The Los Angeles Chargers are days away from opening the 2026 season at home against the Arizona Cardinals. On the field, the Chargers are navigating several early-season injuries in preparation for week one. Off the field, earlier this week quarterback Justin Herbert and safety Derwin James Jr. were honored in a unique and beautiful Los Angeles way.

Internationally renowned artist and muralist, Los Angeles's own Robert Vargas unveiled his most recent mural in Torrance earlier this week. The twelve-story tall mural, on the side of the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel titled "The Storm is Coming" features Herbert and James.

Vargas stated in an earlier post on Instagram "Sports and art have a unique power to bridge cultures, unite communities, and bring people from all different backgrounds together. Diversity through sports. With The Storm is Coming" mural, I want to capture that electric energy and local pride, celebrating the Chargers and giving the South Bay a new visual anchor that inspires everyone who sees it."

The moment is an amazing recognition for Herbert, James and the Chargers. The other side of the hotel features another mural from Vargas titled "Samurai of the Diamond" featuring Japanese born Dodgers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Roki Sasaki and superstar Shohei Ohtani.

The reveal is a moment of celebration and honor for an LA team and a pair of Los Angeles star athletes at the hands and talent of a legendary local artist. Local news station KTLA, or at least one individual at the station decided the unveiling of the mural was the perfect time to take a cheap shot at the Chargers franchise.

In a now-deleted and retracted article, KTLA's director of digital content Marc Sternfield, published an article, not celebrating the honor, but instead criticizing the team's presence in LA. The article titled Fans mock Los Angeles Chargers after mural unveiling was clearly put together by cherry picking social media comments aimed at diminishing the team as an LA franchise.

Chargers fans were quick to respond and the article was pulled from social media and KTLA's website within hours. The humiliation did not end with the article getting pulled. The same content was pushed on air live, before KTLA's anchor Samantha Cortese squashed it as ridiculous and responded with "whatever" and redirected the unveiling to the honor that it should be considered.

It appears that one individual at KTLA is not a fan of the Chargers and their move to Los Angeles nine years ago. The final advice from Samantha Cortese is likely the most appropriate for the Chargers and Chargers fans in this scenario, "Don't listen to the haters."