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© 2025 COLD WIRE MEDIA. THE COLD WIRE IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF COLD WIRE MEDIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. USE OF THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF OUR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY POLICY

Sunday, May 24, 2026

The Life And Career Of Charlie Joiner

Ben Donahue
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The Life And Career Of Charlie Joiner
(Photo by Ralph Freso/Getty Images)

 

Receivers are known for their uncanny ability to catch passes, outmaneuver defenders and take licks yet keep ticking.

Getting plastered after a reception is expected, and this is also why modern receivers are compensated well.

The life expectancy of a pass-catcher is about three years, although there are exceptions.

Take Charlie Joiner, for instance.

Following a spectacular college career at Grambling, Joiner was a fourth-round pick of the American Football League’s Houston Oilers in 1969.

Seven seasons of modest stats in Houston and Cincinnati changed drastically when he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1976.

Don Coryell was named the head coach of the franchise in 1978, and the Chargers took off.

Under his “Air Coryell” offense, Joiner and his teammates reached unprecedented heights in a pass-happy scheme that embarrassed opponents.

Joiner went from posting modest numbers to suddenly catching 70 or more passes three years in a row.

Even more astounding, the receiver continued to play at a high level for 18 years and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

After retiring, Joiner spent a quarter-century tutoring players as a receivers coach for three franchises.

This is the story of Charlie Joiner.

 

Growing Up in Louisiana

Charles Joiner Jr. was born on October 14, 1947, in Many, Louisiana.

Charlie was an only child with parents who were poor, and the family relocated to Lake Charles, Louisiana, when he was still young.

Growing up in his neighborhood was fun as he had more than enough friends to play with.

“In my neighborhood, we played sports a lot,” Joiner said. “We played basketball and football and in the spring we played baseball during the day and softball at night. In fact, I once thought baseball was my sport.”

It’s a strong possibility that pro football fans would’ve never witnessed Joiner’s athleticism if he had stuck with baseball.

Thankfully, Joiner attended W.O. Boston High School in Lake Charles.

The Panthers’ football coach at the time was Wiley Stewart, who had played for legendary coach Eddie Robinson at nearby Grambling College (now Grambling University).

It took Stewart two years, but he finally talked Joiner into coming out for the football team before his junior year.
Although he was a tad on the small side, Joiner was a quick study, a natural route runner, and he had great hands.

That got him work as a starting receiver for the Panthers.

 

All-State

Joiner wasn’t overly fast, but the work ethic he inherited from his parents was evident in the way he played the sport.

When he was a senior at Boston High, a local Houston Oilers scout named Tom Williams stopped by a game and was astounded at a move Joiner made.

“A double-out,” he recalled. “A move a lot of pros can’t make. He ran a 10-yard sideline route, turned upfield and ran another one, all in one motion. The defensive back was on the ground at the end of it. He got turned and burned.”

Williams didn’t need to see much more to realize that he wanted Joiner to become an Oiler one day.

By then, Coach Wiley already had the ear of his mentor, Coach Robinson, and put in a good word about Joiner.

“We liked our receivers a bit bigger,” Robinson said in 1984. “But Wiley said, ‘Believe me. Coach, this kid can play for you,’ and that was all I needed to hear. Charlie was quiet, just like he is now, very serious about football, a very serious student. He got his degree in accounting. He could have played defensive back for us, too. He wasn’t afraid to give a good lick.”

During his two years of prep ball, Joiner was an All-State selection both seasons.

Robinson invited him to play for Grambling, and Joiner didn’t hesitate.

 

Grambling

During his freshman year at Grambling in 1965, Joiner played on both sides of the ball as the Tigers went 8-3, including a loss to North Dakota State in the Pecan Bowl.

The following year, he stayed put on offense and caught 34 passes for 822 yards and nine touchdowns.

After Grambling’s 6-2-1 season, Joiner’s teammates voted him as the program’s MVP.

In 1967, the Tigers only lost once, to Jackson State, on October 21, and defeated Florida A&M in the Orange Blossom Classic 28-25 to finish 9-1.

Now a junior, Joiner was well-known throughout the southeast and was spoken of fondly by Robinson.

“Genius. Charlie was a genius at the pass receiving game,” Robinson said. “He brought it with him. Willie Brown, who was with the Raiders at the time, used to come back to Grambling to work with our defensive backs. But he’d also keep Charlie out after practice and work on covering him, one-on-one. One day, Willie told me, ‘Coach, I’m getting as much out of this as the kids are. If I can cover Charlie, I can cover anybody in the NFL.'”

 

Senior Year

By the time he was a senior, Joiner had worked with several former and then-current pro players who were in awe.

