1961 Houston Oilers Statistics
American Football League (AFL)
Team Record: 10-3-1
Finishing 1st in the AFL's East Division
Postseason: 1-0 Won Championship
Coach: Lou Rymkus (1-3-1)
Coach: Wally Lemm (9-0)
Location: Houston, Texas
1961 Houston Oilers RosterTeam Record: 10-3-1
Finishing 1st in the AFL's East Division
Postseason: 1-0 Won Championship
Coach: Lou Rymkus (1-3-1)
Coach: Wally Lemm (9-0)
Location: Houston, Texas
1961 Houston Oilers Results
The Houston Oilers of the American Football League ended the 1961 season with a record of 10 wins and 3 losses and 1 ties, finishing first in the AFL's East Division. The team compiled a postseason mark of 1-0.
Offensively, the Oilers topped the league with 513 points. On the other side of the ball, the defense allowed 242 points. George Blanda led the charge, passing for 3,330 yards. Charley Hennigan topped pass catchers, hauling in 82 passes for 1,746 yards, while Bill Groman provided receiving help, too.
Billy Cannon ran for a team-leading 948 yards.
Jim Norton picked off 9 opponent throws.
Lou Rymkus and Wally Lemm coached the team. The 1961 Houston Oilers won the Championship.
Click on column headings to sort.
Passing:
| Player | Att | Comp | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Att | TDs | TD % | Ints | Int % | Long | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 362 | 187 | 51.7 | 3330 | 9.2 | 36 | 9.9 | 22 | 6.1 | 80 | 91.3 |
| Jacky Lee | 127 | 66 | 52.0 | 1205 | 9.5 | 12 | 9.4 | 6 | 4.7 | 80 | 96.7 |
| Dave Smith | 2 | 1 | 50.0 | 33 | 16.5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 33 | 95.8 |
| Bill Groman | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Charley Tolar | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| Billy Cannon | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 20.0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Totals | 498 | 254 | 51.0 | 4568 | 9.2 | 48 | 9.6 | 29 | 5.8 | 80 |
Rushing:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cannon | 200 | 948 | 4.7 | 61 | 6 |
| Charley Tolar | 157 | 577 | 3.7 | 28 | 4 |
| Dave Smith | 60 | 258 | 4.3 | 21 | 2 |
| Claude King | 12 | 50 | 4.2 | 17 | 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 | 2 | 1 |
| Totals | 452 | 1896 | 4.2 | 61 | 15 |
Receiving:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charley Hennigan | 82 | 1746 | 21.3 | 80 | 12 |
| Bill Groman | 50 | 1175 | 23.5 | 80 | 17 |
| Billy Cannon | 43 | 586 | 13.6 | 78 | 9 |
| Charley 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 | 66 | 3 |
| Dave Smith | 10 | 131 | 13.1 | 37 | 1 |
| Claude King | 3 | 83 | 27.7 | 44 | 1 |
| Ken Hall | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 1 |
| Julian Spence | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 |
| George Blanda | 1 | -16 | -16.0 | -16 | 0 |
| Totals | 254 | 4568 | 18.0 | 80 | 48 |
Kicking:
| Player | X/CA | X/CM | X/CP % | FGA | FGM | FG % | Pts. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 65 | 64 | 98.5 | 26 | 16 | 61.5 | 112 |
| Charlie Milstead | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 66 | 65 | 98.5 | 26 | 16 | 61.5 | 113 |
Punting:
Punt Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Cannon | 9 | 70 | 7.8 | 20 | 0 |
| Claude King | 7 | 32 | 4.6 | 10 | 0 |
| Dave Smith | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Ken Hall | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Totals | 19 | 118 | 6.2 | 20 | 0 |
Kick Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 14.2 | 23 | 0 |
| Charley 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 |
| Totals | 43 | 940 | 21.9 | 47 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Norton | 9 | 150 | 16.7 | 36 | 0 |
| Tony Banfield | 8 | 136 | 17.0 | 58 | 0 |
| Mark Johnston | 4 | 59 | 14.8 | 27 | 0 |
| Fred Glick | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 11 | 0 |
| Charlie 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 |
| Totals | 33 | 528 | 16.0 | 58 | 0 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Player | Tackle | Brup | Fum | FRec | FYds | FTD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| George Blanda | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Claude King | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Charley Tolar | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Jacky Lee | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Doug Cline | 0 | 2 | |||||
| Dave Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Billy Cannon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points |
| George Blanda | 0 | 0 | 16 | 64 | 0 | 112 | ||||||||
| Bill Groman | 1 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 108 | ||||||||
| Billy Cannon | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90 | ||||||
| Charley Hennigan | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72 | |||||||||
| Charley Tolar | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |||||||
| Willard Dewveall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |||||||||
| Claude King | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||||||
| Dave Smith | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||||||
| Doug Cline | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | ||||||
| Bob McLeod | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||||||||
| Mark Johnston | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||||
| John White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |||||||||
| Ken Hall | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||||||
| Charlie Milstead | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| Totals | 15 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 511 |
