• The Oilers demolished the Raiders, 55-0, in the regular season opener in Houston

• The Oilers’ 55 points were a new AFL record

• Houston outgained the Raiders in total yards, 482-130

• The game was picketed by the local chapter of the NAACP because of the segregation policy in place at Jeppesen Stadium, the site of the game

• The group reached out to the Black players on the team—who, at the time, included Jim Brewington, George Fields, George Fleming, Charley Fuller, Charlie Hardy, John Harris, Riley Morris and Charley Powell—urging them not to cross the picket line and play

• General manager Bud Hastings said the team “was not interested in any outside conflict” and that no telegrams had been sent to the players

• Hastings later said that the Black players had “discussed the situation and decided they had come here to play football”

• None of the players were quoted directly in the Bay Area press

• Each of the players did appear in the game

• The game was played under threat of inundation by Hurricane Carla, a category-three storm that meterologists thought could land on the Texas coast around game time

• However, aside from higher than usual wind speeds (20-25 mph), the storm had no impact on the contest

• Wayne Crow started at halfback ahead of Fuller

• Quarterback Tom Flores completed just 7 of 21 passes for 59 yards

• Center Jim Otto suffered a concussion in the second quarter and missed the rest of the game

• Halfback Jack Larscheid, thought likely to miss the game because of a leg injury, played after all

• Defensive end Jon Jelacic was still recovering from a pulled hamstring and did not play

Houston 55, Oakland 0
New York 21, Boston 20

< Sep 8, 1961 Back to Calendar Sep 10, 1961 >