San Diego Chargers announce 2013 team awards

With the San Diego Chargers' season ending Sunday with a tough loss to the Broncos on a windy Denver day, the team went about its business today preparing for the offseason.  Players and coaches met with the media this morning to discuss yesterday's playoff loss and the upcoming season, and the club also announced its 2013 Team Awards.

Surprisingly, standout rookie wide receiver Keenan Allen was not honored by the team.  Here are the Chargers' 2013 Awards:

2013 Most Valuable Player: Philip Rivers

Rivers wins his fifth career team Most Valuable Player (2008-11) after completing a team-record, career-best and NFL-leading 69.5 pct. of his passes (378 of 544) for 4,478 yards (third-highest of his career) with 32 touchdowns (second-most of his career) and just 11 interceptions for a career and team record-tying passer rating of 105.5. Rivers also set a team mark for single-season completions with 378 and he ended the regular season having thrown a touchdown in 20 straight games, tied for the second-longest streak in team history.

2013 Offensive Player of the Year (Rodney Culver Memorial Award): Ryan Mathews

Mathews won his second-career Rodney Culver Memorial Award as Offensive Player of the Year (2011) after rushing for a career high 1,255 yards, the eighth-best in franchise history and seventh-highest in the NFL this season. It was also the most yards by a Chargers running back since LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 1,474 in 2007. For Mathews it marked his second 1,000-yard season.

2013 Defensive Player of the Year (David Griggs Memorial Award): Eric Weddle

Weddle received his second David Griggs Memorial Award (2011) after leading the team with 114 tackles. He topped 100 tackles and led the team for the second year in a row, while eclipsing the century mark for the third time in seven professional seasons. Weddle also tied for the team lead with two interceptions during the regular season and he was second on the squad with 10 passes defensed.

2013 Special Teams Player of the Year: Darrell Stuckey

Stuckey wins his first-career Special Teams Player of the Year award after a season in which he tied for third on the team with 10 special teams tackles and made several highlight-reel-worthy plays on special teams. One such play took place on Oct. 20 in Jacksonville when he made an over-the-shoulder catch to down a fourth-quarter punt at the two-yard line. In the Chargers’ Jan. 5 Wild Card Playoff win in Cincinnati, Stuckey tied for the team lead with three special teams tackles, but two of his stops went down as tackles for loss.

2013 Lineman of the Year: Nick Hardwick

Hardwick earned his third-straight Lineman of the Year Award after playing the most snaps of any lineman this season. The anchor of the Chargers’ offensive line, Hardwick started every game for his fourth-consecutive season and he was a big reason that the Chargers tied for the fourth-fewest sacks allowed in the league in 2013, while also helping the Chargers rush for more than 100 yards in 12 of 16 regular-season games.

2013 Co-Most Inspirational Player (Emil Karas Memorial Award): Nick Hardwick, Jarret Johnson, D.J. Fluker

Hardwick, Johnson, and Fluker all shared the Emil Karas Award as the team’s co-Most Inspirational Players. Hardwick won his second most inspirational award, while Johnson and Fluker each won their first. A veteran, who just finished his 11th NFL season, Johnson overcame hamstring, hand, and elbow injuries to play in nine games with 11 starts. When he was unable to play due to the various ailments, Johnson took his reps on the scout team to help his able-bodied teammates prepare for the coming week’s opponent.

Fluker, the team’s first overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft, not only started 12 games at right tackle as a rookie, but in the middle of the season, he moved over to the opposite side and started three games at left tackle while King Dunlap was sidelined by injury.

By Staff of The Daily Sports Herald and news services