1961 Houston Oilers (AFL) |
| 1st place • Eastern Division • 10-3-1 .769 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Lou Rymkus (1-3-1); Wally Lemm (9-0-0) |
| Wally Lemm | Assistant Coach |
| Walt Schlinkman | Offensive Backs |
| Mac Speedie | Ends |
| Joe Spencer | Line |
| Fred Wallner | Defense |
| SCORES | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | ||||
| Sun | 8/6/1961 | A | San Diego Chargers | 14 | 27 | L | San Diego, CA | Balboa Stadium | 15000 | |
| Fri | 8/11/1961 | N | Oakland Raiders | 35 | 17 | W | Honolulu, HI | Honolulu Stadium | 12500 | |
| Fri | 8/18/1961 | N | San Diego Chargers | 28 | 46 | L | Honolulu, HI | Honolulu Stadium | 12826 | |
| Fri | 8/25/1961 | N | New York Titans | 30 | 20 | W | Greenville, SC | Sirrine Stadium | 9500 | |
| Sat | 9/1/1961 | H | Denver Broncos | 42 | 10 | W | Mobile, AL | Ladd Memorial Stadium | 10087 | |
| Sat | 9/9/1961 | H | Oakland Raiders | 55 | 0 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 16231 | |
| Sun | 9/24/1961 | A | San Diego Chargers | 24 | 34 | L | San Diego, CA | Balboa Stadium | 29210 | |
| Sun | 10/1/1961 | A | Dallas Texans | 21 | 26 | L | Dallas, TX | Cotton Bowl | 28000 | |
| Sun | 10/8/1961 | H | Buffalo Bills | 12 | 22 | L | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 22761 | |
| Fri | 10/13/1961 | A | Boston Patriots | 31 | 31 | T | Boston, MA | Boston University Field | 15070 | |
| Sun | 10/22/1961 | H | Dallas Texans | 38 | 7 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 23228 | |
| Sun | 10/29/1961 | A | Buffalo Bills | 28 | 16 | W | Buffalo, NY | War Memorial Stadium | 21237 | |
| Sun | 11/5/1961 | A | Denver Broncos | 55 | 14 | W | Denver, CO | Bears Stadium | 11564 | |
| Sun | 11/12/1961 | H | Boston Patriots | 27 | 15 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 35649 | |
| Sun | 11/19/1961 | H | New York Titans | 49 | 13 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 33428 | |
| Sun | 11/26/1961 | H | Denver Broncos | 45 | 14 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 27874 | |
| Sun | 12/3/1961 | H | San Diego Chargers | 33 | 13 | W | Houston, TX | Jeppesen Stadium | 37845 | |
| Sun | 12/10/1961 | A | New York Titans | 48 | 21 | W | New York, NY | Polo Grounds | 9462 | |
| Sun | 12/17/1961 | A | Oakland Raiders | 47 | 16 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 4812 | |
| League Championship | ||||||||||
| Sun | 12/24/1961 | A | San Diego Chargers | 10 | 3 | W | San Diego, CA | Balboa Stadium | 29556 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Dalva Allen | 80 | LDE | 6-5 | 224 | 26 | Houston | 14 | 13 |
| Tony Banfield | 40 | LCB | 6-1 | 185 | 24 | Oklahoma State | 14 | 14 |
| Byron Beams | 78 | RDT-LDT | 6-6 | 249 | 32 | East Central; Notre Dame | 7 | 4 |
| George Belotti | 57 | C | 6-4 | 250 | 27 | Southern California | 2 | 2 |
| George Blanda | 16 | QB-K | 6-1 | 210 | 34 | Kentucky | 14 | 11 |
| Ron Botchan | 37 | RLB-LLB | 6-1 | 233 | 26 | Occidental | 14 | 1 |
| Billy Cannon | 20 | HB | 6-1 | 216 | 24 | Louisiana State | 14 | 13 |
| Doug Cline | 31 | LLB | 6-2 | 225 | 23 | Clemson | 14 | 14 |
| Willard Dewveall | 88 | TE-SE | 6-4 | 224 | 25 | Southern Methodist | 7 | 2 |
| Mike Dukes | 30 | RLB | 6-3 | 231 | 25 | Clemson | 14 | 12 |
| Don Floyd | 75 | RDE | 6-4 | 242 | 23 | Texas Christian | 14 | 14 |
| Dick Frey | 62 | ROG | 6-2 | 232 | 32 | Pasadena CC; Texas A&M | 7 | 0 |
| Freddy Glick | 27 | RS | 6-1 | 189 | 24 | Colorado State | 12 | 8 |
| Bill Groman | 89 | SE | 6-0 | 195 | 25 | Heidelberg | 14 | 14 |
| Buzz Guy | 60 | LOG | 6-3 | 248 | 25 | Duke | 1 | 0 |
