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Number Crunching: #18
by Chris Brophy
23/7/2009
We are chugging along nicely in the Diner’s quest to find the best player at each number and as we even up the count on #18 we again prepare to go through the air again to find our all-time great. Many of you might expect a current player to take this number but we’ll remind you again, you have to be retired to get onto the list. It’s such an honour, Brett Favre even faked his own retirement to get on as our #4! Whilst we convince ourselves that’s true, you scan on ahead and read the story of our all-time #18, a member of one of the great offenses of NFL history.
FD’s All Time #18: Charlie Joiner, Wide Receiver (Houston Oilers, Cincinnati Bengals, San Diego Chargers)
 The story of Charlie Joiner begins in the old AFL and stretches all the way into the later part of the 1980’s. As well as being ultra talented, Joiner showed amazing career stamina as his longevity kept him on an NFL roster for eighteen seasons to match his jersey number.
It all began in 1969, drafted in the fourth round from Grambling State by the Houston Oilers of the then AFL, Joiner was considered to be a better defensive prospect because of his outstanding speed and athletic ability so he was briefly tried on defense as a rookie whilst also seeing some time as a kick returner. However, the experiment was short lived and in his second season he was back on offense full time. The Oilers weren’t a very good team at the time but Joiner finished third on the team in receiving yardage despite only playing in nine games. He showcased part of what was to come in Week 13 match-up against the Bengals that season as he ripped them for 143 yards off six catches and two touchdowns including what would remain a career long 87 yarder.
The following season he would lead the Oilers in receiving yardage averaging a massive 22 yards per catch off only 31 receptions and taking seven of those catches for scores. The following season seen him only manage six appearances and the Oilers had fallen to a league worse 1-13 record so changes were going to be made. The Bengals remembered what Joiner had done to them just over a season ago so they made a trade with the Oilers to acquire Joiner.
His Bengals career got off to a slow start as he only managed eleven games in his first two seasons with the franchise but in 1974 he finally started to show why the team had acquired him as he helped make the Bengals a fearsome offensive proposition. Teaming up with Bengals future greats quarterback Ken Anderson and wide receiver Isaac Curtis to became one of the league’s top offenses, ranking fourth in offensive and passing yardage in 1974 and second in offensive yardage and first in passing yardage in 1975.
That year would prove to be the best in franchise history so far. The team went 11-3 but because of the dominant Steelers sharing a division with them, they only managed to qualify for a wild card despite their win-loss mark being the second best in the conference. In the play-offs they fell just short in a defeat to the Raiders which seen Joiner haul in a 25 yard TD reception from Anderson as they tried to pull off an improbable comeback fighting back from 31-17 down to get to within 3 points. Joiner had enjoyed his best season as a pro so far, with 37 receptions for 726 yards and 5TD’s. He had also set a franchise record for yards receiving in a game against the Browns that season with 7 catches for exactly 200 yards. It still stands as a franchise record today.
Whilst the Bengals offense could compete with anyone, defensively they weren’t quite up to the task so in order to address the balance the Bengals front office made a deal with the San Diego Chargers for Charlie Joiner, sending accomplished defensive end Coy Bacon the opposite way.
Bacon would have a fine career but there is no doubt the Chargers got the better end of the deal. Joiner would go on to become a part of the famed Air Coryell offense and play eleven seasons with the franchise before calling time on his career.
 Dan Coryell (who the offense was nicknamed after) was not yet with the franchise in 1976 when Joiner joined the team but quarterback Dan Fouts was and they teamed up to produce fireworks. The Chargers only went 6-8 but Joiner enjoyed a career year as he hauled in 50 balls at a massive 21.1 yards per catch for his first 1000 yard season (1056) and first visit to the Pro Bowl. He also got to the end zone seven times. Highlights of that year included 5 grabs for 134 yards and a score in a win over the Cardinals and a 106 yard performance against his old team, the Houston Oilers, which included Joiner grabbing an 81 yard TD.
The next couple of seasons didn’t quite live up to those high standards. Fouts missed all but four games in 1977 which seen the passing game in general suffer (although Joiner still managed six TD grabs) and 1978 seen Tommy Prothro fired as head coach and replaced by Coryell.
By 1979 Joiner and his fellow offensive team mates were ready to explode. Fouts would become only the second man after Joe Namath to throw for over 4000 yards in a season as Coryell’s wide open style was an instant success. Joiner teamed up with fellow receiver John Jefferson to pass the four digit yardage mark as he pulled in what would remain a career best 72 receptions for 1008 yards and four scores. The Chargers romped to the AFC West with a mark of 12-4 but fell down badly in the play-offs to the Houston Oilers as Fouts threw five interceptions in a 14-17 defeat.
The offense was a raging success and the talk of the league though. Joiner by now was the veteran leader of the bunch, Fouts was the triggerman entering his prime as a passer and John Jefferson and the emerging Kellen Winslow at tight end were the young potential paying early dividends. Joiner had always had excellent speed but he had now added plenty of experience in his armoury as well and he was a graceful route runner who possessed superb moves that would often have opposing defenders tied in knots.
