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1961 San Diego Chargers
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Record: 12-2-0, Finished 1st in AFL West Division
AFL Season Summary
Scored 396 points (28.3/g), 3rd of 8 in the AFL.
Allowed 219 points (15.6/g), 1st.
Differential of 177 points (12.6/g), 2nd.
Expected W-L: 11.2-2.8.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +22 (1.6/g), 1st.
Coached by Sid Gillman (12-2-0)
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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 | Jack Kemp* | 26 | 4 | 14 | 165 for 364, 2,686 yards, 15 td, 22 int, & 43 rushes for 105 yards and 6 td | Detroit Lions / 17th / 203rd pick / 1957 |
| HB | Paul Lowe | 25 | 1 | 0 | 175 rushes for 767 yards, 9 td, & 17 catches for 103 yards and 0 td | |
| FB | Charlie Flowers | 24 | 1 | 0 | 51 rushes for 177 yards, 3 td, & 16 catches for 175 yards and 0 td | New York Giants / 12th / 142nd pick / 1959 |
| FL | Dave Kocourek* | 24 | 1 | 0 | 55 catches for 1,055 yards, 4 td | Pittsburgh Steelers / 19th / 223rd pick / 1959 |
| SE | Don Norton* | 23 | 1 | 0 | 47 catches for 816 yards, 6 td | Philadelphia Eagles / 5th / 56th pick / 1960 |
| TE | Howard Clark | 26 | 1 | 0 | 11 catches for 182 yards, 0 td | |
| LT | Ernie Wright* | 22 | 1 | 0 | Los Angeles Rams / 15th / 200th pick / 1961 |
|
| LG | Orlando Ferrante | 29 | 1 | 0 | ||
| C | Don Rogers | 25 | 1 | 0 | San Francisco 49ers / 7th / 74th pick / 1959 |
|
| RG | Sam DeLuca | 25 | 1 | 0 | New York Giants / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1957 |
|
| RT | Ron Mix*+ | 23 | 1 | 0 | Baltimore Colts / 1st / 10th pick / 1960 |
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| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Earl Faison*+ | 22 | Rook | 0 | 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | San Diego Chargers / 1st / 7th pick / 1961 |
| LDT | Bill Hudson* | 26 | Rook | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | Chicago Cardinals / 3rd / 34th pick / 1957 |
| RDT | Ernie Ladd+ | 23 | Rook | 0 | Chicago Bears / 4th / 48th pick / 1961 |
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| RDE | Ron Nery+ | 27 | 1 | 0 | New York Giants / 7th / 81st pick / 1956 |
|
| LLB | Emil Karas* | 28 | 2 | 0 | 3 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Washington Redskins / 3rd / 28th pick / 1959 |
| MLB | Chuck Allen | 22 | Rook | 0 | 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | San Diego Chargers / 28th / 223rd pick / 1961 |
| RLB | Paul Maguire | 23 | 1 | 0 | 1 interception, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| RLB | Bob Laraba | 28 | 1 | 0 | 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Green Bay Packers / 8th / 95th pick / 1959 |
| LCB | Claude Gibson | 22 | Rook | 0 | 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Chicago Bears / 3rd / 33rd pick / 1961 |
| RCB | Dick Harris*+ | 24 | 1 | 0 | 7 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| LS | Bob Zeman | 24 | 1 | 0 | 8 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 10th / 119th pick / 1959 |
| RS | Charlie McNeil*+ | 25 | 1 | 0 | 9 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | George Blair* | 23 | Rook | 0 | 13 of 27 field goals & 42 of 47 extra points | New York Giants / 6th / 72nd pick / 1960 |
| P | Paul Maguire | 23 | 1 | 0 | 63 punts for a 41.5 average, 1 blocked | |
| PR | Claude Gibson | 22 | Rook | 0 | 14 punt returns for a 14.9 average and 0 td | Chicago Bears / 3rd / 33rd pick / 1961 |
| KR | Bo Roberson | 26 | Rook | 0 | 13 kick returns for a 15.9 average and 0 td |
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chuck Allen | 22 | LB | 9 | 0 | 225 | 6-1 | Washington | 9/7/1939 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 28th / 223rd pick / 1961 |
| Ernie Barnes | 23 | G-T | 10 | 0 | 247 | 6-3 | North Carolina Central | 7/15/1938 | 1 | Baltimore Colts / 10th / 112th pick / 1960 |
| George Belotti | 27 | C | 2 | 0 | 250 | 6-4 | USC | 11/29/1934 | 1 | Green Bay Packers / 8th / 87th pick / 1957 |
| George Blair* | 23 | DB-K | 14 | 0 | 195 | 5-11 | Mississippi | 5/10/1938 | Rook | New York Giants / 6th / 72nd pick / 1960 |
