Well known as an aggressive passing league, the AFL boasted some of professional football’s finest quarterbacks of the 1960’s. Dallas Texan star Len Dawson won three AFL Titles in two different cities including Kansas City’s upset of the Minnesota Vikings in the 1969 Super Bowl. Jack Kemp started five of the league’s 10 Championship Games, and guided the Buffalo Bills to back to back AFL Titles in 1964 and 1965. Broadway Joe Namath established himself as pro football’s original 4,000 yard passer in 1967, and then as an epic encore led the New York Jets in an upset victory over “the unbeatable” Baltimore Colts in the 1968 Super Bowl. San Diego’s John Hadl and Oakland’s Mad Bomber Daryle Lamonica thrilled West Coast fans with Sid Gillman style vertical field aerial attacks which stretched overtaxed Defenses and utilized every inch of available field to advance the football and convert long distance first downs if not touchdowns.
Indeed the AFL of the 1960’s was a cradle of quality quarterbacks. Yet I would suggest that the cradle itself was rocked by a gritty veteran signal caller whose deeds and achievements in the league’s first two seasons merit his recognition as the Godfather of AFL quarterback greatness. For before Dawson and Kemp won League Titles; before Namath set records and won a Super Bowl; and before Hadl and Lamonica thrilled California fans with their vertical field aerial assault style of Offensive football, NFL veteran George Blanda came out of retirement to win the first two AFL Championships and set unprecedented professional football passing records. It actually required over five quarters of Championship Game football in the third year of the league’s existence to dethrone Blanda and the Houston Oilers as the only AFL Champions in the brief history of the league’s existence.
Blanda’s early NFL career; 1949-1958 was primarily with the Chicago Bears, though he did have a one game stint with the Baltimore Colts in 1950 between transactions that dealt him from each team to the other. Although a Linebacker early in his career, Blanda was the Bears’ starting quarterback from 1953 into the 1954 season when an injury eventually cost him his starting position. The multitalented Blanda was the team’s primary placekicker for the duration of his time with the Bears, until he retired from the NFL after the 1958 season. His decision to retire was a protest against Coach George Halas’ insistence that Blanda lacked the skills to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
After a year in retirement, Blanda signed with the Houston Oilers, and made an immediate impact as their starting quarterback. In fact he guided the Oilers to the first three AFL Championship Games, winning the first two titles in 1960 and 1961, before losing to the Dallas Texans in double overtime in the championship game of 1962.
In the AFL’s inaugural season of 1960, Blanda tossed 12 touchdowns to receiver Bill Groman, whose over 1400 receiving yards still stands as a professional football record for rookies. Even then, Blanda distributed the passes such that receivers Johnny Carson and Charley Hennigan combined for in excess of another 1300 yards and 10 additional touchdowns. At season’s end, the Oilers were AFL Eastern Division Champions, and they squared off against the Western Division Champions Los Angeles Chargers on January 1, 1961 for the first ever AFL Championship Game.
It was in this contest that Blanda and star running back Billy Cannon connected on “the play” of the 1960 AFL season. The entire game throughout the first three quarters had been as tight as each team’s identical record of 10-4. In the 4th quarter, clinging to a 17-16 lead, Houston found themselves facing a 3rd and 9 situation while boxed deep in their own territory. The savvy veteran Blanda called for a “down and out” to Cannon, knowing that this would leave the sure handed back in one on one coverage by a Chargers linebacker. The play was designed to net a first down and keep the chains moving. But the outcome was much more. Cannon completely beat the coverage and then he converted the catch and run into an 88 yard touchdown that gave the Oilers the biggest lead in the game up to that point. The Oilers defense held against a late drive by the Chargers and quarterback Jack Kemp; and Houston prevailed as the inaugural AFL Champions by the final score of 24-16.
The best season of Blanda’s career though was in 1961. The 1961 Houston Oilers were the only team in AFL history to score more than 500 points in a single season, and their offense was so potent and overpowering, that they scored at least 100 more points than any other team in the league. As a favorable contrast, the stingy Houston defense gave up more points than only one other team in the entire league. Blanda earned the league MVP by tossing in excess of 3300 yards, establishing a professional football record with 36 touchdown passes, and he even tied an NFL record when he threw seven touchdowns in one game. Although tied a couple of years later, Blanda’s single season TD record would stand unbroken for 23 years. The single game record remains matched but never bested by several players.
