Fearsome Foursome (American football)

The Fearsome Foursome were the dominating defensive lines of the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League in the early 1960s, the New York Giants, and most widely, the Los Angeles Rams of the 1960s and 1970s.

In the 1957 season the New York Daily News, a major New York city tabloid, ran an article and sketches of the New York Giants' line consisting of ends Andy Robustelli and Jim Katcavage, and tackles Rosey Grier and Dick Modzelewski and a headline that read "A Fearsome Foursome."

The nickname "Fearsome Foursome" was first regularly used to describe the American Football League's San Diego Chargers' defensive front four, including starters DE Ron Nery, DT Bill Hudson, DT Ernie Ladd, and DE Earl Faison. The Chargers moved to San Diego in 1961, and Faison made overall AFL Rookie of the Year, a rare feat for a defensive player. Alternate members of the group included DE Bob Petrich, DT George Gross, and DE-DT Henry Schmidt. At the time Gross and Ladd were two of the largest and strongest men in professional football. The Chargers' Foursome helped them reach the first two American Football League Championship games and five altogether, winning the AFL Championship in 1963 with a 51-10 thumping of the Boston Patriots.