Former San Diego Chargers GM AJ Smith dies at age 75 ‘after battle with prostate cancer’
Longtime NFL executive and former San Diego Chargers general manager A.J. Smith has died at age 75 after a seven-year battle with prostate cancer.
Smith’s son, Kyle Smith – the Atlanta Falcons’ assistant GM – announced his father’s passing on Sunday.
A.J., who spent 35 years in the NFL climbing up the ranks from part-time scout to GM of the Chargers, was San Diego’s winningest GM in franchise history with 98 wins over 10 seasons.
He famously traded two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning to the New York Giants after selecting him as the first overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft despite the quarterback insisting that he would not play for the Chargers due to their treatment of their own signal-caller, Ryan Leaf, who was dealing with personal struggles at the time.
A.J. Smith was San Diego’s winningest GM in franchise history with 98 wins over 10 seasons
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