| John Guzik | 33 | MLB | 6-3 | 231 | 25 | Pittsburgh | 3 | 0 |
| Ken Hall | 21 | P-HB | 6-1 | 205 | 26 | Texas A&M | 3 | 0 |
| Charley Hennigan | 87 | FL | 6-0 | 187 | 26 | Louisiana State; Northwestern State (Louisiana) | 14 | 14 |
| Ed Husmann | 82 | RDT-LDE | 6-0 | 235 | 30 | Nebraska | 14 | 12 |
| Al Jamison | 70 | LOT | 6-5 | 245 | 24 | Colgate | 14 | 14 |
| Mark Johnston | 41 | RCB | 6-0 | 201 | 23 | Northwestern | 14 | 14 |
| Gene Jones | 27 | DB | 6-0 | 200 | 25 | Rice | 1 | 0 |
| Bobby Kelly | 84 | LDE-LOT-ROT | 6-3 | 261 | 21 | New Mexico State | 14 | 1 |
| Claude King | 46 | HB | 5-11 | 190 | 23 | Houston | 12 | 0 |
| Jack Laraway | 34 | RLB | 6-1 | 217 | 26 | Purdue | 10 | 1 |
| Jacky Lee | 15 | QB | 6-1 | 186 | 23 | Cincinnati | 14 | 3 |
| Bob McLeod | 81 | TE | 6-5 | 231 | 23 | Abilene Christian | 14 | 6 |
| Rich Michael | 77 | ROT | 6-3 | 230 | 23 | Ohio State | 14 | 14 |
| Charley Milstead | 12 | RS | 6-2 | 190 | 24 | Texas A&M | 8 | 3 |
| Dennit Morris | 50 | MLB | 6-1 | 228 | 25 | Oklahoma | 14 | 14 |
| Jim Norton | 43 | LS-P | 6-3 | 187 | 23 | Idaho | 14 | 14 |
| Willis Perkins | 64 | OG | 6-0 | 240 | 27 | Texas Southern | 1 | 0 |
| Leo Reed | 66 | ROG-LOG | 6-3 | 260 | 22 | Colorado State | 5 | 0 |
| Bob Schmidt | 52 | C | 6-4 | 248 | 25 | Minnesota | 12 | 12 |
| George Shirkey | 74 | DT | 6-4 | 252 | 25 | Angelo State; Stephen F. Austin State | 7 | 7 |
| Dave Smith | 32 | FB | 6-1 | 209 | 24 | Ripon | 14 | 1 |
| Julian Spence | 24 | RS | 5-11 | 170 | 32 | Sam Houston State | 10 | 3 |
| Bob Talamini | 61 | LOG | 6-1 | 249 | 22 | Kentucky | 14 | 14 |
| Charlie Tolar | 44 | FB-HB | 5-6 | 199 | 24 | Northwestern State (Louisiana) | 14 | 14 |
| Orville Trask | 79 | LDT | 6-4 | 250 | 27 | Rice | 14 | 7 |
| Hogan Wharton | 63 | ROG | 6-2 | 248 | 26 | Southern Methodist; Houston | 14 | 14 |
| John White | 86 | TE | 6-3 | 230 | 26 | Texas Southern | 14 | 6 |
| Gary Wisener | 22 | RCB | 6-1 | 206 | 23 | Baylor | 5 | 0 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 8 | Mike Ditka | E | Pittsburgh |
| 2 | 15 | Tom Goode | C | Mississippi State |
| 3 | 24 | Walt Suggs | T | Mississippi State |
| 4 | 31 | Bobby Walden | HB | Georgia |
| 5 | 40 | Monte Lee | G | Texas |
| 6 | 47 | Jake Gibbs | QB | Mississippi |
| 7 | 56 | Dick Reynolds | T | North Carolina State |
| 8 | 63 | Houston Antwine | G | Southern Illinois |
| 9 | 72 | Ralph White | T | Bowling Green State |
| 10 | 79 | Charley Lee | C | Iowa |
| 11 | 88 | Bob Bird | G | Bowling Green State |
| 12 | 95 | Bob McLeod | E | Abilene Christian |
| 13 | 104 | Joe Hinton | G | Louisiana Tech |
| 14 | 111 | Jimmy King | T | Clemson |
| 15 | 120 | Dennis Ferriter | C | Marquette |
| 16 | 127 | Larry Wood | HB | Northwestern |
| 17 | 136 | Sam Fewell | T | South Carolina |
| 18 | 143 | Ike Grimsley | HB | Michigan State |
| 19 | 152 | Myron Pearson | HB | Colorado State |
| 20 | 159 | Lewis Johnson | HB | Florida A&M |
| 21 | 168 | Ron Miller | QB | Wisconsin |
| 22 | 175 | Bobby Kelly | E | New Mexico State |
| 23 | 184 | Jim Anderson | FB | Mississippi |
| 24 | 191 | Ken Gregory | E | Whittier |
| 25 | 200 | Jack Kreider | HB | Tulsa |
| 26 | 207 | Don Fuell | QB | Southern Mississippi |
| 27 | 216 | Boyd King | C | Rice |
| 28 | 223 | John Frongillo | T | Baylor |
| 29 | 230 | Tom Lewis | E | Lake Forest |
| 29 | 232 | Errol Linden | E | Houston |
| 30 | 239 | Jim Stroud | T | Rice |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 85 | 180 | 92 | 156 | 513 |
| Opponents Totals | 44 | 76 | 48 | 74 | 242 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 293 | 97 | 182 | 14 | / % | / % | 83 | 889 | |
