Tag Archives: Houston Oilers

AFL

Hennigan, Charlie (1935-2017)

Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Photo memorabilia
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Home.
Sent: 6/24  Received: 7/3  (9 days)

Charlie Hennigan finished his career long before I was born, however I was aware of his accomplishments early on as a fan of the Houston Oilers. After I watched the presentation of “Full Color Football” on NFL Network, I decided to start collecting some of the players from before ‘my era’ of football and in that bid to locate and get autographs of many of the original AFLers (particularly Houston Oilers from any era on cards), I got the Meisleman list in the mail and went to work. I couldn’t believe that Charlie was listed in the book. I was even more surprised when he autographed the card I sent him, plus included a piece of photo memorabilia of himself from the early years that he autographed on both sides. (I miss this form of sports photography.) I don’t mind personalization at all. I hope it proves to the player that’s signing it that I am indeed sincere in my attempts to get their autograph, and that I’m not interested in selling them. I’ve heard of players charging for personalization and frankly I think if they want to make sure that somebody won’t sell their name, just personalize it. Nobody named Joe wants to buy an autograph of a player from somebody who has it personalized to Lee.(- At least I wouldn’t.)

Charlie was an amazingly fast receiver who made the Houston Oiler air attack work during the early years of the AFL where the team won the first two championships of the AFL. A player who has never gotten the respect he has deserved, Hennigan scored the first touchdown in Oiler History back in 1960 and was the main target of George Blanda‘s passes becoming the first player to go over 100 catches in a season with 101 in 1964. Hennigan would set the AFL/NFL mark for most receiving yards in a season with 1746, which would stand for 34 years. An AFL All Star for 5 of the 6 seasons he played, Hennigan kept a pay stub from his teaching career in his helmet to keep himself grounded. Hennigan still holds the record for most 200 yard receiving games in a season with 3 and most games in a season with over 100 yards at 11. Hennigan would also hold the All AFL record of 272 yards receiving (1962) and would go over 1500 yards receiving in two separate seasons averaging an incredible 124 yards a game in 1961 and 110 in 1964.  Incredible numbers considering that players in the 60s played only 14 game seasons.  Oddly Hennigan has never been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.

Many, (myself included) believe that this is an act of hazing from the old guard of the NFL, in barring him and other pioneers of the old AFL from obtaining entry. (I am of the camp that believes the whole AFL should be inducted all at once as league pioneers, and like other professional leagues before them a separate wing be dedicated to their accomplishments.) Hall of Fame defensive back Willie Brown was ironically cut by the Houston Oilers because he could not cover Charlie Hennigan. Charlie and Willie would meet again on the field, where Charlie needed only 9 catches to break the AFL record for catches in a season. Charlie got those 9.  Hennigan would retire in 1967, founding the Hennigan Institute after getting his Doctorate from the University of Houston. Later on he would go on to teach former prisoners and help them get their GEDs near Shreveport, LA and ran for political office in 2002 as a Democrat. Hennigan also has seven children.

G 95      Rec    410   Yds 6873    Avg   16.6      TD  51         Lg  83

* UPDATE *  On December 20th, 2017 Dr. Hennigan passed away at the age of 82.

AFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Blanda, George (1927-2010)

Card: Topps 1972
Acquired: TTM 2010, c/o home
Sent: 3/26  Received: 4/13  (18 days)

This card was the oldest card in my collection (for a time) ironically because my friend Josh brought over his card collection and accidentally spilled them all over the floor. He let me have this card, because he thought it was in such bad condition that it was trash.  Being the big Oiler fan I am, I knew about George’s history with the team, but it never seemed to cross my mind to locate him for an autograph and for many years the card languished in my collection.  I started a TTM drive to get autographs of many of the classic Oilers after watching the NFL Network presentation of “Full Color Football”. (While the broadcast gives the AFL some credit, it still failed to give the Oilers teams credit of the early 60s, Charlie Hennigan any exposure, and does not acknowledge the contributions of many of our now injured and fallen gladiators in dire need of medical attention and pension assistance.) George was at the top of the list.

George Blanda is an amazing story of longevity in sports history. In a sport like football, with players average playing time of less than 5 years, Blanda would play in 4 different decades, spanning 26 seasons, longer than any other player in football history. He began playing for the NFL in 1949 for the Bears, where he’d play for 10 seasons. Forced with an ultimatum to become a kicker full time and not a quarterback, he opted to retire; However fate would smile upon “The Grand Old Man” who was granted a reprieve when the upstart AFL started in 1960. Signed by the Houston Oilers, he led them to the first 3 championships, winning the first and second with an impressive aerial attack. After seven seasons, he’d move on to play with the Raiders, where he served as backup quarterback and kicker for the team for an additional nine seasons. Blanda at the time of his retirement held the record for most games played and most points scored. He was inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 1981.

G 340   Att 4007   Comp 1911    Avg 47.6    Yds 26920
Td 236    Int 277
FG 335    Att 641   XPA 943    XPM 959    Pts 2002

UPDATE -George Blanda passed away quietly at the age of 84 on September 27th, 2010.  He is survived by his wife and 11 children.

NFL

McNair, Steve (1973-2009)

Card: Classic 1995
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oiler Training Camp, 1995

I got Steve’s autograph at Trinity University in San Antonio where the Oilers held training camp during his rookie season. He signed every card that day,(- which numbered into the hundreds) after an extremely hot summer practice where he was drenched in sweat.  I then created a Steve McNair player in Tecmo Super Bowl Final Edition on Super Nintendo. He became the best player in the game, where he was unstoppable both on the ground and in the air scoring 90s in nearly every attribute. McNair would also start at quarterback for my Fantasy Football teams in 2003 and 2005.

The Houston Oilers became a quarterback carousel after Warren Moon was jettisoned by Bud Adams after the 1993 season. In hopes of alleviating the problem, the Oilers signed Chris Chandler in 1995 and then drafted Steve McNair from Alcorn St with the 3rd pick of that draft. McNair has an interesting history that has strange parallels to Moon’s as he was asked to play defensive back by a major college instead the position of quarterback where he was most comfortable in high school. Instead of signing on with the University of Florida, McNair opted to play for tiny Alcorn State.  Steve would go on to set multiple All-American records in college and in his senior season would run and pass for over 6,000 yards including 16283 career yards.

After being drafted by the Oilers, McNair would ride the bench for primarily the next two seasons behind perennial tutor and quarterback of the moment Chandler. In 1997, the Oilers moved to Tennessee and coach Jeff Fisher handed Steve the reins of the team. McNair over his career would be seen as a tenacious blue chip warrior with an insatiable appetite to win.  McNair would suffer from a malaise of injuries throughout his 13 season career including back problems and a bruised sternum.  He’d lead the Titans to SuperBowl XXXIV (SuperBowl of the Traitorous Teams) and be named NFL Player of the Year in 2003, All-Pro in 2003, and to the Pro Bowl in 2000, 2003, and 2005 playing for the Oilers and Titans. In 2006 he’d find himself run out of town (much like Bud Adams did to Moon in 1993,) where Steve signed with the Ravens, whom he’d play the last two seasons for before injury forced him to retire in 2008.  Post NFL McNair ran a restaurant called GridIron9 and mentored quarterback Vince Young,  but struggle with an extramarital affair, in which on July 4th, 2009 that mistress would take his life.  McNair is survived by his widow and four children.

Games   161       Att   4544      Comp     2733     %  60.1       Yds  31, 304        TD  174          Int  119            Rat  82.8
Rushes  669      Yds   3590       Avg  5.4          Td 37