The 1961 American Football League season was the second

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of ...

of the AFL. It consisted of 8 franchises split into two divisions: the East Division ( Buffalo Bills,

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

, Titans of New York, Boston Patriots) and the West Division ( San Diego Chargers,

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders). After having spent its inaugural season in Los Angeles, the Chargers moved to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...

for this AFL season; 56 years later, the franchise returned to their original home. The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the San Diego Chargers in the AFL Championship game.

Division races

The AFL had 8 teams, grouped into two divisions. Each team would play a home-and-away game against the other 7 teams in the league for a total of 14 games, and the best team in the Eastern Division would play against the best in the Western Division in a championship game. If there was a tie in the standings at the top of either division, a one-game playoff would be held to determine the division winner. The San Diego Chargers won their first eleven games, clinching the Western Division on November 12, with four games left. When San Diego reached 10–0, it had twice the wins of any other team in the AFL. In the Eastern Division, the Titans of New York lost 27–10 to Denver, while Boston beat Buffalo 52–21, in ''Week Seven'', for a tie in the race, with the Pats at 3–3–1 and the Titans at 3–3–0. The Titans lost, 48–13 to San Diego, in ''Week Nine''. The following week, though (November 12), Houston beat Boston, 27–15, to take a half-game lead, and won the division by a full game.

Regular season

Results

Standings

Playoffs

Awards

*AP AFL Player of The Year:

George Blanda George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American football placekicker and quarterback who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seaso ...

*UPI AFL Player of The Year:

Stadium changes

* The relocated San Diego Chargers moved from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to

Balboa Stadium Balboa Stadium is an American football and soccer stadium on the west coast of the United States, located in San Diego, California. Just east of San Diego High School, the original stadium was built in 1914 as part of the 1915 Panama–Californ ...

* The Oakland Raiders continued to play in San Francisco, playing all their home games at

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...

Coaching changes

;Offseason :''None'' ;In-season * Boston Patriots:

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...

was fired after five games. Assistant coach

Mike Holovak Michael Joseph Holovak (September 19, 1919 – January 27, 2008) was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football at Boston College, where he was an All-American at fullback in 1942. Holovak was the fifth ov ...

took over the head coaching duties. *

Lou Rymkus Louis Joseph "the Battler" Rymkus (November 6, 1919 – October 31, 1998) was an American football player and coach in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). Playing as ...

was fired after five games. Assistant coach

Wally Lemm Walter Horner Lemm (October 23, 1919 – October 8, 1988) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers an ...

took over the head coaching duties. * Oakland Raiders:

Eddie Erdelatz Edward J. Erdelatz (April 21, 1913 – November 10, 1966) was an American collegiate and professional football player and coach who served as head football coach of the U.S. Naval Academy for nine years. Erdelatz was also the first head coach of ...

was fired after two games.

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and comedy writer. He was known for his prominent, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on the ITV sitcom ''Boot ...

took over.

External links

Football Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 American Football League Season American Football League seasons