1960 Houston Oilers season

1960 Houston Oilers season
Owner	Bud Adams
Head coach	Lou Rymkus
General manager	Don Suman
Home field	Jeppesen Stadium
Local radio	KXYZ
Results
Record	10–4
Division place	1st AFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Won AFL Championship (vs. Chargers) 24–16
Oilers seasons 1961 →

The 1960 Houston Oilers season was the first season for the Houston Oilers as a professional American football franchise; Head Coach Lou Rymkus led the Oilers to the AFL Eastern Division title, with a 10–4 record.^[1] It was also the first American Football League season. It ended with a 24–16 victory in the AFL championship game at home over the Los Angeles Chargers (10–4).^[2]

Offseason[]

AFL draft[]

In the 1960 AFL draft, the Houston Oilers selected the following players.

Regular season[]

• The Oilers scored an important victory over the NFL when they signed the Heisman Trophy winner, All-America running back Billy Cannon of LSU. Cannon joined other Oiler offensive stars such as veteran quarterback George Blanda.

Standings[]

AFL Eastern Division
view talk	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Houston Oilers	10	4	0	.714	5–1	379	285	W2
New York Titans	7	7	0	.500	2–4	382	399	L1
Buffalo Bills	5	8	1	.385	3–3	296	303	L2
Boston Patriots	5	9	0	.357	2–4	286	349	L4

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Schedule[]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Game Recap
1	September 11	at Oakland Raiders	W 37–22	1–0	Kezar Stadium	12,703	Recap
2	September 18	Los Angeles Chargers	W 38–28	2–0	Jeppesen Stadium	20,156	Recap
3	September 20	Oakland Raiders	L 13–14	2–1	Jeppesen Stadium	16,421	Recap
4	Bye
5	October 9	New York Titans	W 27–21	3–1	Jeppesen Stadium	16,151	Recap
6	October 16	Dallas Texans	W 20–10	4–1	Jeppesen Stadium	19,026	Recap
7	October 23	at New York Titans	W 42–28	5–1	Polo Grounds	21,000	Recap
8	October 30	at Buffalo Bills	L 24–25	5–2	War Memorial Stadium	23,001	Recap
9	November 6	at Denver Broncos	W 45–25	6–2	Bears Stadium	14,489	Recap
10	November 13	at Los Angeles Chargers	L 21–24	6–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	21,805	Recap
11	November 20	Denver Broncos	W 20–10	7–3	Jeppesen Stadium	20,778	Recap
12	November 25	at Boston Patriots	W 24–10	8–3	Nickerson Field	27,123	Recap
13	December 4	at Dallas Texans	L 0–24	8–4	Cotton Bowl	20,000	Recap
14	December 11	Buffalo Bills	W 31–23	9–4	Jeppesen Stadium	25,247	Recap
15	December 18	Boston Patriots	W 37–21	10–4	Jeppesen Stadium	22,352	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 1: at Oakland Raiders[]

Box Score

	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Total
Houston	7	0	13	17	37
Oakland	0	7	7	8	22

Week 2: vs. Los Angeles Chargers[]

Box Score

	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Total
Houston	14	7	17	0	38
Los Angeles	7	7	0	14	28

Week 3: vs. Oakland Raiders[]

Box Score

	1st Quarter	2nd Quarter	3rd Quarter	4th Quarter	Total
Houston	0	10	3	0	13
Oakland	7	0	0	7	14

Notable Stats[]

Player	Comp.	Att.	Comp%	Yards	TD's	INT's
George Blanda (HOU)	169	363	46.6	2413	24	22

Roster[]

1960 Houston Oilers inaugural roster
Quarterbacks 16 George Blanda 15 Jacky Lee Running backs 47 Don Brown 20 Billy Cannon 32 Dave Smith FB 33 Bob White FB 44 Charley Tolar FB Wide receivers 82 John Carson 89 Bill Groman 37 Charley Hennigan 88 Al Witcher Tight ends 86 John White 80		Offensive Linemen 65 Gary Greaves T 70 Al Jamison T 77 Rich Michael T 51 John Simerson T 60 G 61 Bob Talamini G 64 Fred Wallner G 63 Hogan Wharton G 57 George Belotti C Defensive Linemen		Linebackers Defensive backs CB Special Teams		Reserve Lists Practice Squad Rookies in italics

Postseason[]

AFL Championship Game[]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chargers	6	3	7	0	16
Oilers	0	10	7	7	24

Houston Oilers 24, Los Angeles Chargers 16

January 1, 1961, at Jeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 32,183

Scoring

• LA – Field goal Ben Agajanian 38 LA 3–0
• LA – Field goal Agajanian 22 LA 6–0
• HOU – Smith 17 pass from George Blanda (Blanda kick) HOU 7–6
• HOU – Field goal Blanda 18 HOU 10–6
• LA – Field goal Agajanian 27 HOU 10–9
• HOU – Bill Groman 7 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) HOU 17–9
• LA – Paul Lowe 2 run (Agajanian kick) HOU 17–16
• HOU – Billy Cannon 88 pass from Blanda (Blanda kick) HOU 24–16

Awards[]

Sporting News American Football League All-League Team – 1960[]

The American Football League did not have an All-Star game after its first season in 1960, but an All-League team, selected by vote of the AFL players themselves, was published by the Sporting News. In later years, the All-League players were augmented by

References[]

• Oilers on Pro Football Reference
• Oilers on jt-sw.com