1961 Houston Oilers (AFL)

1st place Eastern Division 10-3-1 .769

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	Score		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

Exhibition game. Playoff game. A=Away game. H=Home game. N=Neutral site game. W=Win. L=Loss. T=Tie. OT=Overtime.

ROSTER
No	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt	Age	College	GP	GS
80	Dalva Allen	LDE	6-5	224	26	Houston	14	13
40	Tony Banfield	LCB	6-1	185	24	Oklahoma State	14	14
78	Byron Beams	RDT-LDT	6-6	249	32	East Central; Notre Dame	7	4
57	George Belotti	C	6-4	250	27	Southern California	2	2
16	George Blanda	QB-K	6-1	210	34	Kentucky	14	11
37	Ron Botchan	RLB-LLB	6-1	233	26	Occidental	14	1
20	Billy Cannon	HB	6-1	216	24	Louisiana State	14	13
31	Doug Cline	LLB	6-2	225	23	Clemson	14	14
88	Willard Dewveall	TE-SE	6-4	224	25	Southern Methodist	7	2
30	Mike Dukes	RLB	6-3	231	25	Clemson	14	12
75	Don Floyd	RDE	6-4	242	23	Texas Christian	14	14
62	Dick Frey	ROG	6-2	232	32	Pasadena CC; Texas A&M	7	0
27	Freddy Glick	RS	6-1	189	24	Colorado State	12	8
89	Bill Groman	SE	6-0	195	25	Heidelberg	14	14
60	Buzz Guy	LOG	6-3	248	25	Duke	1	0
33	John Guzik	MLB	6-3	231	25	Pittsburgh	3	0
21	Ken Hall	P-HB	6-1	205	26	Texas A&M	3	0
87	Charley Hennigan	FL	6-0	187	26	Louisiana State; Northwestern State (Louisiana)	14	14
82	Ed Husmann	RDT-LDE	6-0	235	30	Nebraska	14	11
70	Al Jamison	LOT	6-5	245	24	Colgate	14	14
41	Mark Johnston	RCB	6-0	201	23	Northwestern	14	14
27	Gene Jones	DB	6-0	200	25	Rice	1	0
84	Bobby Kelly	LDE-LOT-ROT	6-3	261	21	New Mexico State	14	1
46	Claude King	HB	5-11	190	23	Houston	11	0
34	Jack Laraway	RLB	6-1	217	26	Purdue	10	1
15	Jacky Lee	QB	6-1	186	23	Cincinnati	14	3
81	Bob McLeod	TE	6-5	231	23	Abilene Christian	14	6
77	Rich Michael	ROT	6-3	230	23	Ohio State	14	14
12	Charley Milstead	RS-QB	6-2	190	24	Texas A&M	8	3
50	Dennit Morris	MLB	6-1	228	25	Oklahoma	14	14
43	Jim Norton	LS-P	6-3	187	23	Idaho	14	14
64	Willis Perkins	OG	6-0	240	27	Texas Southern	1	0
66	Leo Reed	ROG-LOG	6-3	260	21	Colorado State	5	0
52	Bob Schmidt	C	6-4	248	25	Minnesota	12	12
74	George Shirkey	DT	6-4	252	25	Angelo State; Stephen F. Austin State	7	7
32	Dave Smith	FB	6-1	209	24	Ripon	14	1
24	Julian Spence	RS	5-11	170	32	Sam Houston State	10	3
61	Bob Talamini	LOG	6-1	249	22	Kentucky	14	14
44	Charlie Tolar	FB-HB	5-6	199	24	Northwestern State (Louisiana)	14	14
79	Orville Trask	LDT	6-4	250	27	Rice	14	7
63	Hogan Wharton	ROG	6-2	248	26	Southern Methodist; Houston	14	14
86	John White	TE	6-3	230	26	Texas Southern	14	6
22	Gary Wisener	FL	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
Team Totals	85	180	92	156
Opponents Totals	44	76	48	74

TEAM STATS	TOP	1ST DOWNS	Rushing	Passing	Penalty	3RD DOWN EFFICIENCY	4TH DOWN EFFICIENCY	PEN	YDS
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	26	61.5	2	513
Opponents Totals	33	22	26	84.6	1	1	6	24	25.0	0	242

FIELD GOALS	MADE	ATT	PCT	1-19	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+
George Blanda	16	29	55.2	6/	6/	1/	1/	2/
Team Totals	16	26	61.5	6/	6/	1/	1/	2/
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	RYDS	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	YDS	AVG	LG
Billy Cannon	9	70	7.8	20
Claude King	7	32	4.6	10
Ken Hall	2	1	.5.0	1
Dave Smith	1	15	15.0	15
Team Totals	19	118	6.2	20
Opponents Totals	20	271	13.6

KICKOFF RETURNS	NO	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
George Blanda	3						0
Billy Cannon	5						0
Doug Cline	0	0					2
Claude King	2						0
Jacky Lee	3						0
Dave Smith	3						0
Charlie Tolar	3						0
Team Totals	19	11	8		15	23		2
Opponents Totals	31	15	16	11	27		0