As part of the celebration of Juneteenth, the Chargers are highlighting the impact of Earl Faison, a former player who helped lead a boycott of the 1965 AFL All-Star Game in New Orleans.

Earl Faison knew something was amiss immediately after arriving in New Orleans.

The Chargers defensive end was among dozens of players who had landed in the city for the 1965 American Football League (AFL) All-Star game. A dominant defender for the Bolts, Faison was ready to enjoy his fourth straight selection in the game.

But Faison and his fellow Black All-Stars quickly realized that a supposedly celebratory event was going to turn sour due to repeated and intense racism.

“The moment he stepped off the airplane, he was subject to a racial slur in the New Orleans airport,” Erin Sapp, a New Orleans-based author, said of Faison. “So, as soon as you can be discriminated against and abused in a city, that was his experience.”

Todd Tobias, a well-renowned AFL historian, said the hopes of a golf tournament, family time and special events were quickly dashed.

“Once they got there, they quickly realized that what they were promised was not what they were experiencing,” Tobias said.

Sapp and Tobias have each done extensive research on the 1965 AFL All-Star Game — and the ensuing boycott that forced the game to be moved to Houston.

Sapp published a book called “Moving the Chains” in 2022. The nearly 300-page book looks at how the All-Star Game landed in New Orleans, what transpired once players arrived and how the game being boycotted led to major changes for the city.

Tobias, meanwhile, runs an AFL-themed website and has conducted dozens of interviews with former players and coaches with ties to the Chargers and the AFL, including Faison — who passed away in 2016 — as well as Ernie Ladd, Dick Westmoreland, John Hadl, Sid Gillman and others.

Both Sapp and Tobias noted that while the boycott of the 1965 AFL All-Star Game eventually had sizable and lasting ramifications of positive change, the events and interactions players experienced has largely been forgotten.

“The more I dug, I realized that this was an incredible story,” Sapp said. “These were brave men. They are heroes and they had a huge impact on New Orleans.”

Tobias added: “It’s one of the most unknown but yet most important racial situations in American sports history. It’s something very few people even know about.”

Faison was one of nine Chargers selected to the AFL All-Star Game for their superb play during the 1964 season. Of those nine players, six have passed away.

Here is the story of Faison and his impact on the boycott of the 1965 AFL All-Star Game:

Faison wasn’t only subjected to discrimination when he stepped off the plane in New Orleans.

It continued when he walked outside of the airport, too, as the then 25-year-old couldn’t hail a cab like his white teammates could.

And, according to Tobias, Faison said one of his strongest memories came once he did finally arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel.

Tobias relayed a story Faison told him in which Faison — who stood at 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds — was initially confused at the front desk for Ladd, a teammate who had a larger stature.

“At that point, Ernie was known as probably the biggest man in football. He was 6-foot-9 and at least 320 pounds,” Tobias said. “The hotel worker said, ‘Is that Ernie Ladd?’ And the response he got from his coworker was, ‘No, Ernie Ladd is a bigger [racial slur] than that.’

“And that struck Earl,” Tobias added. “He wasn’t naïve … but he couldn’t believe this kind of stuff was being said out in the open when, basically, the city was in a position where they were trying to impress the league enough to expand into New Orleans.”