[Franklinnoble]

San Diego
July, 2003

They said it was an accident. Alex Spanos was just crossing the street one morning when a black sedan ran him down and left him bleeding in the street. There was only one witness, who was only able to provide a simple description of the vehicle, and no license plate number. The police never found the car or the driver.

Suspicions were raised when it was discovered that while most of Spanos' estate was left to the expected heirs, his will stated that the San Diego Chargers would be left to Bruno Triveri, a wealthy car parts distributor with whom Spanos had limited investment dealings but was rumored to have numerous criminal connections.

The probate process was swift - none of the other heirs raised any protest over the distribution of assets, and Bruno was left as the owner of the Chargers. He promised swift changes that would turn the franchise into a sensational winner, and the city began to buzz with excitement over the new owner's enthusiasm.

The hype ended when Triveri was arrested for first degree murder. The police had arrested the man who had killed mexican crime boss Carlos "The Squid" Calimari three years earlier, and he turned over evidence linking Triveri to the crime. Details were sketchy, but it had something to do with a breed of trout that Triveri was fond of raising.

Triveri fled the country, but before he did, he arranged for transfer of ownership of the San Diego Chargers to Franklin Brown, a seemingly hapless computer technician from Northern California.

Brown had no NFL experience - in fact, he had no football experience at all since playing in high school in Maryland. Why had Triveri handed over ownership of an NFL franchise to this person, free of charge?

This is his story...