BILLY CANNON’S 88 YARD CATCH AND TD RUN ON A THROW FROM OILERS QB GEORGE BLANDA SEALED VICTORY AND WON HIM THE MVP AWARD IN THE FIRST AFL TITLE GAME PLAYED AT JEPPESEN STADIUM IN HOUSTON ON JANUARY 1, 1961.
POST-COLUMN NOTE: BUD ADAMS HAS DIED IN HOUSTON, MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013: Three hours after I made the decision to write this column on the first AFL championship win of the Houston Oilers, I received word over the radio that Houston Oilers founder and current Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams has died in Houston. It is a curious coincidence that the vibes I felt this morning to do this piece today were especially strong. I assumed that the death three days ago of former beloved Oilers coach Bum Phillips may have had something to do with it, but now it’s even more curious that old Phillips nemesis Bud Adams also died only three days after Bum. – Rest in Peace, Bud Adams.
Now it’s onto the story I must have been writing at the time of Bud Adams’s death:
We dressed differently for football games in 1961.
January 1, 1961 was a bright sky beautiful rush of blue into the new year and Houston was preparing to square off against Los Angeles for the rebel AFL’s first championship title game at Jeppesen Stadium, the venue known better in recent years as Robertson, the lately demolished old home of the Houston Cougars. Back then it was a big deal to those of us who were Houston’s new coming of age generation. Yours truly had only the night before, on New Years Eve, turned 23. I had a great entry-level job as a case worker in the human services field, a degree in psychology from UH, and plans for graduate school in the fall on a scholarship to Tulane. I also had a beautiful girl friend, one who possessed the face and form of Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, the drum-playing ability of a female Buddy Rich, an expertise in literature that extended all the way from modern comedy to the depths of Dostoyevsky. And she also dug music, sports, and me.
How I made the list of her joys, I’ll never know for sure. All I knew in 1961 is that my life was just beginning – and I was off to what felt like a good start. Sandy and I had tickets for that first Houston big league professional title game and we would not have missed it for the world. We even managed to get good seats on about the 30 yard line at the north end of the west side stands. We sat high enough to look out upon the campus of our UH alma mater – and beyond the university treetops to the general area down the Gulf Freeway road to Pecan Park where I had grown up.
I was 23. And my childhood already seemed as though it had taken place centuries earlier. A little more aging would cure my distorted depth perception on the passage of time.
Here’s how the Associated Press reported Houston’s first rare appearance and even scarcer victory in the big game:
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BLANDA SPARKS HOUSTON’S 24-16 WIN
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Fists Fly as Oilers Nab Title
HOUSTON (AP) – George Blanda, an old pro who came out of retirement to join a new league, threw three (passes for) touchdowns and kicked a field goal yesterday as the Houston Oilers won the first championship of the American Football League by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-16.
Blanda, former Chicago Bears’ scoring leader, saw his passing and kicking figure in every Houston point in a game in which a flurry of fist fights led to the ejection of three players.
Houston, a one-touchdown favorite, was never headed after a 17-yard touchdown pass from Blanda to Dave Smith overcame a 6-0 lead Los Angeles built in the first quarter on a pair of field goals by Ben Agajanian.
The Oilers had to cling to a one-point margin most of the way, however, until Blanda connected with Billy Cannon, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner from Louisiana State, for an 88-yard touchdown that provided the winning margin.
Blanda’s 18-yard second period field goal, and a seven-yard touchdown pass to Bill Groman in the third,offset Agajanian’s third field goal and the Chargers lone touchdown score by Paul Lowe, the number 2 rusher in the league.
The last fight of the day broke out as Houston held (a last Chargers drive) and took over with only a minute to play. Hogan Wharton, Houston guard, was ordered from the game. Julian Spece, Houston defensive halfback, and Maury Sleicher, Los Angeles end, were ejected in the second quarter.
Cannon, with eight votes, edged Blanda and Lowe as the game’s outstanding player. Blanda and Lowe had seven points each.
… excerpt from the Phoenix Arizona Republic, January 2, 1961, Page 35.
