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1983 Houston Oilers
Franchise Index: Previous Season / Next Season
Record: 2-14-0, Finished 4th in AFC Central Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 288 points (18.0/g), 22nd of 28 in the NFL.
Allowed 460 points (28.8/g), 27th.
Differential of -172 points (-10.8/g), 28th.
Expected W-L: 4.0-12.0.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential -18 (-1.1/g), 25th.
Simple Rating System: Total -11.5, Offense: -3.7, Defense: -7.9, SoS: -0.8, versus averages of 0.0.
Coached by
Ed Biles and Chuck Studley
Offensive Coordinator: Kay Dalton
Defensive Coordinator: Chuck Studley
Training Camp: Angelo State (San Angelo, Texas)
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Starters
ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+),Hide Non-primary Starters
| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | ||||||
| QB | Gifford Nielsen | 29 | 5 | 7 | 90 for 175, 1,125 yards, 5 td, 8 int, & 8 rushes for 43 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 73rd pick / 1978 |
| RB | Earl Campbell* | 28 | 5 | 14 | 322 rushes for 1,301 yards, 12 td, & 19 catches for 216 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 1st / 1st pick / 1978 |
| FB | Larry Moriarty | 25 | Rook | 7 | 65 rushes for 321 yards, 3 td, & 4 catches for 32 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 5th / 114th pick / 1983 |
| WR | Mike Renfro | 28 | 5 | 7 | 23 catches for 316 yards, 2 td, & 1 rush for 3 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 4th / 98th pick / 1978 |
| WR | Tim Smith | 26 | 3 | 16 | 83 catches for 1,176 yards, 6 td, & 2 rushes for 16 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 79th pick / 1980 |
| TE | Chris Dressel | 22 | Rook | 14 | 32 catches for 316 yards, 4 td, & 1 rush for 3 yards and 0 td | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 69th pick / 1983 |
| LT | Doug France | 30 | 8 | 13 | 1 fumble recovered | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 20th pick / 1975 |
| LG | Mike Munchak | 23 | 1 | 16 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 8th pick / 1982 | |
| C | David Carter | 30 | 6 | 16 | Houston Oilers / 6th / 165th pick / 1977 | |
| RG | Bruce Matthews | 22 | Rook | 15 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 9th pick / 1983 | |
| RT | Harvey Salem | 22 | Rook | 16 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 30th pick / 1983 | |
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Bob Hamm | 24 | Rook | 12 | 3.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| NT | Brian Sochia | 22 | Rook | 10 | 2.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| RDE | Jesse Baker | 26 | 4 | 16 | 5.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 50th pick / 1979 |
| LOLB | Avon Riley | 25 | 2 | 16 | 0.5 sacks, 1 interception, 3 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 9th / 243rd pick / 1981 |
| LILB | Gregg Bingham | 32 | 10 | 16 | 0.0 sacks, 1 interception, 2 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 4th / 79th pick / 1973 |
