On this day in 1961, the Houston Oilers, led by the rushing of Charlie Tolar and Billy Cannon, and the passing of George Blanda, won their second consecutive American Football League championship. The Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers by a score of 10-3. Though San Diego’s Jack Kemp threw for 226 yards, the Oilers secondary kept him in check by picking off four passes, and the entire Oilers defensive unit stifled the Chargers running game, holding the Bolts to just 79 net rushing yards. In the end a George Blanda field goal and Billy Cannon touchdown were all that it took to crush the Chargers championship hopes for a second straight year.
On this Day in 1961…
By Todd Tobias|2012-12-24T06:36:49-08:00December 24th, 2012|American Football League, Houston Oilers, San Diego Chargers|40 Comments
About the Author: Todd Tobias
Todd Tobias's interest in the American Football League began in 1998, when he wrote his master's thesis about Sid Gillman. He created this site to educate and entertain football fans with the stories of the American Football League, 1960-1969. You can follow Todd and get more AFL history on Twitter @TalesfromtheAFL.
Related Posts
40 Comments
Leave A Comment Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
‘Bias: I was at the game. Sid was booed when he punted with about 4 minutes to go.
In true SI coverage bias in the 1/8/62 issue the NFL championship game got the lead story with six full pages of coverage. The AFL championship game was buried in the weekly round up section on one of the last four pages of the issue – with three sentences of coverage.
see link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/edb/reader.html?magID=SI&issueDate=19620108&mode=reader_vault
would like to see more on the great charlie tolar seems to be forgotten and was a great back.
Balboa Stadium where the high schoolers played and Charger tickets went for 1.50-1.75, in a day an age when a dollar was alot of money to a kid, no problem, all they had to do was climb the fence.
On page 36 of that 1-8-62 SI issue you will find a great photo of Roger Maris in the prime of health.
… [Trackback]
[…] There you will find 65626 more Information to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Information here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Information here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you can find 54757 additional Information on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Information to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] There you will find 96872 additional Info on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Info to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Info here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Info on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] There you can find 61251 additional Info to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Info here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Information on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you can find 22982 additional Info to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you will find 40764 additional Information to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Information to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Here you will find 20840 additional Information to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Read More Info here on that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More Information here to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]
… [Trackback]
[…] Find More to that Topic: talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com/on-this-day-in-1961/ […]