Bob Talamini

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Bob Talamini

No. 61
Position:	Guard
Personal information
Born:	(1939-01-08) January 8, 1939 (age 82) Louisville, Kentucky
Height:	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:	255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
College:	Kentucky
AFL Draft:	1960 / Round: Second Selections (by the Houston Oilers)
Career history
Houston Oilers (1960–1967) New York Jets (1968)
Career highlights and awards
6× AFL All-Star (1962–1967) 3× First-team All-AFL (1963, 1965, 1967) 4× Second-team All-AFL (1961, 1962, 1964, 1966) 3× AFL champion (1960, 1961, 1968) Super Bowl champion (III) AFL All-Time 2nd Team
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 126
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Robert Guy "Bob" Talamini (born January 8, 1939 in Louisville, Kentucky), was a 6'1", 250 lb lineman, who earned third-team All-SEC honors at the University of Kentucky and was drafted by the Houston Oilers of the American Football League.^[1] His professional career began with the AFL's first training camp in 1960, and was capped the day the New York Jets stunned the NFL's Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III on January 12, 1969.

Talamini playing for the Jets in Super Bowl III

Hall of Famers George Blanda and Billy Cannon benefited from his blocking as the Oilers won the first two AFL Championships. Talamini made first-team All-AFL in 1962 and was a regular at American Football League All-Star games, selected to six straight, through 1967. He anchored an offensive line that gave Blanda time to set passing records that would last for decades and opened holes for the likes of Cannon, Charlie Tolar, Sid Blanks and Hoyle Granger to run through. Talamini, Don Floyd and Jim Norton were the last of the original Oilers.

After two AFL crowns and three Eastern Division titles, Talamini watched the club rebuild and win the division again in 1967. The Oilers fell one game short in 1967, but Talamini got to realize his dream the following year when he was released and picked up by the New York Jets. Opening holes for Matt Snell and blocking defenders away from Joe Namath. Talamini was selected to the All-Time All-AFL second team.

In 2011, he was inducted in the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.^[2][3]

References[]

See also[]

• Other American Football League players