| RILB | Robert Abraham | 23 | 1 | 13 | 1.0 sacks, 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 77th pick / 1982 |
| ROLB | Robert Brazile | 30 | 8 | 16 | 2.5 sacks, 0 interceptions, 3 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 1st / 6th pick / 1975 |
| LCB | Steve Brown | 23 | Rook | 10 | 0.0 sacks, 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1983 |
| RCB | Willie Tullis | 25 | 2 | 16 | 0.0 sacks, 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 8th / 217th pick / 1981 |
| SS | Keith Bostic | 22 | Rook | 12 | 3.0 sacks, 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 42nd pick / 1983 |
| FS | Carter Hartwig | 27 | 4 | 16 | 1.0 sacks, 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Houston Oilers / 8th / 214th pick / 1979 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | Florian Kempf | 27 | 1 | 0 | 17 of 21 field goals & 33 of 34 extra points | |
| P | John James | 34 | 11 | 0 | 79 punts for a 39.7 average, 1 blocked | |
| KR | Carl Roaches | 30 | 3 | 0 | 34 kick returns for a 18.9 average and 1 td | Tampa Bay Buccaneers / 14th / 377th pick / 1976 |
| KR | Carl Roaches | 30 | 3 | 0 | 34 kick returns for a 18.9 average and 1 td | Tampa Bay Buccaneers / 14th / 377th pick / 1976 |
| No. | Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | AV | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56 | Robert Abraham | 23 | RILB | 14 | 13 | 228 | 6-1 | North Carolina St. | 7/13/1960 | 1 | 4 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 77th pick / 1982 |
| 31 | Gary Allen | 23 | 1 | 0 | 183 | 5-10 | Hawaii | 4/23/1960 | 1 | 0 | Houston Oilers / 6th / 148th pick / 1982 | |
| 86 | Walt Arnold | 25 | te | 13 | 1 | 228 | 6-3 | New Mexico | 8/31/1958 | 3 | 2 | |
| 75 | Jesse Baker | 26 | RDE | 16 | 16 | 269 | 6-5 | Jacksonville St. | 7/10/1957 | 4 | 5 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 50th pick / 1979 |
| 65 | Elvin Bethea | 37 | 7 | 0 | 260 | 6-2 | North Carolina A&T | 3/1/1946 | 15 | 0 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 77th pick / 1968 | |
| 54 | Gregg Bingham | 32 | LILB | 16 | 16 | 227 | 6-1 | Purdue | 3/13/1951 | 10 | 6 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 79th pick / 1973 |
| 25 | Keith Bostic | 22 | SS | 16 | 12 | 216 | 6-1 | Michigan | 1/17/1961 | Rook | 4 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 42nd pick / 1983 |
| 52 | Robert Brazile | 30 | ROLB | 16 | 16 | 241 | 6-4 | Jackson St. | 2/7/1953 | 8 | 6 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 6th pick / 1975 |
| Curtis Brown | 29 | 2 | 0 | 203 | 5-10 | Missouri | 12/7/1954 | 6 | 0 | Buffalo Bills / 3rd / 59th pick / 1977 | ||
| 24 | Steve Brown | 23 | LCB | 16 | 10 | 189 | 5-11 | Oregon | 3/20/1960 | Rook | 4 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 83rd pick / 1983 |
| 81 | Steve Bryant | 24 | wr | 16 | 6 | 195 | 6-2 | Purdue | 10/10/1959 | 1 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 94th pick / 1982 |
| 34 | Earl Campbell* | 28 | RB | 14 | 14 | 232 | 5-11 | Texas | 3/29/1955 | 5 | 10 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 1st pick / 1978 |
