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Longtime NFL executive and former San Diego Chargers general manager AJ Smith has died at age 75 after a seven-year battle with prostate cancer.
Smith’s son, Kyle Smith, assistant general manager of the Atlanta Falcons, announced his father’s death on Sunday.
AJ, who spent 35 years in the NFL rising through the ranks from part-time scout to general manager of the Chargers, was San Diego’s winningest general manager in franchise history with 98 wins in 10 seasons.
Traded two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning to the New York Giants after selecting him with the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, even though the quarterback insisted he would not play for the Chargers due to to the treatment they gave to their own signal. The person he called, Ryan Leaf, who was dealing with personal struggles at the time.
Manning’s trade to the Giants saw North Carolina State University prospect Philip Rivers (fourth pick in the draft) go the opposite route along with a 2004 third-round pick (used to select kicker Nate Kaeding). , a 2005 first-round pick, and a 2005 fifth-round pick.
AJ Smith was San Diego’s winningest general manager in franchise history with 98 wins in 10 seasons.
Smith was also famous for trading the two-time Super Bowl champion to the New York Giants in 2004.
In 2005, the Chargers used their first-round pick acquired from the Giants to select Shawne Merriman 12th overall. Merriman won the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Manning became the Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI.
The LA Chargers issued a moving statement from owner Dean Spanos regarding Smith’s passing.
“Beyond a tough, objective and no-nonsense personality synonymous with a true football player, there was AJ’s softer side, which included a tremendous love for his family, the NFL and the Chargers. The architect of one of the great chapters in the history of the franchise,’ said Spanos.
‘AJ made everyone around him better with a singular focus and intensity that elevated our organization. Our hearts go out to his wife Sue, his son Kyle, his daughter Andrea and the entire Smith family during this difficult time.”
Smith was behind a Chargers team that won five AFC West division titles and went eight consecutive seasons (2004-2012) without a losing record, including four seasons of 11-plus wins.
He had also been a scout for 12 years with several teams, including the Giants, New England Patriots, then-Houston Oilers, the Chicago Blitz and the Pittsburgh Maulers, before becoming the Chargers’ director of pro personnel in 1985.
Smith then returned to scouting for the Buffalo Bills in 1986 before earning a promotion as assistant director of college scouting in 1989. He then became the franchise’s director of pro personnel (1993-200) before being hired again by the Chargers. in 2001, as the team’s director of pro personnel/assistant GM.
After his nine years as general manager of the Chargers, the then-Washington Redskins hired Smith as a senior executive/consultant in 2013. He resigned from his position in 2015.
Smith won the Kentucky Wesleyan College Alumni Achievement Award in 2010 and was inducted into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.