It has been a couple days now.

Still, D.J. Fluker can’t get the smell of chicken out of his car.

“Yeah,” Fluker said Monday with a laugh. “It went well, though.”

Last month, the Chargers right guard was sidelined following his second concussion in a five-day span. Three games weren’t all he missed. His symptoms were such that he was unable to make a planned Thanksgiving Day appearance at the San Diego Juvenile Hall, a Kearny Mesa facility he’s frequented as a volunteer during his three-year NFL career. He vowed to make up for his absence come Christmas time and New Year’s.


On Saturday, he delivered.

Fluker bought 300 pieces of chicken, he said, along with other side dishes. His mother and two sisters were in town, so he was unable to stay long. But he dropped off all the food about 3 p.m. to provide dinner for both the offenders and the facility’s staff members.

“And the second shift got some, too,” Fluker said. “Everybody goes on their own path (in life). You’ve got to have some kind of encouragement to encourage you to keep going down the right path. That was my way of treating them.

“You’re in there. OK. You’re learning your lesson. But why not give you a reward for your time being here until you leave. These are things that keep (the youth offenders) thinking, ‘Hey, I could do better than this. I shouldn’t even be here. I can’t enjoy things like this (if I’m in here).’ Just trying to give them that mindset of trying to do better.”


Fluker plans to do something for New Year’s as well. Maybe pizza. Maybe something else. He is still deciding what that will entail.

The reaction at the juvenile hall is worth the lingering car odor.

“They were smiling from ear to ear,” Fluker said.