| 58 | David Carter | 30 | C | 16 | 16 | 250 | 6-2 | West. Kentucky | 11/27/1953 | 6 | 6 | Houston Oilers / 6th / 165th pick / 1977 |
| 87 | Dave Casper | 32 | te | 3 | 2 | 240 | 6-4 | Notre Dame | 9/26/1951 | 9 | 1 | Oakland Raiders / 2nd / 45th pick / 1974 |
| 40 | Donnie Craft | 24 | rb | 15 | 2 | 206 | 6-0 | Louisville | 11/19/1959 | 1 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 12th / 314th pick / 1982 |
| 45 | Dwayne Crutchfield | 24 | 2 | 0 | 235 | 6-0 | Iowa St. | 9/30/1959 | 1 | 0 | New York Jets / 3rd / 79th pick / 1982 | |
| 88 | Chris Dressel | 22 | TE | 16 | 14 | 238 | 6-4 | Stanford | 2/7/1961 | Rook | 4 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 69th pick / 1983 |
| 35 | Stan Edwards | 23 | rb | 14 | 1 | 208 | 6-0 | Michigan | 5/20/1960 | 1 | 1 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 72nd pick / 1982 |
| 43 | Vagas Ferguson | 26 | 1 | 0 | 204 | 6-1 | Notre Dame | 3/6/1957 | 3 | 0 | New England Patriots / 1st / 25th pick / 1980 | |
| 78 | Jerome Foster | 23 | de | 16 | 1 | 268 | 6-2 | Ohio St. | 7/25/1960 | Rook | 1 | Houston Oilers / 5th / 139th pick / 1983 |
| 77 | Doug France | 30 | LT | 13 | 13 | 270 | 6-5 | Ohio St. | 4/26/1953 | 8 | 6 | Los Angeles Rams / 1st / 20th pick / 1975 |
| 90 | Bob Hamm | 24 | LDE | 16 | 12 | 260 | 6-4 | Nevada-Reno | 4/24/1959 | Rook | 4 | |
| 36 | Carter Hartwig | 27 | FS | 16 | 16 | 205 | 6-0 | USC | 2/27/1956 | 4 | 5 | Houston Oilers / 8th / 214th pick / 1979 |
| 21 | Derrick Hatchett | 25 | 1 | 0 | 182 | 5-11 | Texas | 8/14/1958 | 3 | 0 | Baltimore Colts / 1st / 24th pick / 1980 | |
| 23 | Greg Hill | 22 | 14 | 0 | 194 | 6-1 | Oklahoma St. | 2/12/1961 | Rook | 1 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 86th pick / 1983 | |
| 84 | Mike Holston | 25 | 16 | 0 | 189 | 6-3 | Morgan St. | 1/8/1958 | 2 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 79th pick / 1981 | |
| 66 | Pat Howell | 26 | 7 | 0 | 257 | 6-5 | USC | 3/12/1957 | 4 | 0 | Atlanta Falcons / 2nd / 49th pick / 1979 | |
| 50 | Daryl Hunt | 27 | lb | 16 | 3 | 229 | 6-3 | Oklahoma | 11/3/1956 | 4 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 6th / 143rd pick / 1979 |
| 6 | John James | 34 | P | 16 | 0 | 197 | 6-3 | Florida | 1/21/1949 | 11 | 0 | |
| 57 | Tim Joiner | 22 | 15 | 0 | 235 | 6-4 | LSU | 1/7/1961 | Rook | 1 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 58th pick / 1983 | |
| 22 | Bill Kay | 23 | lcb | 16 | 6 | 190 | 6-1 | Purdue | 1/10/1960 | 2 | 3 | Houston Oilers / 6th / 159th pick / 1981 |
| 4 | Florian Kempf | 27 | K | 16 | 0 | 170 | 5-9 | Pennsylvania | 5/25/1956 | 1 | 0 | |
| 10 | Oliver Luck | 23 | qb | 7 | 6 | 196 | 6-2 | West Virginia | 4/5/1960 | Rook | 2 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 44th pick / 1982 |
| 8 | Archie Manning | 34 | qb | 3 | 3 | 212 | 6-3 | Mississippi | 5/19/1949 | 12 | 2 | New Orleans Saints / 1st / 2nd pick / 1971 |
| 74 | Bruce Matthews | 22 | RG | 16 | 15 | 305 | 6-5 | USC | 8/8/1961 | Rook | 5 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 9th pick / 1983 |