One of those former NFL greats included Dub Jones, who had suited up primarily for the Cleveland Browns and won five championships with the franchise.

“Dub told me one day that Charlie Joiner ran some of the finest patterns he’d ever seen,” Robinson recalled. “Beating his man, that’s where he excelled.”

It didn’t hurt that Joiner had James “Shack” Harris (a future 13-year player in the NFL) toss him the pigskin.

But, Joiner would have been excellent no matter who lined up under center, and his senior year included 42 receptions (a Tigers single-season record), 733 yards and eight touchdowns.

Grambling began 1968 with an 0-2 record before course correcting and finishing on a nine-game win streak.

Joiner’s final college game was against Sacramento State in the “Little” Rose Bowl, where he was responsible for two touchdowns in a 34-7 rout.

As a collegian, he was selected All-Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) three times and was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

He left school with a then-program record 2,066 receiving yards.

“Playing for Coach Robinson was one of the finest experiences I ever had,” Joiner said. “He taught you how to be a responsible person in the real world. He taught you not only how to compete on the football field but how to compete for a job, a home, a girl. If you listened to Coach Robinson, it was hard not to be successful.”

 

Fourth Round Pick

flag with the NFL logo waving

 

In predraft workouts, the 5’11”, 188-pound Joiner was clocked in the 40-yard dash at 4.5 seconds.

Teams liked his sure hands and precise route-running ability.

With the 93rd pick in the fourth round of the 1969 NFL/AFL Draft, the Houston Oilers selected Joiner.

When he reported for camp, he was suddenly moved to defensive back.

“I was their quarterback when he came to Houston in ’69,” said Pete Beathard. “Right away, we knew he was the best receiver on the squad. No defensive back could cover him man-to-man. But our receivers coach, Fran Polsfoot, tried to change him. He took away all his fluid moves and coached him to stop and square off his cuts. He nullified all his speed. You see it happen to some receivers in a certain system.”

The decision surprised Coach Robinson, who stated that his former player should stay on offense and that Joiner could cook any defensive back he met on the field.

Actually, Joiner believed that he wouldn’t play in the pros very long, but he wanted to stay long enough to become eligible for the league’s pension.

Partway through his rookie year, Joiner had totals of seven catches for 77 yards before getting sidelined by a broken arm for the rest of the season.

In 1970, he played receiver for nine games and eight starts.

Joiner tallied 28 receptions for 416 yards and three touchdowns before breaking his arm again and watching the remainder of the year on the bench.

 

Trade to Cincinnati

Houston made the playoffs in Joiner’s rookie year before falling to three wins in ‘70.

The franchise had a new coach in Ed Hughes in 1971, and the team improved slightly to four wins.

Joiner had 13 starts and led the Oilers with 31 catches, 681 yards and seven touchdowns as rookie quarterback Dan Pastorini’s favorite receiver.

Three days after the season ended, Hughes resigned, and the Oilers hired former Rice University head coach Bill Peterson.

Following a Week 6 contest against Cleveland in 1972, Joiner was unexpectedly traded to the Cincinnati Bengals even though he was leading the Oilers at the time in receptions.

“I really didn’t think it was me they were talking about. I was their leading pass receiver for two years, and it really hurt me,” Joiner said.

He would end 1972 with eight catches for the Bengals and 24 total receptions between the two organizations.

 

Learning From Walsh

Joiner didn’t begin his first full season in the Queen City with promise.

In the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft, Cincinnati selected San Diego State receiver Isaac Curtis, an obvious threat to the veteran.

Then, during the preseason, Joiner injured his knee, keeping him out of action.

He rehabbed like a madman and impressed head coach Paul Brown with his tenacity.

When Joiner returned, he displayed the speed that made him a dangerous target, at least for one play.

Following a 26-yard catch, he was tackled and broke his collarbone.

Brown thought Joiner would be out for the year, but the receiver returned in time to play in four more games and catch seven total passes.

In 1974, Joiner was on the field more often and practiced hard under quarterbacks and receivers coach Bill Walsh.

The coach worked with quarterback Ken Anderson as well as Curtis and Joiner to make them a top-notch unit.

“I learned a lot from Walsh,” Joiner said, “an awful lot. He taught me about patterns, about how to position defensive backs. And the big thing with him was, you’ve got to threaten the end zone. You’ve always got to threaten the end zone.”

Joiner produced 24 catches for 390 yards and a score in ‘74, then started 11 games in 1975 and grabbed 37 of Anderson’s passes for 726 yards and five touchdowns.

Cincinnati went 11-3 before losing to the Oakland Raiders in the divisional round.