| Opponents Totals | 235 | 87 | 126 | 22 | / % | / % | 57 | 588 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | X2 | X2A | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 0 | 64 | 65 | 98.5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 29 | 55.2 | 0 | 112 |
| Bill Groman | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | ||
| Billy Cannon | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | ||
| Charley Hennigan | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | ||
| Charlie Tolar | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Willard Dewveall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Claude King | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Dave Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Doug Cline | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | ||
| Bob McLeod | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Ken Hall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Mark Johnston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| John White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Dennit Morris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Charley Milstead | 0 | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Team Totals | 66 | 65 | 66 | 98.5 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 29 | 55.2 | 2 | 513 |
| Opponents Totals | 33 | 22 | 26 | 84.6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 25.0 | 0 | 242 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 16 | 29 | 55.2 | 0 | 55 | 6/7 | 6/8 | 1/2 | 1/6 | 2/6 |
| Team Totals | 16 | 29 | 55.2 | 0 | 55 | 6/7 | 6/8 | 1/2 | 1/6 | 2/6 |
| Opponents Totals | 6 | 24 | 25.0 | 2/ | 1/ | 2/ | 1/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cannon | 200 | 948 | 4.7 | 61t | 6 |
| Charlie Tolar | 157 | 577 | 3.7 | 38 | 4 |
| Dave Smith | 60 | 258 | 4.3 | 21 | 2 |
| Claude King | 12 | 50 | 4.2 | 17t | 2 |
| Jacky Lee | 8 | 36 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 |
| Ken Hall | 7 | 13 | 1.9 | 9 | 0 |
| George Blanda | 7 | 12 | 1.7 | 7 | 0 |
| Bill Groman | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2t | 1 |
| Team Totals | 452 | 1896 | 4.2 | 61t | 15 |
| Opponents Totals | 365 | 1634 | 4.5 | 17 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 362 | 187 | 51.7 | 153 | 3330 | 9.2 | 17.8 | 80t | 36 | 9.9 | 22 | 6.1 | 91.3 | |||
| Jacky Lee | 127 | 66 | 52.0 | 55 | 1205 | 9.5 | 18.3 | 80t | 12 | 9.4 | 6 | 4.7 | 96.7 | |||
| Dave Smith | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 1 | 33 | 16.5 | 33.0 | 33 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 95.8 | |||
| Bill Groman | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 39.6 | |||||
| Charlie Tolar | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 39.6 | |||||
| Billy Cannon | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 20.0 | 0.0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 498 | 254 | 51.0 | 215 | 4568 | 9.2 | 18.0 | 80t | 48 | 9.6 | 29 | 5.8 | 14 | 176 | 4392 | 90.7 |
| Opponents Totals | 493 | 212 | 43.0 | 248 | 2750 | 5.6 | 13.0 | 13 | 2.6 | 33 | 6.7 | 41 | 359 | 2391 | 42.1 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charley Hennigan | 82 | 1746 | 21.3 | 80t | 12 |
| Bill Groman | 50 | 1175 | 23.5 | 80t | 17 |
| Billy Cannon | 43 | 586 | 13.6 | 78t | 9 |
| Charlie Tolar | 24 | 219 | 9.1 | 32 | 1 |
| Bob McLeod | 14 | 172 | 12.3 | 18 | 2 |
| John White | 13 | 238 | 18.3 | 49 | 1 |
| Willard Dewveall | 12 | 200 | 16.7 | 66t | 3 |
| Dave Smith | 10 | 131 | 13.1 | 37 | 1 |
| Claude King | 3 | 83 | 27.7 | 44t | 1 |
| Ken Hall | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20t | 1 |
