Charles Taylor Hennigan, Sr. (March 19, 1935 – December 20, 2017) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player with the former

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 as ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL).

Football career

Hennigan attended LSU on a

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but wanted to play football. He therefore transferred to

Northwestern State University Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

(then Northwestern State College) in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he became the star of the team. In 1960, he joined the

's Houston Oilers in the team's first year of operation. Prior to joining the Oilers, he had taught high school

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at a salary of some $2,700 per year. He kept his teacher pay stub in his helmet to remind him that he must succeed in pro athletics. Hennigan scored the first touchdown in Oilers history, catching a 43-yard touchdown pass from

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 seasons ...

in the first quarter against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. That year, he caught 44 passes for 722 yards, averaging 16.4 yard per catch. He had six touchdowns. In the

1960 American Football League Championship Game The 1960 American Football League Championship Game was the first AFL title game, played on New Year's Day 1961 at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston, Texas. With New Year's on Sunday, the major college bowl games were played on Monday, January 2. T ...

, he caught four passes for 71 yards as the Oilers prevailed 24-16 to win the inaugural AFL title over the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. After a promising rookie season, in 1961, he started all 14 games and established himself as a superstar in the AFL by gaining 1,746 yards receiving with 12 touchdowns, the former being a pro football record that stood for 34 years. In October alone, he had 822 receiving yards, the most in a single calendar month. One of quarterback

’s main targets, Hennigan was the second professional football player to catch more than a hundred passes in a single season (101 in 1964, an AFL record) and to twice gain over 1,500 yards receiving (1961 and 1964). He holds the all-time records for most games in a season with over 200 yards receiving with three, and most games in a season with over 100 yards receiving with 11. Hennigan had the All-time AFL single game record of 272 yards receiving, against the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most ...

on October 13, 1961. The 13 passes caught in the game is tied for the most ever in the AFL, shared with

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed “Bambi”, is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) an ...

Lionel Taylor Lionel Thomas Taylor (born August 15, 1935) is a former American football wide receiver who led the American Football League (AFL) in receptions for five of the first six years of the league's existence. College football Taylor attended New ...

, and

Sid Blanks Sidney Blanks (April 29, 1941 – December 12, 2021) was an American football player and the first-ever African American football player to play in the Lone Star Conference. College career A halfback, Blanks played college football at Texas A& ...

. In the

1961 American Football League Championship Game The 1961 AFL Championship Game was a rematch of the first American Football League title game, between the Houston Oilers and the San Diego Chargers (formerly the Los Angeles Chargers). It was played on December 24 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego ...

, he had five catches for 43 yards as the Oilers prevailed for their second and final AFL title. On January 19, 1962, Minden observed "Charlie Hennigan" Day. Then

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

Harold Montgomery,

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, Parey Branton,

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Frank T. Norman, and other local officials presented Hennigan with a signed document of his accomplishments. A luncheon and evening meal were served in his honor. The event was postponed because of hazardous weather the previous week. That year, he had 54 catches for 867 yards with eight touchdowns. In the AFL title game, he had three catches for 37 yards, but the Oilers lost in double overtime to the

Dallas Texans Dallas Texans may refer to: American football *Dallas Texans (NFL), 1952 team in the National Football League *Dallas Texans (AFL), 1960–1962 team that is now the Kansas City Chiefs * Dallas Texans (arena), 1990–1993 Arena Football League team ...

. Hennigan was selected by his peers as a

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AFL All-League offensive end in 1961, 1962, and 1964. He was an American Football League Eastern Division All-Star five straight years (1961 - 1965), and retired after the 1966 season. He was selected to the All-Time All-AFL Second Team. The

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...

named Hennigan to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2014

Career statistics

Oilers/Titans Franchise records

''Source
pro-football-reference.com's team encyclopedia
' 's NFL off-season, Charley Hennigan held at least 9 Titans franchise records, including: * Most Receptions (season): 101 (1964) * Most Receptions (game): 13 (1961-10-13 @BOS; tied with

and

Haywood Jeffires Haywood Franklin Jeffires (pronounced "Jeffries"; born December 12, 1964) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 1st round (20th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft out of North Carolina State. ...

and

Drew Bennett Andrew Russell Bennett (born August 26, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played college football at UCLA. Be ...

) * Most Receiving Yds (season): 1,746 (1961) * Most Receiving Yds (game): 272 (1961-10-13 @BOS) * Most Receiving TDs (career): 51 * Most Rec Yds/Game (career): 71.8 * Most Rec Yds/Game (season): 124.7 (1961) * Most 100+ yard receiving games (career): 28 * Most 100+ yard receiving games (season): 10 (1961)

Later years

In 1967, Hennigan received his doctorate in education from the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. Hennigan operated an educational tutoring service in Shreveport and worked with prisoners seeking the General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Hennigan had seven children, the oldest being Charles, Jr., who was born in Natchitoches in 1957. He was named to the

Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame is located in the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame & Northwest Louisiana History Museum – Natchitoches in a new facility in the downtown historic district in Natchitoches, Louisiana. After years of planning and con ...

in 1978. On April 6, 2002, Hennigan, then a

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but a registered

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as of 2014, ran in a

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for Place 8 on the

Caddo Parish Caddo Parish ( French: ''Paroisse de Caddo'') is a parish located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the parish had a population of 237,848. The parish seat is Shreveport, which developed a ...

Commission, his parish's governing body. He was defeated by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Michael Long, 2,139 votes (74.9 percent) to 716 ballots (25.1 percent). On December 20, 2017, Hennigan died at the age of 82.

References

External links