating whether the NFL would even allow a scaled-down stadium.


Regardless, according to multiple sources, as of Jan. 10, the Chargers were waiting to hear back from the NFL regarding additional funding.

So if that night brought hope that the Chargers were going to forge a path to a new stadium in San Diego, what happened so soon thereafter to make Spanos decide to hit the road to L.A.?

The answer appears to be: nothing. When the owners on the stadium and finance committees did not address the Chargers’ situation at their Jan. 11 meeting in New York, Spanos concluded he was being strung along and was no longer willing to wait on help that he feared would never come.

At some point that afternoon, Spanos informed Goodell and at least a few team owners of his intention to exercise the option he had been given a year earlier to relocate to Los Angeles.


There was disbelief among many, though some of his fellow owners had long advised Spanos to move.

On the morning of Jan. 12, even as many around the league wondered if Spanos was not launching a shot across the league’s bow to initiate that assistance he sought to remain in San Diego, Spanos told employees at Chargers Park the news they had all already heard.

Even this week, there was disbelief and wonder.

Surprise was giving way to a mix of acceptance and anger around a league that had overwhelmingly believed Spanos would never move.


“This is consistent with his behavior,” said one official who had long contended virtually the opposite – doubt that Spanos would ever really pull the lever.

Such is the conundrum. And the lack of definitive answers.

The truth that seems to be pieced together is what we already knew, that the people with power couldn’t quite get it together to stave off what now seems both avoidable and inevitable.

Perhaps that is the most fitting way to move on from a move that is inexplicable.


kevin.acee@sduniontribune.com