| Julian Spence | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| George Blanda | 1 | -16 | -16.0 | -16 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 212 | 2750 | 13.0 | 13 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Norton | 9 | 150 | 16.7 | 36 | 0 |
| Tony Banfield | 8 | 136 | 17.0 | 58 | 0 |
| Mark Johnston | 4 | 59 | 14.8 | 27 | 0 |
| Freddy Glick | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Charley Milstead | 2 | 25 | 12.5 | 22 | 0 |
| Dennit Morris | 1 | 31 | 31.0 | 31 | 0 |
| Jack Laraway | 1 | 30 | 30.0 | 30 | 0 |
| Doug Cline | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 | 0 |
| Julian Spence | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 |
| Orville Trask | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 17 | 0 |
| Mike Dukes | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 33 | 528 | 16.0 | 58 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 29 | 407 | 14.0 | 2 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Norton | 48 | 1952 | 40.7 | 63 | 0 | |||||
| Ken Hall | 8 | 238 | 29.8 | 50 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 56 | 2190 | 39.1 | 63 | 0 | 271 | 39.1 | |||
| Opponents Totals | 81 | 3294 | 40.7 | 118 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cannon | 9 | 70 | 7.8 | 20 | 0 | |
| Claude King | 7 | 32 | 4.6 | 10 | 0 | |
| Ken Hall | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Dave Smith | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 19 | 118 | 6.2 | 20 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 20 | 271 | 13.6 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cannon | 18 | 439 | 24.4 | 47 | 0 | |
| Claude King | 8 | 190 | 23.8 | 41 | 0 | |
| Ken Hall | 6 | 140 | 23.3 | 33 | 0 | |
| Mike Dukes | 4 | 57 | 14.3 | 23 | 0 | |
| Charlie Tolar | 2 | 42 | 21.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Doug Cline | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 | 0 | |
| Jack Laraway | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Bob McLeod | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Hogan Wharton | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Dave Smith | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 43 | 940 | 21.9 | 47 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 66 | 1481 | 22.4 | 1 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalva Allen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| George Blanda | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Ron Botchan | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Billy Cannon | 5 | 0 | |||||
| Doug Cline | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||
| Freddy Glick | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Ed Husmann | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Bobby Kelly | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Claude King | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Jack Laraway | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Jacky Lee | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Jim Norton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Dave Smith | 3 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Julian Spence | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Bob Talamini | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Charlie Tolar | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Team Totals | 19 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 2 | |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 27 | 0 |
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| Last Updated: November 20, 2025 |