Ron Mix

College career

A graduate of the University of Southern California, where he was an All American in 1959, Mix was an original Los Angeles Charger in 1960. Mix was also a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity. He was elected the National Jewish College Athlete of the Year.

Professional football career

Because he had a Juris Doctor in Law degree, Mix was nicknamed "The Intellectual Assassin" for his physical play. Mix was called for a mere two holding penalties in ten years.

Mix, who was listed at 6' 5" and 270 pounds, was an early proponent of weightlifting to enhance athletic power. He was years ahead of the curve that soon at lineman and other football players taking up that practice to become better athletes. His lifts included a military press of 300 pounds, a clean and jerk of 325 pounds, and a bench press of 425 pounds, all of the lifts considered to be exceptionally strong for that era of play.

Although the Baltimore Colts picked him number 1 in 1960, he chose to go to the AFL, where he had also been the number 1 draft pick.

He was a factor in the Chargers' early domination of the AFL's Western Division, and in San Diego helped them win an American Football League Championship in 1963, when they defeated the Boston Patriots 51-10 in the championship game.

Mix was the first white player in the 1965 AFL All-Star game in New Orleans to step forward and join his black teammates in a civil rights boycott. The racist environment of New Orleans caused the black players to say they weren’t playing in a city that denied them the most basic rights (to eat, to get a cab, etc.). He made it clear that if the black players were not going to play, neither would he. That caused other white players to join the boycott. The game was then moved to Houston.

He was elected to the AFL All-Star team for eight straight years as a Charger, is a member of the All-time All-AFL Team, and is one of only 20 men who played the entire 10 years of the AFL. He was the first Charger to have his number retired in 1969 after he announced he was quitting football after playing injured that season. He earned a law degree from the University of San Diego in 1970. He told the Chargers he wanted play again, but they had found a replacement in Gene Ferguson. After Mix asked to be traded to the New York Jets, San Diego traded him to the Oakland Raiders for two high draft picks in 1970 and 1971. The deal was contingent upon Mix unretiring and agreeing to play for Oakland. He played with the Raiders in 1971. Then-Chargers owner Gene Klein, who hated the Raiders, unretired Mix's number.

He was also the general manager of the WFL Portland Storm in 1974.

He was voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Mix is Jewish, and was also elected a member of the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, being elected to that in 1980. He was the second player from the AFL to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Lance Alworth was the first in 1978.

After football

Mix practiced law in San Diego, California with a practice focused on representing retired professional athletes in claims for workers' compensation benefits. Prior to that, he was a civil litigator.

In 2016, the IRS accused Mix of filing a false tax return. Federal prosecutors said that Mix got referrals for clients from a non-lawyer, a former professional basketball player client of his named Kermit Washington and that Mix made contributions to two charitable foundations of Mr. Washington that supported a school and other causes in Africa and then Mix took tax deductions for the contributions. Court records allege that Washington diverted most of money donated to his charities for his own personal use. Mix pled guilty to one count of filing a false tax return. The plea agreement specifically says that Mix believed the charity was legitimate and did not know the funds were being diverted. Nonetheless, claiming the charitable contributions was wrong because Mix got something of value--the referrals. San Diego Union Tribune May 23, 2016.