The new LA Chargers team dog needs a name.
The new LA Chargers team dog needs a name – oh, by the way, in football news, the Los Angeles Chargers now have a team dog.
A yellow Labrador Retriever, this puppy will grow up to become an assistance dog with Canine Companions for Independence, and the Chargers are working with the Southern California-based restaurant chain Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar on this project.
The Chargers are the second NFL team that we know of to join the team service dog program, following the Dallas Cowboys, who announced the arrival of Puppy Dak around Thanksgiving last year.
A name the puppy contest is running on Twitter until early afternoon on Thursday, May 28. At the time of this writing, Bolt was winning with 89 percent of the vote, followed by Charlie at six percent and Buddy at five percent.
Since the Chargers are often nicknamed the Bolts, “Bolt” makes sense, though it could get confusing with the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning’s dog of the same name.
we're getting a puppy!
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) May 26, 2020
help us name the good boy 🐶
The Chargers were an original member of the American Football League in 1960, moving to San Diego a year later before returning to Los Angeles in 2017.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it remains to be seen exactly how the 2020 NFL season will play out, if it’s possible to play at all, but for now the Chargers are slated to open up their new shared stadium with the LA Rams, SoFi Stadium, on Sunday, September 20, against their AFC West rivals in the reigning Super Bowl 54 champion Kansas City Chiefs, after beginning the regular season in Cincinnati against Joe Burrow’s Bengals on Sunday, September 13.
“I’d say things are generally looking very positive,” Alex Insdorf, a contributor for our FanSided Network sister site Bolt Beat, said. ‘Sort of the first start of a new era roster wise.”
Besides the new stadium, the team is also experiencing a lot of changes as longtime veteran quarterback Phillip Rivers left for Indianapolis and a new uniform set should have the team looking spiffy in their new home.
For more news, analysis and opinion on the Chargers, see their team website, or our other sister sites LA Sports Hub and NFL Spin Zone.