Skyline Tigers Get a Hand from Former Chargers Receiver

In keeping with his continuing efforts to give back to the community so others can have the opportunities he had as a youngster, former Chargers All-Pro wide receiver Wes Chandler signed autographs Saturday in Spring Valley in support of the Skyline Tigers Youth Football and Spirit Association.

Chandler appeared at on Troy Street to help the Tigers with their fundraising efforts. The organization is selling raffle tickets with a trip to Super Bowl XLV in Dallas as the prize, including two tickets to the game, airfare, a four-night hotel stay and an autographed football. Tickets are $20 each.

Chandler, who was drafted No. 3 overall in 1978 by the New Orleans Saints after a stellar career at the University of Florida, played for the Chargers from 1981 through 1987. He was a key part of Air Coryell and teamed with quarterback Dan Fouts in 1982 to set a receiving record that still stands: Chandler averaged 129 receiving yards per game in the strike-shortened season, amassing 1,032 yards in just eight games.

After a brief stint with the 49ers in 1988 to close out his career, the four-time Pro-Bowl receiver spent most of the next two decades coaching, from high school and college football, to NFL Europe, to the NFL.

Retirement also allowed him more time to work with the Wes Chandler Youth Foundation, which he founded in 1982 in Daytona Beach in his native Florida. His foundation, which is now part of the Boys & Girls Club, helps local children learn through academics, business acumen and discipline in sports.

Today, Chandler is CEO of Celebrity Events Inc. (CEI), a business he founded in 1998 that coordinates events featuring celebrities at such sporting events as the Super Bowl, the NBA All-Star game and NASCAR races. He is also president of Joseph Group International LLC, which is focused on mining in Africa with a commitment to improving the quality of life for the communities in which the mines operate.

"Skyline is a great organization," he said. "One thing I know about the board of directors and the community is that they're trying to do all that they can to help the youth. They're about the youth, and that's what CEI is all about: trying to help the organizations and charities that are really, really trying to help the kids. It's about the kids, bottom line, and that's been something I've always wanted to do, to give something back.

"San Diego's always been like a second home to me, so I feel the need and the burning desire to try to get out into the community and do all I can to help an organization like Skyline."

As to football, he said he'll watch NFL games and note how the sport has changed since his playing days, but he'll put his Air Coryell attack up against anything he sees now.

"We were so far ahead of our time as an offensive unit in the things that we were doing," Chandler said. "The guys that I played with here over the years I will never forget. They really made me. Even though I was playing with a great quarterback in New Orleans in Archie Manning, not until I got here was I able to actually maximize what the good Lord had bestowed upon me."