| Howard Clark | 26 | TE | 10 | 0 | 215 | 6-2 | Tennessee-Chattanooga | 8/23/1935 | 1 | |
| Sam DeLuca | 25 | G-T | 14 | 0 | 250 | 6-2 | South Carolina | 5/2/1936 | 1 | New York Giants / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1957 |
| Hunter Enis | 25 | QB | 13 | 0 | 195 | 6-2 | TCU | 12/10/1936 | 1 | |
| Earl Faison*+ | 22 | DE | 14 | 0 | 270 | 6-5 | Indiana | 1/31/1939 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 1st / 7th pick / 1961 |
| Orlando Ferrante | 29 | G | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-0 | USC | 9/24/1932 | 1 | |
| Charlie Flowers | 24 | FB | 14 | 0 | 220 | 6-1 | Mississippi | 6/28/1937 | 1 | New York Giants / 12th / 142nd pick / 1959 |
| Claude Gibson | 22 | DB | 14 | 0 | 190 | 6-1 | North Carolina State | 5/26/1939 | Rook | Chicago Bears / 3rd / 33rd pick / 1961 |
| Dick Harris*+ | 24 | DB | 14 | 0 | 187 | 5-11 | McNeese State | 7/24/1937 | 1 | |
| Luther Hayes | 22 | E | 14 | 0 | 202 | 6-4 | USC | 1/1/1939 | Rook | Philadelphia Eagles / 10th / 140th pick / 1961 |
| Bill Hudson* | 26 | DT | 14 | 0 | 270 | 6-4 | Clemson | 7/9/1935 | Rook | Chicago Cardinals / 3rd / 34th pick / 1957 |
| Emil Karas* | 28 | LB | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-3 | Dayton | 12/13/1933 | 2 | Washington Redskins / 3rd / 28th pick / 1959 |
| Jack Kemp* | 26 | QB | 14 | 14 | 201 | 6-1 | Occidental | 7/13/1935 | 4 | Detroit Lions / 17th / 203rd pick / 1957 |
| Dave Kocourek* | 24 | TE-FL | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-5 | Wisconsin | 8/20/1937 | 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers / 19th / 223rd pick / 1959 |
| Ernie Ladd+ | 23 | DT | 14 | 0 | 290 | 6-9 | Grambling State | 11/28/1938 | Rook | Chicago Bears / 4th / 48th pick / 1961 |
| Bob Laraba | 28 | LB-QB | 14 | 0 | 195 | 6-3 | Texas-El Paso | 5/30/1933 | 1 | Green Bay Packers / 8th / 95th pick / 1959 |
| Keith Lincoln | 22 | FB-HB | 14 | 0 | 215 | 6-1 | Washington State | 5/8/1939 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 2nd / 15th pick / 1961 |
| Paul Lowe | 25 | HB | 14 | 0 | 205 | 6-0 | Oregon State | 9/27/1936 | 1 | |
| Jacque MacKinnon | 23 | TE-FB | 9 | 0 | 235 | 6-4 | Colgate | 11/10/1938 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 33rd / 264th pick / 1962 |
| Paul Maguire | 23 | LB-P | 14 | 0 | 228 | 6-0 | The Citadel | 8/22/1938 | 1 | |
| Charlie McNeil*+ | 25 | DB | 14 | 0 | 180 | 5-11 | Compton Community College (CA) | 8/8/1936 | 1 | |
| Ron Mix*+ | 23 | T-G | 10 | 0 | 250 | 6-4 | USC | 3/10/1938 | 1 | Baltimore Colts / 1st / 10th pick / 1960 |
| Ron Nery+ | 27 | DE | 14 | 0 | 247 | 6-6 | Kansas State | 12/30/1934 | 1 | New York Giants / 7th / 81st pick / 1956 |
| Don Norton* | 23 | E | 14 | 0 | 190 | 6-1 | Iowa | 3/13/1938 | 1 | Philadelphia Eagles / 5th / 56th pick / 1960 |
| Sherman Plunkett | 28 | T | 12 | 0 | 290 | 6-4 | Md-Eastern Shore | 4/17/1933 | 3 | Cleveland Browns / 6th / 71st pick / 1956 |
| Bo Roberson | 26 | FL-HB-WR | 14 | 0 | 195 | 6-1 | Cornell | 7/23/1935 | Rook | |
| Don Rogers | 25 | C-G | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-2 | South Carolina | 12/4/1936 | 1 | San Francisco 49ers / 7th / 74th pick / 1959 |
| Bob Scarpitto | 22 | FL-WR-P | 7 | 0 | 192 | 5-11 | Notre Dame | 1/7/1939 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 9th / 71st pick / 1961 |
| Maury Schleicher | 24 | DE-LB | 14 | 0 | 238 | 6-3 | Penn State | 7/17/1937 | 2 | Chicago Cardinals / 5th / 50th pick / 1959 |
| Henry Schmidt | 26 | DT-E | 14 | 0 | 254 | 6-4 | Trinity (TX),USC | 9/28/1935 | 2 | San Francisco 49ers / 6th / 71st pick / 1958 |
| Gene Selawski | 26 | T-G | 8 | 0 | 252 | 6-4 | Purdue | 11/28/1935 | 2 | Los Angeles Rams / 9th / 104th pick / 1958 |
| Bud Whitehead | 22 | DB | 9 | 0 | 185 | 6-0 | Florida State | 1/1/1939 | Rook | San Diego Chargers / 16th / 127th pick / 1961 |
| Ernie Wright* | 22 | T | 14 | 0 | 270 | 6-4 | Ohio State | 11/6/1939 | 1 | Los Angeles Rams / 15th / 200th pick / 1961 |
| Bob Zeman | 24 | DB | 14 | 0 | 200 | 6-1 | Wisconsin | 2/22/1937 | 1 | Cleveland Browns / 10th / 119th pick / 1959 |
| Team Total | 24.5 | 14 | 226.2 | 6-2.3 | 0.9 |