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1961 Houston Oilers
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Record: 10-3-1, Finished 1st in AFL East Division
AFL Season Summary
1961 AFL Champions
Scored 513 points (36.6/g), 1st of 8 in the AFL.
Allowed 242 points (17.3/g), 2nd.
Differential of 271 points (19.4/g), 1st.
Expected W-L: 12.0-2.0.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +9 (0.6/g), 3rd.
Coached by Lou Rymkus (1-3-1) and Wally Lemm (9-0-0)
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1961 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees
Starters
Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE · Hide Non-primary Starters| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | Complete Team Stats | |||||
| QB | George Blanda*+ | 34 | 12 | 11 | 187 for 362, 3,330 yards, 36 td, 22 int, & 7 rushes for 12 yards and 0 td | Chicago Bears / 12th / 119th pick / 1949 |
| HB | Billy Cannon*+ | 24 | 1 | 0 | 200 rushes for 948 yards, 6 td, & 43 catches for 586 yards and 9 td | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 1st pick / 1960 |
| FB | Charley Tolar* | 24 | 1 | 0 | 157 rushes for 577 yards, 4 td, & 24 catches for 219 yards and 1 td | Pittsburgh Steelers / 27th / 319th pick / 1959 |
| WR | Bill Groman+ | 25 | 1 | 0 | 50 catches for 1,175 yards, 17 td, & 1 rush for 2 yards and 1 td | |
| WR | Charley Hennigan*+ | 26 | 1 | 0 | 82 catches for 1,746 yards, 12 td | |
| TE | John White | 26 | 1 | 0 | 13 catches for 238 yards, 1 td | |
| TE | Bob McLeod* | 23 | Rook | 0 | 14 catches for 172 yards, 2 td | Houston Oilers / 12th / 96th pick / 1961 |
| LT | Al Jamison*+ | 24 | 1 | 0 | ||
| LG | Bob Talamini | 22 | 1 | 0 | ||
| C | Bob Schmidt* | 25 | 2 | 0 | Chicago Cardinals / 14th / 159th pick / 1958 |
|
| RG | Hogan Wharton | 26 | 1 | 0 | San Francisco 49ers / 11th / 131st pick / 1958 |
|
| RT | Rich Michael | 23 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Dalva Allen | 26 | 1 | 0 | Los Angeles Rams / 23rd / 267th pick / 1957 |
|
| LDT | Orville Trask | 27 | 1 | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Chicago Cardinals / 24th / 282nd pick / 1956 |
| RDT | Ed Husmann* | 30 | 8 | 0 | Chicago Cardinals / 9th / 99th pick / 1953 |
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| RDE | Don Floyd* | 23 | 1 | 0 | Baltimore Colts / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1960 |
|
| LLB | Doug Cline | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | New York Giants / 14th / 168th pick / 1960 |
| MLB | Dennit Morris* | 25 | 3 | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | San Francisco 49ers / 18th / 215th pick / 1958 |
| RLB | Mike Dukes | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | San Francisco 49ers / 14th / 162nd pick / 1959 |
| LCB | Tony Banfield*+ | 24 | 1 | 14 | 8 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| RCB | Mark Johnston* | 23 | 1 | 0 | 4 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| LS | Jim Norton | 23 | 1 | 0 | 9 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Detroit Lions / 7th / 75th pick / 1960 |
