1962 American Football League Championship Game

The 1962 American Football League Championship Game was played at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston, Texas on December 23, 1962.

Background

The day saw the Eastern Division's 11-3 Houston Oilers in the title game for their third straight year, against the West's Dallas Texans, also at 11-3. The two teams were the class of the league that year, with the Texans thumping the Oilers at Houston 31-7 on October 28, and the Oilers returning the favor a week later, beating Dallas 14-6 at the Cotton Bowl.

Game summary

It was at the time the longest game in the history of professional American football, and remains the longest professional championship game (and the second-longest professional game of any kind) in the history of the sport. The first half of regulation time belonged the Texans, who led 17-0 after two quarters with a 16-yard Tommy Brooker field goal and two touchdowns by Dallas' great running back Abner Haynes: on a 28-yard pass from Len Dawson and then on a 2-yard plunge. The Oilers came back in the third and fourth periods, holding Dallas scoreless and scoring themselves on a 15-yard pass from George Blanda to Willard Dewveall, a 31-yard Blanda field goal, and a 1-yard dive by the "human bowling ball", fullback Charlie Tolar.

The first overtime started with a potentially damaging gaffe by Dallas captain Abner Haynes, who won the toss and elected to "kick to the clock." What Haynes wanted was the strong wind behind his team, but, by saying "kick" first, he gave the Oilers the choice of having the wind at their backs. As it turned out, it didn't matter. The first overtime went scoreless, but Bill Hull intercepted a Blanda pass to end it with the Texans at the Oilers' 48. In the second overtime, Jack Spikes picked up ten yards on a pass reception and nineteen yards on a rush. After the Texans ran a couple of plays to position the ball, rookie Tommy Brooker came in on fourth-and-nine, and calmly kicked a 25-yard field goal after 2:54 of the sixth quarter, or 17:54 of sudden-death overtime, to end the game.

The Houston Oliers had come within a hair's breadth of winning the first three American Football League championships, but the Texans prevailed, 20-17.

• First Quarter
  • Dal-Tommy Brooker 16-yd FG
• Second Quarter
  • Dal-Abner Haynes 28-yard pass from Lenny Dawson (Brooker kick)
  • Dal-Haynes 2-yard run (Brooker kick)
• Third Quarter
  • Hou-Willard Dewveall 15-yard pass from George Blanda (Blanda kick)
• Fourth Quarter
  • Hou-Blanda 31-yd FG
  • Hou-Charlie Tolar 1-yard run (Blanda kick)
• First Overtime
  • No scoring
• Second Overtime
  • Dal-Brooker 25-yd FG