George Blanda Tossed 42 Picks in 1962

Published on January 22nd, 2024 5:53 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


George Blanda, who is a Hall of Famer, had an absolutely sublime year in 1961, as he tossed 36 touchdowns and 3,330 passing yards.

These were absolutely monstrous numbers for the time, and they were made all the more impressive by the fact that Blanda missed two games as well.

Blanda and the Houston Oilers would go on to defeat the San Diego Chargers that season to win the Championship.

-

Heading into the 1962 season, George Blanda and the Houston Oilers were feeling great about themselves.

Blanda had just turned in one of the greatest seasons in the history of the AFL, and he was still just 35 years of age.

Plenty of time to win some more championships.

Heading into 1962, the most interceptions that Blanda had thrown in a season was 23, which he had done in 1953.

-

The team did very well in 1962, as the Oilers finished 11-3-0 and made the title game once again.

The bizarre stat from that season?

Their starting quarterback, George Blanda, threw an eye-popping 42 interceptions that year, which remains the record and will likely never be beaten.

Blanda started off his campaign with six interceptions in a 28-23 win against Buffalo, and followed that up with another 4 picks in his next game.

The tidal wave of interceptions kept coming throughout the year, as there was only one game where Blanda didn't throw an interception.

He would throw for 6 interceptions again on October 28th, 1962 (this time against the Dallas Texans), and for 5 interceptions later in the year against the Denver Broncos.

-

By the end of the 1962 campaign, Blanda had thrown for 2,810 yards, 27 touchdowns and 42 interceptions, which is one of the craziest stat lines in the history of football.