There are two factors that make Blanda’s record setting 36 touchdown passes in 1961 even more impressive. Firstly, he established that record in a 14 game season. Secondly, Blanda’s backup quarterback that season was the highly skilled Jacky Lee. Lee played a substantial amount of time that season, and he himself threw 12 touchdowns to complement Blanda’s 36. It seems evident that had he played in a 16 game schedule; even platooning the time with Lee, Blanda would have likely been the first professional football quarterback to toss 40 touchdowns in a single season.
Hennigan was Blanda’s favorite target that season with 82 receptions and over 1700 yards, and he and Groman also combined to catch 29 touchdowns. Cannon even caught nine TD receptions out of the backfield. Behind Blanda’s record setting aerial performance and Cannon’s all purpose yards in excess of 2,000 yards; Houston claimed yet another AFL East Division Title, and a repeat appearance in the 1961 AFL Championship Game against the Western Division Title winning San Diego Chargers.
When the Oilers and the Chargers met on December 24th at San Diego’s Balboa Stadium in the 1961 AFL Championship Game, their gridiron contest marked the fourth time the two teams had played each other that calendar year, dating back to the 1960 AFL Championship Game on New Year’s Day. Having split the regular season performances, the host Chargers were hoping to even the contests at two apiece and thereby claim the league championship. But the duo of Blanda and Cannon once again connected for a game deciding catch and run score that proved to be the sole touchdown in a surprisingly low scoring defensive battle. In fact, Cannon’s 3rd quarter 35 yard touchdown reception from Blanda secured the 10-3 victory, giving the Oilers their second consecutive AFL Title.
Although Blanda’s overall productivity dropped somewhat in 1962; nonetheless Houston repeated as AFL East Champions for a third consecutive year. So in spite of his diminishing skills, the aging quarterback once again led the Oilers into a third consecutive AFL Title Game. This time however; the league championship would be a matchup of teams from the Lone Star State, as Houston hosted their North Texas rival Dallas Texans on December 23, 1962 in the third annual AFL Championship Game.
The 1962 AFL Championship Game at Jeppeson Stadium was marred by inclimate weather that produced a half time winter norther with high winds, plummeting temperatures and a tornado warning throughout the afternoon. For the fans who braved the elements and remained for the duration, they were witness to history in the making in the midst of the gusty winds and harsh conditions.
The game itself was a tale of two halves and a historic double overtime. In fact, the marathon gridiron contest remains the longest championship game in professional football history. The first half was Abner Haynes and the Dallas Texans. Haynes, who primarily played flanker in the game to fill in for the injured Chris Burford, scored touchdowns from the receiver position and out of the backfield to lead the Texans to a 17-0 halftime lead. The second half was Blanda and the Oilers as the gritty veteran led a patient rally that culminated in a 17-17 regulation tie, which subsequently resulted in the AFL’s first and only Championship game overtime. In spite of having possession of the ball with the wind at their backs, Houston was unable to convert any points in the 5th period of play. When the wind advantage reverted to the Texans for the 6th quarter of play, Dallas was able to convert on a game winning 25 yard field goal 2:54 later. The moment Tommy Brooker’s field goal sailed through the uprights, the era of the Houston Oilers as the sole and dominant AFL champions came to an abrupt end.
In a sense, the outcome of the 1962 AFL Championship Game represented a transition period as the torch of quarterback greatness within the AFL passed from Blanda to Dallas Texans quarterback Len Dawson, who would go on to win more AFL Titles than any other quarterback in the league’s existence. After 1962, Blanda somewhat faded into the background as Dawson and the other aforementioned cradle of quality quarterbacks matured and developed into the championship caliber record setting gridiron signal callers whose performances and notable achievements gave credibility to and accumulated a faithful fan base for the AFL itself.
Although his productivity decreased after 1962, Blanda was the original Houston Oilers starting quarterback for seven years until he was released after the 1966 season. Blanda then extended his record 26 year career another nine seasons as the Placekicker and backup quarterback for the Oakland Raiders. He retired in 1976 as the NFL all time scoring leader.
Long live the memory of George Blanda, The Godfather of the great quarterbacks of the AFL
Long live the memory of the AFL.
The AFL Original Eight 