 

Traded Again

San Diego Chargers helmet
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

 

Shortly after the 1975 season, Walsh left Cincinnati to become the offensive coordinator for Tommy Prothro and the San Diego Chargers.

When he arrived in Southern California, Walsh asked Prothro to trade for Joiner, and he did so.

Walsh introduced Joiner to quarterback Dan Fouts, and the duo connected 50 times for 1,056 yards and seven touchdowns.

Joiner’s receptions and yardage marks were by far the best of his career at the time.

Even better, that was the first season of his career that the receiver started and played in every regular season game and he was rewarded with his first Pro Bowl invite and an All-Pro nod.

“Charlie is the most intelligent, the smartest, the most calculating receiver the game has ever known,” Walsh said.

The coordinator left following the year to become the head coach at Stanford.

In 1977, Joiner had modest numbers of 35 receptions, 542 yards and six touchdowns.

 

“Air Coryell”

San Diego selected Arizona State receiver John Jefferson in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft.

After a 7-7 record the year before, the organization believed they were poised for a playoff push in ‘78, especially with Fouts, Jefferson and Joiner on board.

However, Joiner had minor surgery in February to clean up some discomfort in his knee.

He then saw the Jefferson addition, as well as other offseason team additions, and believed his career was finished.

Joiner had a discussion with Prothro in the spring about his future, and the coach encouraged his receiver to stay.

“He saved my career,” Joiner said. “We had a long talk. He told me to stick with it. He told me I still had some productive years left. So I hung in.”

A 1-3 start and the sudden resignation of Prothro in late September changed the Chargers’ optimism.

However, then-team owner Gene Klein called former San Diego State head coach Don Coryell to see if he’d like to finish the year.

Coryell was more than happy to come aboard.

He installed his pass-happy “Air Coryell” attack from his Aztec days, and the team’s fortunes improved.

By the end of the season, San Diego had won eight of its last 11 games to go 9-7 overall.

Joiner had modest numbers again with 33 catches for 607 yards and one score.

His stats would soon improve drastically.

 

Unprecedented Heights

American Football Field

 

Before 1979 began, Coryell did two things that jolted the Chargers’ offense.

One, he hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs to be his OC.

Then, with the 13th overall pick in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft, the team selected Missouri tight end Kellen Winslow.

Gibbs and Coryell added more flair to the Air Coryell attack, and the offense took off.

In 1978, the offense ranked 21st in the league in points scored.

A year later, they improved to second overall.

Fouts passed for 4,082 yards to break Joe Namath’s single-season record.

Jefferson and Joiner each benefitted with 1,000-yard seasons, the first pass-catching teammates to do so since Namath’s Jets teammates, George Sauer and Don Maynard, accomplished the feat in the mid-60s.

Joiner was exuberant with his huge uptick in numbers, including 72 receptions (career-high), 1,008 yards and four touchdowns, which brought a second Pro Bowl.

In NFL history to that point, only Ahmad Rashad and Maynard had caught more than 70 passes in a season after turning 30.

His catch total was even more impressive by the fact that Joiner was 32 at the time.

“Air Coryell made All-Pros out of a lot of guys. It was a great system,” Joiner said. “There’s no way I could have had the success I had if I hadn’t been traded to San Diego. I caught fire when they started throwing me passes.”

In the last game of the regular season, Joiner practically willed his team to victory to claim the AFC West title from the Denver Broncos.

He had to retreat to the locker room twice, for a thigh bruise, then to get 12 stitches after a nasty hit from Broncos linebacker Tom Jackson.

Regardless of blood loss, Joiner entered the game for the third time and promptly caught the game-winning touchdown, sending the Bolts to the postseason.

 

Playoff Football

American Football on Field

 

The ‘79 Chargers entered the postseason for the first time since 1965 with a 12-4 record, then unexpectedly lost to the Oilers in the divisional round.

In 1980, Joiner had 71 catches for 1,132 yards and four touchdowns (delivering him an All-Pro nod and Pro Bowl number three) as San Diego went 11-5.

During a Week 7 contest against the New York Giants, he snagged 10 receptions (a single-game career-best) for 171 yards and a touchdown.

Also, Jefferson, Joiner and Winslow became the first trio of receivers on the same team to post 1,000-yards receiving during a season.

San Diego met the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round and advanced with a 20-14 win before losing to the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship game (Joiner had two touchdown catches during the contest).

The Bolts went 10-6 in 1981 (before the season, Jefferson was traded to Green Bay and Wes Chandler came over from New Orleans), and Joiner caught 70 passes for 1,188 yards (career-high) and seven touchdowns.

