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By Joey Seymour
 SAN DIEGO—The journey from an idea to the actual publication of my book, San Diego’s Finest Athletes: Five Exceptional Lives, has been remarkable to say the least. On November 5th, Sunbelt Publications will be hosting an event to honor the book’s release at the San Diego Hall of Champions. It is fitting that the event will be held at this location, due to the fact that 95% of my research was done utilizing their archives. It is certainly a blessing to have researched and written this project detailing the lives of five of the greatest champions to come from San Diego.
I am often asked why I did not include a Jewish athlete, being that I am Jewish and the former quarterback of my Alma Mater, Chapman University. I answer, “The athlete had to have been born in San Diego and broke down barriers for their ethnic and/or minority group.” Unfortunately, in all of my extensive research, I could not find a Jewish athlete born in San Diego with the resume that I was looking for.
Yet, it is ironic that two of the San Diego Hall of Champions most celebrated inductees, Sid Gillman and Ron Mix are Jewish. Gillman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to San Diego in 1961 when the Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League became the San Diego Chargers. Mix was born in Los Angeles and was an original member of the Chargers, settling in San Diego due to the team’s relocation.
Gillman and Mix are not only members of the San Diego Sports Hall of Fame, but are also part of a select group of Jewish men to have been inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame. The accomplishments of each man in the realm of football, is legendary and every Charger fan should feel as lucky as I do, that both Gillman and Mix were part of the Charger organization. I just wish one of them had been born in San Diego.
Ronald Jack Mix was born on March 10, 1938. He grew up a baseball fan and did not care much for football. In fact, he had no interest in playing beyond high school. Yet, his skills as an offensive tackle helped him to earn a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he excelled both on the gridiron and in the classroom. Mix was given the nickname, “The Intellectual Assassin” due to the fact that he had earned a law degree while attending USC. Ron brought not only his brawn to the game, but his brains as well. He was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Colts of the NFL, but was offered a better deal with the new Los Angeles AFL franchise, the Chargers.
Over the next ten seasons, under the tutelage of Sid Gillman, Ron Mix was an instrumental leader during the Chargers six AFL Championship games. They won the franchises only
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championship in 1963, beating the Boston Patriots 51-10.
Mix revolutionized the position of offensive tackle with his incredible timing and strength. According to his biography on the NFL Hall of Fame web site, “On passing plays, he would pop out at his opponent at the moment of the center snap, hit him, drive him back and continue to attack until the pass was in the air. On running plays, his uncanny balance enabled him to take out the defensive end with a chopping block and proceed downfield where he could wipe out the cornerback.”
Also, in ten years of competition, Mix was only called for two holding penalties, a record for an offensive lineman that no one will ever break.
In 2005, Mix told Lawrence Vos, “I did not hold because it was against the rules. Coaches who teach players to break the rules, and players who do it, are violating everything that sports are supposed to represent: sportsmanship, respect for opponents, respect for coaches, integrity, discipline, the value of hard work.” Mix was a member of the Chargers from 1960 – 1969. He did not play in 1970 and became a member of the Oakland Raiders (post AFL-NFL merger) in 1971 albeit for one season.
Ron Mix’s list of accolades paint a clear picture of his incredible success and value to the Chargers and football as a whole:
- He was selected to the AFL All-Star game in nine of ten seasons.
- 1969, he became a member of the All AFL team.
- He is one of only twenty men to have played in all ten seasons of the AFL.
- 1978, Mix became a member of the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.
- 1979, he became a member of the NFL Hall of Fame
- 1980, the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inducted him.
There is no doubt that Ron Mix will be named one of the 50 greatest Chargers of all time when the announcement is made on November 27, 2009.
Upon his retirement from football, Ron Mix became a lawyer and co-founder of an online sports card memorabilia web site. He lives in San Diego with his wife.
In my next article, I will look at the coaching accomplishments of Sid Gillman, possibly the Chargers greatest coach and pioneer of the modern passing game.
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