| RS | Fred Glick | 24 | 2 | 0 | 4 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Chicago Cardinals / 23rd / 266th pick / 1959 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | George Blanda*+ | 34 | 12 | 11 | 16 of 26 field goals & 64 of 65 extra points | Chicago Bears / 12th / 119th pick / 1949 |
| P | Jim Norton | 23 | 1 | 0 | 48 punts for a 40.7 average, 0 blocked | Detroit Lions / 7th / 75th pick / 1960 |
| PR | Billy Cannon*+ | 24 | 1 | 0 | 9 punt returns for a 7.8 average and 0 td | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 1st pick / 1960 |
| KR | Billy Cannon*+ | 24 | 1 | 0 | 18 kick returns for a 24.4 average and 0 td | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 1st pick / 1960 |
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalva Allen | 26 | DE | 14 | 0 | 245 | 6-4 | Houston | 1/13/1935 | 1 | Los Angeles Rams / 23rd / 267th pick / 1957 |
| Tony Banfield*+ | 24 | DB | 14 | 14 | 185 | 6-1 | Oklahoma State | 12/18/1937 | 1 | |
| Byron Beams | 32 | T-DT | 7 | 0 | 248 | 6-6 | Notre Dame | 9/8/1929 | 2 | Los Angeles Rams / 20th / 232nd pick / 1957 |
| George Belotti | 27 | C | 4 | 0 | 250 | 6-4 | USC | 11/29/1934 | 1 | Green Bay Packers / 8th / 87th pick / 1957 |
| George Blanda*+ | 34 | QB | 14 | 11 | 215 | 6-2 | Kentucky | 9/17/1927 | 12 | Chicago Bears / 12th / 119th pick / 1949 |
| Ron Botchan | 26 | LB | 14 | 0 | 238 | 6-1 | Occidental | 2/15/1935 | 1 | |
| Billy Cannon*+ | 24 | TE-HB-FB | 14 | 0 | 207 | 6-1 | LSU | 8/2/1937 | 1 | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 1st pick / 1960 |
| Doug Cline | 23 | LB-FB | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-2 | Clemson | 3/22/1938 | 1 | New York Giants / 14th / 168th pick / 1960 |
| Willard Dewveall | 25 | E | 7 | 0 | 224 | 6-4 | SMU | 4/29/1936 | 2 | Chicago Bears / 2nd / 18th pick / 1958 |
| Mike Dukes | 25 | LB | 14 | 0 | 235 | 6-3 | Clemson | 3/16/1936 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 14th / 162nd pick / 1959 |
| Don Floyd* | 23 | DE | 14 | 0 | 245 | 6-3 | TCU | 7/10/1938 | 1 | Baltimore Colts / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1960 |
| Dick Frey | 32 | DE | 7 | 0 | 235 | 6-2 | Texas A&M | 12/17/1929 | 1 | |
| Fred Glick | 24 | DB | 12 | 0 | 195 | 6-1 | Colorado State | 2/25/1937 | 2 | Chicago Cardinals / 23rd / 266th pick / 1959 |
| Bill Groman+ | 25 | WR-FL | 14 | 0 | 194 | 6-0 | Heidelberg | 7/17/1936 | 1 | |
| Buzz Guy | 25 | G-T-DT | 1 | 0 | 248 | 6-3 | Duke | 3/20/1936 | 3 | Cleveland Browns / 3rd / 34th pick / 1958 |
| John Guzik | 25 | LB | 3 | 0 | 231 | 6-3 | Pittsburgh | 7/12/1936 | 2 | Los Angeles Rams / 4th / 41st pick / 1958 |
| Ken Hall | 26 | HB-P | 3 | 0 | 205 | 6-1 | Texas A&M | 12/13/1935 | 2 | Baltimore Colts / 14th / 165th pick / 1958 |
| Charley Hennigan*+ | 26 | WR | 14 | 0 | 187 | 6-1 | LSU,Northwest State (LA) | 3/19/1935 | 1 | |
