The newly minted Los Angeles Chargers are now less than a month away from their first game in their new digs -- a preseason clash with the Seahawks at StubHub Center -- and running back Melvin Gordon is ready to make a important first impression.
When asked by NFL Network's Cole Wright on Friday's NFL Total Access what his team's expectations are for its opening season in Carson, Gordon didn't quiver.
"Winning season, man. We want a Super Bowl," Gordon explained. "My boy [Patriots running back] James White, he has two of those things. I go to his apartment and you open up the little case and they've got the light flashing on the ring. All you can think about is I wish that could be me.
There's more to Gordon's hopes that Los Angeles can make the postseason this year for the first time in four years than just keeping fans interested. The third-year running back also wants to send his veterans out on the highest note.
"Father Time is coming with my boy [Antonio] Gates and [Philip Rivers]," Gordon added. "It would mean a lot to get those guys that ring before they step down, especially Gates. I think we might lose him after this year; you never know with Gates. But it would be love to have him walk away with a ring and put that stamp on his career, so that's definitely what we want."
Gates, 37, and Rivers, 35, have one and three years left on their deals with the Bolts, respectively. The prolific duo have been the faces of Chargers football for over a decade, but have never reached a Super Bowl. The closest Gates and Rivers came was their AFC Championship game loss to the then-perfect Patriots in January 2008, when Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson were both dealing with significant injuries.
The Chargers have had just one 10-plus-win season since then (a 13-3 campaign in 2009 that ended in a Divisional Round loss to Rex Ryan's Jets) and have compiled just two winning seasons in the last six.
But despite the move to Los Angeles, and the turmoil that brings -- see the Rams' stint on All or Nothing for more on that -- this upcoming season is the most optimistic and anticipated one in recent Bolts history. With a juggernaut offense, led by Rivers, Gordon and Keenan Allen, and an upstart defense, paced by Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, the Chargers look like legitimate contenders in the contentious AFC West.
Whether they can send Gates and Rivers out to pasture as future Hall of Famers andSuper Bowl champions remains to be seen.