FIRST AFL TITLE GAME, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS VS. HOUSTON OILERS,
IN HOUSTON, JANUARY 1, 1961: STATS, SCORING BY QUARTERS & PLAYERS:
| 1960 AFL TITLE GAME I | LA CHARGERS | HOUSTON OILERS |
| FIRST DOWNS | 21 | 17 |
| RUSHING YARDAGE | 162 | 100 |
| PASSING YARDAGE | 171 | 301 |
| TOTAL YARDAGE | 333 | 401 |
| PASS COMP/ATTEMPTS | 21/41 | 16/32 |
| INTERCEPTIONS BY | 0 | 2 |
| PUNTS/AVERAGE YARDS | 4/41 | 5/34 |
| FUMBLES LOST | 0 | 0 |
| YARDS PENALIZED | 15 | 54 |
| TEAMS | 1st QTR | 2nd QTR | 3rd QTR | 4th QTR | FINAL | |
| CHARGERS | 6 | 3 | 7 | 0 | ~ | 16 |
| OILERS | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | ~ | 24 |
| SCORING BY QTR | TEAM SCORING | SCORING PLAY | SCORED BY | CHARGERS TTL SCORE | OILERS TTL SCORE |
| 1 | LA | FG – 38 YD | AGAJANIAN | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | LA | FG – 22 YD | AGAJANIAN | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | HOU | TD PASS – 17 YD | BLANDA TO SMITH | 6 | 6 |
| 2 | HOU | EX PT KICK | BLANDA | 6 | 7 |
| 2 | HOU | FG – 18 YD | BLANDA | 6 | 10 |
| 2 | LA | FG – 27 | AGAJANIAN | 9 | 10 |
| 3 | HOU | TD PASS – 7 YD | BLANDA TO GROMAN | 9 | 16 |
| 3 | HOU | EX PT KICK | BLANDA | 9 | 17 |
| 3 | LA | TD RUN – 2 YD | LOWE | 15 | 17 |
| 3 | LA | EX PT KICK | AGAJANIAN | 16 | 17 |
| 4 | HOU | TD PASS – 88 YD | BLANDA TO CANNON | 16 | 23 |
| 4 | HOU | EX PT KICK | BLANDA | 16 | 24 |
| FINAL | 16 | 24 | |||
| ATTENDANCE | 32,183 | ||||
| VENUE | jEPPESEN | STADIUM | |||
| GAME DATE | 01/01/1961 | ||||
| 1st AFL TITLE | HOUSTON | OILERS |
The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 21, 2013 at 3:10 pm |
Looking good Bill.
October 21, 2013 at 3:47 pm |
Quite the ladies man, eh?
October 21, 2013 at 4:22 pm |
The Oilers won the title again in 1962, didn’t they? I remember listening to one game on the radio in which Blanda threw a bunch of touchdown passes and the Oilers beat Oakland 55-0. It was somewhere in that 1961 – 1963 time frame.
October 21, 2013 at 5:19 pm |
I learned about two deaths just now: I had no idea James Street died 3 weeks ago. I’m stunned! I was a U.T. senior when I watched The Game of the Century at a friend’s house. He’s two months younger than me. Tomorrow, indeed, is promised to no one.
October 21, 2013 at 8:51 pm |
I enjoyed your article about the Oilers win. I was also there with a long-forgotten girl friend but I don’t remember seeing you there.
Billy Cannon’s 88-yard touchdown catch was reminiscent of his punt return in the LSU-Ole Miss game the previous season in a game I attended in Baton Rouge.
October 21, 2013 at 10:31 pm |
As you probably know, the photo at the top is not from the first AFL Championship game played on January 1, 1961, which was played at Jeppesen Stadium; the Oilers wore their Columbia Blue home uniforms for that game. My friends and I who played for the Pearland Oilers sat in the south end zone for that game. Although I root for any team that plays against the Tennessee Titans, I was sad to hear of Bud Adams’ passing on the same weekend as Bum Phillips–a strange synchronicity. R.I.P.
October 22, 2013 at 4:36 am |
OILERS WON IN 1961 AND PLAYED FOR CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1962 BUT LOST. i WAS AT BOTH GAMES