SAN GABRIEL, Calif. — Many sports fans line their walls with various jerseys and helmets and a select few have signed memorabilia.
But you have to drive down to San Gabriel, inside the home of longtime Chargers fan Charles Salazar, to find the one piece of memorabilia that almost no one else can say they own.
"That's my old badge for work," Salazar explained. "We had to scan in and out because only certain people were on the site."
It may look like a normal work badge, but it's actually from Salazar's time working as an electrician at SoFi Stadium — the home of his beloved Los Angeles Chargers.
"It's why it has a prominent place on the wall," he explained. "That little piece of plastic means I had a piece of building the stadium."
Salazar has been a fan of the team since the early '90s. He, his wife and kids spent their seasons driving down to San Diego.
When the Bolts announced their move home, Salazar felt like it was fate.
"Just being an electrician and having the Chargers be your team," he said with a smile. "So when I got the transfer to that job, I couldn't tell you how happy I was."
During his time on the job, Salazar was one of the first fans allowed inside the stadium grounds, overseeing the construction of the building from the ground up.
Salazar's name is also written on the last steel beam put up at the construction site.
"I know my name is on it as a Chargers fan, and it makes it all the more better," Salazar said.
And what will make it the best? You might be asking: Getting to experience it on game day.
Last week, Salazar and his family got a taste of it at the team's fan fest. Taking his seat then, he felt a rush of emotion. But this Saturday, as the Chargers take on the Rams to open the preseason, it'll take on new meaning.
"It's the epitome of being an ultimate fan and knowing I had a piece of this," he said. "It sounds silly, but I know for a fact I'm going to be telling people I had a piece in building it, and now we're sitting and enjoying it."