| Ed Husmann* | 30 | DT-G-DE-LB | 14 | 0 | 245 | 6-2 | Nebraska | 8/6/1931 | 8 | Chicago Cardinals / 9th / 99th pick / 1953 |
| Al Jamison*+ | 24 | T | 14 | 0 | 250 | 6-5 | Colgate | 5/11/1937 | 1 | |
| Mark Johnston* | 23 | DB | 14 | 0 | 203 | 6-0 | Northwestern | 3/4/1938 | 1 | |
| Gene Jones | 25 | LB | 1 | 0 | 200 | 6-0 | Rice | 10/18/1936 | Rook | Chicago Bears / 13th / 153rd pick / 1959 |
| Bob Kelly | 21 | T-DT | 14 | 0 | 270 | 6-2 | New Mexico State | 8/18/1940 | Rook | Houston Oilers / 22nd / 176th pick / 1961 |
| Claude King | 23 | HB | 11 | 0 | 185 | 5-11 | Houston | 12/3/1938 | Rook | Chicago Bears / 18th / 212th pick / 1960 |
| Jack Laraway | 26 | LB | 10 | 0 | 220 | 6-1 | Purdue | 9/20/1935 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 10th / 112th pick / 1959 |
| Jacky Lee | 22 | QB | 14 | 3 | 189 | 6-1 | Cincinnati | 7/11/1939 | 1 | St. Louis Cardinals / 6th / 61st pick / 1960 |
| Bob McLeod* | 23 | TE | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-4 | Abilene Christian | 11/10/1938 | Rook | Houston Oilers / 12th / 96th pick / 1961 |
| Rich Michael | 23 | T | 14 | 0 | 242 | 6-3 | Ohio State | 11/15/1938 | 1 | |
| Charlie Milstead | 24 | QB-DB | 8 | 0 | 190 | 6-2 | Texas A&M | 11/21/1937 | 1 | Washington Redskins / 14th / 160th pick / 1960 |
| Dennit Morris* | 25 | LB | 14 | 0 | 228 | 6-1 | Oklahoma | 4/15/1936 | 3 | San Francisco 49ers / 18th / 215th pick / 1958 |
| Jim Norton | 23 | DB-P | 14 | 0 | 190 | 6-3 | Idaho | 10/20/1938 | 1 | Detroit Lions / 7th / 75th pick / 1960 |
| Willis Perkins | 27 | DE-G | 1 | 0 | 260 | 6-0 | Texas Southern | 2/14/1934 | Rook | |
| Leo Reed | 21 | T-G | 5 | 0 | 240 | 6-4 | Colorado State | 1/3/1940 | Rook | St. Louis Cardinals / 20th / 274th pick / 1961 |
| Bob Schmidt* | 25 | C-T-G | 12 | 0 | 248 | 6-4 | Minnesota | 7/9/1936 | 2 | Chicago Cardinals / 14th / 159th pick / 1958 |
| George Shirkey | 25 | DT | 7 | 0 | 260 | 6-4 | Stephen F. Austin | 8/20/1936 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 16th / 191st pick / 1958 |
| Dave Smith | 24 | FB | 14 | 0 | 210 | 6-1 | Ripon | 3/23/1937 | 1 | Green Bay Packers / 21st / 241st pick / 1959 |
| Julian Spence | 32 | DB-FL | 10 | 0 | 170 | 5-11 | Sam Houston State | 5/5/1929 | 5 | |
| Bob Talamini | 22 | G | 14 | 0 | 255 | 6-1 | Kentucky | 1/8/1939 | 1 | |
| Charley Tolar* | 24 | FB | 14 | 0 | 199 | 5-6 | Northwest State (LA) | 9/5/1937 | 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers / 27th / 319th pick / 1959 |
| Orville Trask | 27 | DT | 14 | 0 | 260 | 6-4 | Rice | 12/3/1934 | 1 | Chicago Cardinals / 24th / 282nd pick / 1956 |
| Hogan Wharton | 26 | G | 14 | 0 | 250 | 6-2 | Houston | 12/13/1935 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 11th / 131st pick / 1958 |
| John White | 26 | TE | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-3 | Texas Southern | 10/9/1935 | 1 | |
| Gary Wisener | 23 | DB | 5 | 0 | 206 | 6-1 | Baylor | 8/24/1938 | 1 | |
| Team Total | 25.3 | 14 | 224.6 | 6-1.9 | 1.6 |