The Los Angeles Chargers announced that team owner Alex Spanos died peacefully at his home on Tuesday morning. Spanos was 95.
Most NFL fans have hardly even been aware of Alex Spanos for a couple of decades. While Spanos has always been the team’s owner, he passed day-to-day control of the team to his son Dean Spanos before the 1994 NFL season. As a result, the elder Spanos’ death will cause few changes in the way the Chargers are operated.
Born to Greek immigrants in 1923, Spanos started off working in the family bakery. He served as a B-29 tail gunner in World War II, and eventually built a real estate empire.