Vintage AFL: Houston Oilers
by OldSchool
This would have been the 50th season of the American Football League, and the original eight franchises, now of course part of the NFL, will occasionally wear retro-1960 uniforms to commemorate the AFL’s first year. This blog already has looked at two significant figures from the original the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders. Today: two from the original Houston Oilers — George Blanda and Billy Cannon.
Blanda was the 33-year-old NFL reject quarterback, and the rookie Cannon was the AFL’s highest-profile player, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU.
In the AFL’s first championhip game, the Oilers were clinging to a 17-16 fourth-quarter lead over the Los Angeles Chargers when Blanda’s pass to Cannon resulted in an 88-yard clinching TD.
Robert Rubino has been a daily copy editor for nearly 30 years and a weekly sports columnist for 15 years. 
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