1961 Oakland Raiders season

1961 Oakland Raiders season
Owner	F. Wayne Valley
General manager	Wesley Fry
Head coach	Marty Feldman
Home stadium	Candlestick Park
Results
Record	2–12
Division place	4th AFL Western
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1960 Raiders seasons 1962  →

The 1961 Oakland Raiders season was the team's second in the American Football League. Based in Oakland, they played their home games in San Francisco at Candlestick Park.

The Raiders tried to improve on their 6–8 record from 1960, but finished last in the AFL West at 2–12, dropping their final six games. They set an AFL record in 1961, posting a point differential of negative-221, ^[1] and surrendered 36 rushing touchdowns, a pro football record.

The following year, the Raiders moved to the new Frank Youell Field in Oakland, and played in that temporary venue for four seasons.

Season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 9	at Houston Oilers	L 0–55	0–1	Jeppesen Stadium	16,231	Recap
2	September 17	at San Diego Chargers	L 0–44	0–2	Balboa Stadium	20,216	Recap
3	September 24	Dallas Texans	L 35–42	0–3	Candlestick Park	6,737	Recap
4	October 1	Denver Broncos	W 33–19	1–3	Candlestick Park	8,361	Recap
5	Bye
6	October 15	at Denver Broncos	L 24–27	1–4	Bears Stadium	11,129	Recap
7	October 22	San Diego Chargers	L 10–41	1–5	Candlestick Park	12,014	Recap
8	October 29	New York Titans	L 6–14	1–6	Candlestick Park	7,138	Recap
9	November 5	at Buffalo Bills	W 31–22	2–6	War Memorial Stadium	17,027	Recap
10	November 11	at New York Titans	L 12–23	2–7	Polo Grounds	16,811	Recap
11	November 17	at Boston Patriots	L 17–20	2–8	Boston University Field	18,169	Recap
12	November 26	at Dallas Texans	L 11–43	2–9	Cotton Bowl	14,500	Recap
13	December 3	Buffalo Bills	L 21–26	2–10	Candlestick Park	6,500	Recap
14	December 9	Boston Patriots	L 21–35	2–11	Candlestick Park	6,500	Recap
15	December 17	Houston Oilers	L 16–47	2–12	Candlestick Park	4,821	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers	12	2	0	.857	6–0	396	219	L1
Dallas Texans	6	8	0	.429	4–2	334	343	W2
Denver Broncos	3	11	0	.214	1–5	251	432	L7
Oakland Raiders	2	12	0	.143	1–5	237	458	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

Players

1961 Oakland Raiders roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 15 Tom Flores 12 Nick Papac Running backs (RB) 22 Wayne Crow P 35 Clem Daniels 21 George Fleming K 20 Charley Fuller 37 Alan Miller Wide receivers (WR) 86 Jerry Burch 43 Bob Coolbaugh 82 Charlie Hardy Tight ends (TE) 83 Doug Asad

Offensive linemen (OL) 65 Wayne Hawkins G 00 Jim Otto C 71 Cliff Roberts T 61 Herb Roedel G 64 Ron Sabal T/G 63 Willie Smith G 75 Jack Stone T Defensive linemen (DL) 73 Jim Brewington DT 76 Gary Finneran DE 70 Harry Jagielski DT 88 Jon Jelacic DE 87 Charley Powell DE 78 Bob Voight DT

Linebackers (LB) 53 Al Bansavage MLB/OLB 44 Bob Dougherty OLB 60 Tom Louderback MLB 55 Riley Morris OLB Defensive backs (DB) 47 Alex Bravo FS 27 Joe Cannavino SS 28 Bob Garner CB 29 John Harris CB 24 Fred Williamson CB Special teams (ST)

Reserve 79 Volney Peters DT (IR) Harrison Rece C (IR) 72 Hal Smith DT (IR) Herm Urenda WR (Military) Rookies in italics

References

1. Oakland scored 271 points, and surrendered 458 points – Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1960 to 1969, in the AFL, in the regular season, sorted by ascending Points Differential