His four 1,000-yard receiving campaigns between 1976 and 1981 were the most in the league at that point.

In Week 15, he dislocated a shoulder against Tampa Bay, went to the sidelines to pop it back into place, then returned to make a key play in the victory.

The Chargers met the Miami Dolphins in the divisional round and fought through intense heat and overtime to advance with a 41-38 emotional win.

During the game, Joiner caught seven passes, including a huge 39-yard snag to set up Rolf Benirschke’s game-winning kick.

Unfortunately, San Diego lost in frigid conditions a week later against Cincinnati in the AFC Championship, 27-7.

 

Breaking Records

Joiner had nearly retired during the previous two off-seasons before deciding to play.

He proved he belonged by becoming the first pass-catcher to haul in 70+ passes in three consecutive years.

In 1982, the NFL experienced a player’s strike, and the season consisted of just nine games.

While the Bolts went 6-3, Joiner caught 36 passes for 545 yards.

San Diego beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the First Round of the revamped playoffs before losing to Miami in the Second Round, during which Joiner scored his only touchdown of the year.

A season later, the Chargers won just six times as Joiner caught 65 passes and three touchdowns.

Then, in 1984, during a year in which he caught 61 passes and six scores, Joiner passed Charley Taylor on the NFL’s all-time list for most career receptions.

His 650th record-breaking reception came from backup QB Ed Luther, and Joiner was humble after the game.

“I don’t want numbers just for the sake of numbers,” he said. “Catches aren’t all that important unless they mean something in a game situation.”

In 1985, he passed Jackie Smith’s record of number of game appearances as a receiver with 210.

 

Retirement

Retirement

 

The 1986 season was bittersweet.

Joiner returned for an 18th year, practically unheard of for a receiver.

He caught 34 passes for 440 yards and two touchdowns, and along the way, passed Maynard’s career receiving yards mark.

“He read defenses better than half of the quarterbacks in the NFL,” said Fouts. “I have never communicated with a player better than I did with Charlie. We always seemed to be on the same wavelength.”

After the Chargers began the season 1-7, Coryell was fired and replaced with assistant head coach Al Saunders, thus ending Joiner’s time with the revered coach.

When the 4-12 season ended, Joiner decided to call it quits.

During his career, he caught 750 passes (530 after he turned 30) for 12,146 yards and 65 touchdowns.

He also had 22 rushing yards and 194 kick return yards.

In 1976 and 1983, Joiner was selected as the Chargers’ team MVP, and from 1980 through 1986, he was the organization’s Most Inspirational Player.

Joiner was a two-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler, and was later inducted into the LA Chargers’ Hall of Fame and had his number 18 retired by the club.

In 1996, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“The receiving records are the ones I am most proud of, even though Steve Largent broke them,” Joiner modestly reflected. “But the one I still have that he doesn’t is the most games by a wide receiver.”

 

Second Act

Joiner didn’t leave the game of football after retiring as a player and returned to the Chargers in 1987 as their receivers coach.

“I asked Charlie what he felt he’d do,” Saunders said. “He said it was about time to look into other things. I said if you retire, I’d certainly like you as my receivers coach.”

He stuck around with the team through the 1991 season, working with such receivers as Chandler, Anthony Miller and Shawn Jefferson.

From 1992 through 2000, Joiner was the receivers coach for the Buffalo Bills and finally experienced two Super Bowls, though both were losses.

Along the way, he tutored Hall of Famer Andre Reed, Don Beebe, James Lofton, Steve Tasker, Eric Moulds and Peerless Price.

The Kansas City Chiefs and head coach Dick Vermeil hired Joiner in 2001 as their receivers coach through the 2007 season.

Eddie Kennison, Derrick Alexander, Johnnie Morton and Dwayne Bowe were a few of his pupils.

Joiner returned to the Bolts in 2008 through 2012 as receivers coach under Norv Turner and coached Chris Chambers, Malcolm Floyd and Vincent Jackson, among others.

Following the 2012 season, he retired as a coach.

Joiner (currently 78 years old) and his wife, Diane, live in Southern California, and the couple has two daughters.

 

References

https://www.cincyjungle.com

https://www.chargers.com

https://www.espn.com

https://www.profootballhof.com

https://www.pro-football-reference.com

lasportshall.com

https://www.profootballhof.com

https://www.latimes.com

https://profootballresearchers.com

https://vault.si.com/vault

NEXT:  The Life And Career Of Philip Rivers

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Pro Football History Staff
Ben Donahue
Contributor at Pro Football History
Over 25 years of experience in sports including coach, athletic director, game day operations, media relations, football operations, and scout. He is [...]

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