Tierrasanta resident Ron Dixon had a routine.
Ten times a year, when the Chargers would play their home games, he would wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed and pack his hats and water bottles. He’d grab the powder for the Naval cannon sitting in his backyard — the one affixed to the bed of his Suzuki buggy and decorated with lightning bolts and a Chargers emblem — and add it to the rest of his supplies.
Dixon would drive the buggy seven miles from his house to Qualcomm Stadium, using surface streets — it’s not freeway legal, he says — before meeting up with the “Cannon Alley Fan Club,” a group of about 25 fans who tailgate before each home game. About 90 minutes to kickoff, he would take the cannon down to the field, assume his post at the southwest corner of Qualcomm Stadium and get ready to fire after every Chargers scoring play and victory.
Known as the “Cannon Man,” Dixon, 70, has rarely swayed from schedule. He’s missed just three games in 37 years of operating the cannon (all because of illness) but now, his routine is about to drastically change.
The San Diego Chargers have relocated to Los Angeles, and Dixon isn’t going with them.
“I used to go to Los Angeles a lot on business,” said Dixon, who owned a local pyrotechnics company. “We would work in theme parks and most of Los Angeles and L.A. County. I don’t have any desire to go up I-5 or 101 [Freeway] again. I’m getting too old for that.”
Dixon owns the cannon, which has been used at Chargers games since 1961, when the team first arrived in San Diego and played at Balboa Stadium. He took over duties after the previous operator, Jim Peluso, died in a car accident in 1980.
“It’s the only thing about the Chargers that remains unchanged since 1961,” he said. “The stadiums have changed, the owners have changed, the players have changed, the logos have changed, the mascots have changed. Everything has changed except the cannon.”
When reached for comment, a Chargers team official said the topic of the cannon “hasn’t been addressed.” It’s possible the team will purchase the vessel to continue the tradition at StubHub Center in Carson, where the Chargers will play for the next two seasons. If not, Dixon is hoping a local community organization will want that piece of San Diego history, or perhaps it will be housed with other sports memorabilia in the San Diego Hall of Champions, which is moving to Petco Park.
“I guess if someone wants to buy a cannon, it’s for sale,” he said.
While he understands the business aspect of moving the Chargers to the second-largest city in the country, Dixon wishes that he would have heard something more than silence from the franchise after nearly four decades of operating the cannon.
“My biggest disappointment is I haven’t heard anything,” he said. “I never received one official word from anyone.
“I can’t get angry,” he added. “The Spanos family has been very nice to me. I think right now, they’ve got other fish to fry than worrying about the cannon.”
A San Diego native, Dixon’s office is littered with Chargers memorabilia — bobble heads, helmets, knick knacks that flash the lightning bolt logo. There are framed pictures on the wall of people he’s met through the years, from former Chargers head coach Sid Gillman to actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger. His eyes light up when he reflects on memories and then darken, as if he’s suddenly been told again that the team is gone.
He is not sure he will remain a fan, but he is thankful for the relationships he’s built and the opportunities he’s been afforded.
“I kind of go through a little withdrawal when the season is over each year, and I can imagine it’s going to be a lot more withdrawal knowing now that the career is over,” Dixon said. “It’s been a great privilege.
“I just want to say thank you to every San Diego Chargers fan.”
