1961 afl championship

Bob Laraba (53) closes in on the Oilers’ Charlie Tolar (44).

Last week I posted an official game summary from the 1963 AFL championship game.   Readers seemed pleased to be able to view the information, and I received a few requests for more summaries.  Well, I have plenty of them, and need to figure out the best way to set up some sort of game summary gallery.  In the meantime, here is the official summary from the 1961 championship game between the Chargers and Oilers, held on December 24th, in San Diego’s Balboa Stadium.

From all that I have heard and read, this was one of the hardest-hitting games in AFL history.  There was absolutely no love lost between the Lou Rymkus-led Oilers and Sid Gillman’s Chargers.  The grudge held by the coaches was transferred onto the field by the players.  The result was a low-scoring defensive struggle played by two of the league’s greatest offenses.