1961 Houston Oilers season
The 1961 Houston Oilers season was the second season for the Houston Oilers as a professional American football franchise; For the second consecutive season, the Oilers scored a triumph in the AFL championship game over the [1961 1961 San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers season|San Diego Chargers], the Western Division champions.
The Oilers started slowly in 1961, with a 1–3–1 record. After a tie on October 13 with the [1961 1961 Boston Patriots season|Boston Patriots season|Boston Patriots], head coach Lou Rymkus was fired by owner Bud Adams. Wally Lemm was hired, and the team went undefeated for the remainder of the season, including the championship game, a winning streak of ten games.
The Oilers set the AFL record for points scored in 1961, with 513. They also set an American Football League record with a +271 point differential, by allowing only 242 points. The 1961 Oilers are the only team in AFL or NFL history to score 45 points or more six times in a single season.
Offseason
On January 14, end Willard Dewveall played out his option with the Chicago Bears of the NFL and joined the Oilers. He became the first player to move deliberately from one league to another. Dewveall was the only one to move between leagues for five years, until placekicker Pete Gogolak moved from the [1965 1965 Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills season|Buffalo Bills] to the New York Giants of the NFL in 1966.AFL Draft
- Houston Oilers draft picks
| Round | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | Mike Ditka | Offensive End | Pittsburgh |
| 2 | Tom Goode | Center | Mississippi State |
| 3 | Walter Suggs 1 | Tackle | Mississippi State |
| 4 | Bobby Walden | Halfback | Georgia |
| 5 | Monte Lee | Linebacker | Texas |
| 6 | Jake Gibbs | Quarterback | Mississippi |
| 7 | Dick Reynolds | Tackle | North Carolina State |
| 8 | Houston Antwine 1,2 | Guard | Southern Illinois |
| 9 | Ralph White | Tackle | Bowling Green |
| 10 | Charles Lee | Center | Iowa |
| 11 | Robert Bird | Guard | Bowling Green |
| 12 | Bob McLeod | Offensive End | Abilene Christian |
| 13 | Gerald Hinton | Guard | Louisiana Tech |
| 14 | Jimmy King | Tackle | Clemson |
| 15 | Dennis Ferriter | Center | Marquette |
| 16 | Larry Wood | Halfback | Northwestern |
| 17 | Sam Fewell | Tackle | South Carolina |
| 18 | Mike Grimsley | Halfback | Michigan State |
| 19 | Myron Pearson | Halfback | Colorado |
| 20 | Lewis Johnson | Halfback | Florida A&M |
| 21 | Ron Miller | Quarterback | Wisconsin |
| 22 | Bob Kelly | Offensive End | New Mexico State |
| 23 | James Anderson | Fullback | Mississippi |
| 24 | Ken Gregory | Offensive End | Whittier |
| 25 | Jack Kreider | Halfback | Tulsa |
| 26 | Don Fuell | Quarterback | Mississippi Southern |
| 27 | Boyd King | Center | Rice |
| 28 | John Frongillo | Center | Baylor |
| 29 | Tom Lewis | Offensive End | Wake Forest |
| 29 | Errol Linden | Defensive end | Houston |
| 30 | Jim Stroud | Tackle | Rice |
Regular Season Game summaries
Week 9 (Sunday, November 5, 1961): at Denver Broncos">1961 Denver Broncos season">Denver Broncos
Postseason
1961 AFL Championship Game (Sunday, December 24, 1961): at San Diego Chargers">1961 San Diego Chargers season">San Diego Chargers
- Point spread: Oilers –5½
- Time of game:
| Oilers | Game statistics | Chargers |
| 18 | First downs | 15 |
| 33–96 | Rushes–yards | 20–79 |
| 160 | Passing yards | 226 |
| 18–41–6 | 17–32–4 | |
| 0–0 | Sacked–yards | 0–49 |
| 160 | Net passing yards | 177 |
| 256 | Total yards | 256 |
| 7 | Return yards | 126 |
| 5–34.0 | 4–41.0 | |
| 5–1 | Fumbles–lost | 2–2 |
| 5–68 | Penalties–yards | 10–106 |
| Time of possession |