| 89 | Mike McCloskey | 22 | te | 16 | 7 | 244 | 6-5 | Penn St. | 2/2/1961 | Rook | 3 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 88th pick / 1983 |
| 26 | Darryl Meadows | 22 | 16 | 0 | 202 | 6-1 | Toledo | 2/15/1961 | Rook | 1 | ||
| 30 | Larry Moriarty | 25 | FB | 16 | 7 | 240 | 6-1 | Notre Dame | 4/24/1958 | Rook | 2 | Houston Oilers / 5th / 114th pick / 1983 |
| 63 | Mike Munchak | 23 | LG | 16 | 16 | 281 | 6-3 | Penn St. | 3/5/1960 | 1 | 6 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 8th pick / 1982 |
| 14 | Gifford Nielsen | 29 | QB | 7 | 7 | 205 | 6-4 | BYU | 10/25/1954 | 5 | 3 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 73rd pick / 1978 |
| 21 | Tate Randle | 24 | 2 | 0 | 202 | 6-0 | Texas Tech | 8/15/1959 | 1 | 0 | Miami Dolphins / 8th / 220th pick / 1982 | |
| 37 | Mike Reinfeldt | 30 | db | 4 | 4 | 192 | 6-2 | Wisc-Milwaukee | 5/6/1953 | 7 | 2 | |
| 82 | Mike Renfro | 28 | WR | 9 | 7 | 184 | 6-0 | TCU | 6/19/1955 | 5 | 3 | Houston Oilers / 4th / 98th pick / 1978 |
| 53 | Avon Riley | 25 | LOLB | 16 | 16 | 230 | 6-3 | UCLA | 2/10/1958 | 2 | 6 | Houston Oilers / 9th / 243rd pick / 1981 |
| 85 | Carl Roaches | 30 | KR | 16 | 0 | 168 | 5-8 | Texas A&M | 10/2/1953 | 3 | 1 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers / 14th / 377th pick / 1976 |
| 73 | Harvey Salem | 22 | RT | 16 | 16 | 283 | 6-6 | California | 1/15/1961 | Rook | 7 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 30th pick / 1983 |
| 62 | John Schuhmacher | 28 | g | 1 | 1 | 271 | 6-3 | USC | 9/23/1955 | 5 | 0 | Houston Oilers / 12th / 322nd pick / 1978 |
| 83 | Tim Smith | 26 | WR | 16 | 16 | 201 | 6-2 | Nebraska | 3/20/1957 | 3 | 10 | Houston Oilers / 3rd / 79th pick / 1980 |
| 72 | Brian Sochia | 22 | NT | 12 | 10 | 270 | 6-3 | NW Oklahoma St. | 7/2/1961 | Rook | 3 | |
| 69 | Al Steinfeld | 25 | 8 | 0 | 256 | 6-5 | C.W. Post | 10/28/1958 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 67 | Mike Stensrud | 27 | nt | 16 | 6 | 280 | 6-5 | Iowa St. | 2/19/1956 | 4 | 3 | Houston Oilers / 2nd / 31st pick / 1979 |
| 68 | Les Studdard | 25 | 6 | 0 | 260 | 6-4 | Texas | 12/14/1958 | 1 | 0 | Kansas City Chiefs / 10th / 262nd pick / 1981 | |
| 70 | Malcolm Taylor | 23 | de | 16 | 3 | 288 | 6-6 | Tennessee St. | 6/20/1960 | 1 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 5th / 121st pick / 1982 |
| 51 | Ted Thompson | 30 | 16 | 0 | 220 | 6-1 | SMU | 1/17/1953 | 8 | 1 | ||
| 76 | Morris Towns | 29 | t | 14 | 3 | 270 | 6-4 | Missouri | 1/10/1954 | 6 | 2 | Houston Oilers / 1st / 11th pick / 1977 |
| 20 | Willie Tullis | 25 | RCB | 16 | 16 | 193 | 6-0 | Southern Miss,Troy | 4/5/1958 | 2 | 5 | Houston Oilers / 8th / 217th pick / 1981 |
| 86 | Herkie Walls | 22 | wr | 16 | 3 | 159 | 5-8 | Texas | 7/18/1961 | Rook | 3 | Houston Oilers / 7th / 170th pick / 1983 |
| 64 | Ralph Williams | 25 | 1 | 0 | 280 | 6-3 | Southern | 3/27/1958 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 33 | J.C. Wilson | 27 | 13 | 0 | 178 | 6-0 | Tampa,Pittsburgh | 3/11/1956 | 5 | 1 | Houston Oilers / 8th / 210th pick / 1978 | |
| Team Total | 25.9 | 16 | 226.6 | 6-1.9 | 3.2 |
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