1980 would see them statistically produce a never before done feat when Joiner, Jefferson and Winslow became the first trio in NFL history to all record 1000 yards receiving in a season. The Chargers again won the division with an 11-5 mark and in the play-offs managed to record a win, Joiner’s first ever taste of success in post season, as they defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-14 with Joiner hauling in a TD grab in the victory. He would follow it up with two touchdown grabs off 6 receptions for 130 yards in the AFC Championship Game against their hated rivals the Oakland Raiders but it would not be enough as they were overturned 27-34.
1981 would see Joiner record his third consecutive 1000 yard receiving season. John Jefferson was no longer opposite him but Wes Chandler had joined the party and the skies were still filled with bombs from the arm of Fouts. The team again won the division, this time with a 10-6 record and they would face the Miami Dolphins in what has become the defining game for the Air Coryell offense.
 Known as The Epic in Miami this would turn into the ultimate offensive shootout. The Chargers began the game like they meant business, taking a 24-0 lead in the opening quarter but their usual Achilles hell defense allowed the Dolphins back into the game and early in the third quarter they had tied the ball game up. After some tit for tat scores the Dolphins actually took the lead 38-31 before the Chargers tied things up to take it into overtime. In the extra period Fouts teamed up for Joiner twice, including a 29 yard reception that set up a field goal attempt. Chargers kicker Rolf Benirschke stepped onto the field and made a 29 yard kick that sealed the win for the Chargers. Both teams had quarterbacks who threw for over 400 yards and Joiner was one of five 100 yard receivers on the day. The win took everything out of the Chargers though as in the AFC Championship Game the following week they fell rather limply to one of Joiner’s old teams the Bengals 7-27.
Due to the 1982 season being shortened to only nine games with the players strike, there was no way of matching any of the recent years records. Joiner actually failed to find the end zone in a season for the first time since 1973. The Chargers did again make post season in the expanded format for that season and he helped the team to a win over the Steelers with 5 receptions for 68 yards. The following week they would face the Dolphins and the Florida franchise gained revenge for their heartbreaking loss the previous season although Joiner teamed up with Fouts for the Chargers lone score through the air as they went down 13-34.
The peak of the Chargers offensive powers was gone now. They would continue to be a threat for several more years but not quite in the way they had between ’79 and ’81. Joiner would fall just short of 1000 yards in 1983 as Fouts missed some time injured but the team was not enjoying the same success. A defense that still leaked yardage and points like a sieve was becoming harder and harder to overcome. 6-10 in 1983 was followed by 7-9 in ’84 and 8-8 in ’85 before Coryell was replaced by Al Saunders in the 1986 season which would also prove to be Joiner’s last ever season.
Even at the age of 39 Joiner was still a viable receiving threat but with the change in coaches and the team ready for a complete rebuild as the likes of Fouts and Winslow were also close to the end of their careers, it seemed the right time to go. He would remain with the franchise though, passing on his knowledge and experience to a new breed of players as the receivers coach. After stints with the Bills and Chiefs he returned to the his spiritual home last season to take up the same position again and must have looked on in pride as the likes of Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd helped a strong Chargers passing attack take the Chargers on a late season run to post season last year.
When he had called it a day as a player, no one had caught more passes for more yardage than Joiner. He posted numbers of 750 receptions for 12146 yards and 65TD’s. He made the Pro Bowl three times (1976, 1979 and 1980) in his career and was named All-NFL in 1980. Over his final 13 seasons he only missed one game and seven times caught over 50 passes in a season and three times made 70 grabs in a season. In 1996 he was given the ultimate personal accolade when he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Charlie Joiner enjoyed a long and productive career. He and his team mates came up short in terms of team success but there was not an awful lot left for Joiner to do as an individual when he finally called it a day.
Honourable Mentions:
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Tobin Rote, Quarterback (Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, San Diego Chargers, Denver Broncos)
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Emmitt Thomas, Cornerback (Kansas City Chiefs)
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Roman Gabriel, Quarterback (LA Rams, Philadelphia Eagles)
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Peyton Manning, Quarterback (Indianapolis Colts)
 Tobin Rote is a player who managed to win a championship in the NFL and the AFL. In 1957 he led the Detroit Lions to a championship victory in his first year with the team after seven seasons in Green Bay. He would join the Chargers after a stint in the CFL and become the AFL’s MVP in 1963 as the Chargers won the league’s championship with a 51-10 smashing of the Boston Patriots in which Rote threw for 2TD’s and rushed for another.
The Chiefs all-time leading interceptor is 2008 Hall of Fame inductee Emmitt Thomas. In the Chiefs run to victory in Super Bowl IV Thomas recorded an interception in all the post season games. As well as winning a championship as a player Thomas would also win Super Bowl rings as an assistant coach with the Redskins where he coached defensive backs, including Darrell Green, who would then be inducted into the Hall of Fame in the same year.
We gave a brief mention to Roman Gabriel in our #17 article when he teamed up at the Eagles with Harold Carmichael (although he wore #5 with the Eagles). He was the first Asian-American to start at quarterback in the NFL. He had an incredibly strong arm and under George Allen helped turn around an ailing Rams franchise in the 1960’s.
When it’s all said and done, the best #18 ever will be regarded as Colts quarterback Peyton Manning who will probably shatter every all-time passing record there is to hold. However, we’ll let him finish his legacy off before we induct him into our all-time list of jersey numbers.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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