Alworth Was a Prize Catch

Fittingly, a fellow Hall of Famer gives the quintessential testimonial to the pass-catching ability of Lance Alworth.

Says Sid Gillman: “Lance is all-time all-pro in my book, a great athlete and a great competitor.”

There probably is no one better qualified than Gillman to venture such an opinion. He is known as the guru of the passing game, an innovator who developed many of the ideas in vogue today.

Gillman was the Chargers’ first coach, Alworth their first superstar. Alworth was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978, the first American Football League player to be so honored. Gillman was elected five years later.

“He was the greatest combination runner, jumper and catcher I ever saw,” Gillman said. “His sense of timing was so great that with him out there, we felt that the fly pattern was no more a gamble than a run.”

Another glowing accolade came from someone Charger fans love to hate, Al Davis. The managing general partner of the Raiders was an assistant coach with the Chargers when Alworth was drafted out of Arkansas in 1962. It was Davis who beat the National Football League to the punch by signing Alworth after the Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans.

Said Davis: “Lance was one of maybe three players in my lifetime who had what I would call ‘it.’ You could see right away he was going to be special.”

This despite the fact that Alworth had had only a smattering of receiving experience in college. He was a running back under Coach Frank Broyles at Arkansas, and estimated that he “might have caught 20 passes in three seasons there.”

Alworth adjusted so well to his new role that in 11 pro seasons, nine with the Chargers and two with the Dallas Cowboys, he caught 542 passes for an 18.9-yard average and 85 touchdowns.

In a seven-season stretch covering 1963 through 1969, Alworth’s reception totals were 61, 61 again, 69, 73, 52, 68 and 64. In the first six of those seasons, his averages per catch were 19.8, 20.2, 23.2, 18.9, 19.4 and 19.3.

Charlie Hennigan of Houston caught 410 passes in only seven seasons and set a pro single-season record of 101 (since broken) in 1964, but he had no illusions about who was the dominant receiver of his day.

After retiring in 1966, Hennigan said, “A player comes along once in a lifetime who alone is worth the price of admission. That player is Lance Alworth.”

Perhaps Alworth’s nickname of Bambi, dreamed up by running back Charlie Flowers, tells best what kind of receiver he was. He had great speed, a long stride, quick feet and leaping ability that inspired defensive back Ron Hall of the Boston Patriots to remark, “I think he trains on a trampoline.”

It’s conceivable that Alworth, not a big guy at 6 feet and 180 pounds, could have avoided the physical beating he took in football by accepting a bonus offer from the New York Yankees. He was an outstanding center fielder in college.

Actually, Alworth was good at every sport he tried. He won 15 letters in high school in Brookhaven, Miss., and set freshman sprint records of 9.6 and 21.2 in the 100- and 220-yard dashes at Arkansas. He also played basketball, but said, “That wasn’t one of my stronger sports.”

Today, Alworth, 48, runs a storage company in Solana Beach, but his path to success in business hasn’t been as easy as it was in football. He once had a dry-cleaning business that foundered.

“I went through bankruptcy in ’68 and ‘69,” he said. “The man who was supposed to handle my money didn’t do it, so I learned a good lesson. I decided to handle it myself, and I’ve had a nice little business here for 14 years.

“We build and manage mini-storage facilities, and we recently closed a deal with a big New York firm. It’s not necessarily lucrative, but being with them has added a lot of credibility to what we do. I like being recognized as a decent businessman, not just an ex-football player.”

Alworth was born a generation too soon to hit big money in football. He originally signed with the Chargers for $20,000 a year for two years, plus a $10,000 bonus.

“I made a career high of $50,000 my last two years,” he said.

The only reason Alworth got as much as he did as a rookie was the bidding war between the AFL and NFL. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the first round and by the Chargers in the second.

“The AFL had an early draft, and Dallas, now Kansas City, drafted me,” Alworth said. “We didn’t have agents then, and I went in to see Lamar Hunt in Dallas. He asked me if I’d sign for $10,000 a year and a $2,000 bonus. I said, ‘No, sir. I’ll go to law school before I’ll sign for that.’

“They canceled that draft for some reason, and the next time, Dallas didn’t draft me. It was San Francisco and San Diego, and Al Davis worked on me pretty hard. I talked to the 49er coach, Red Hickey, and told him I wanted a no-cut contract. He said they didn’t give such things, so I walked out. Then he said, ‘We’ll give you one,’ but I said to myself, ‘I don’t need this.’

“I never talked to the 49ers again, plus I loved Al Davis. My parents did, too, so the decision was easy.”

Alworth recalled his struggle to learn the art of receiving as a rookie with the Chargers. Their quarterback was Jack Kemp, later a congressman and now secretary of housing and urban development.

“Kemp threw passes 90 miles an hour,” Alworth said. “He could fire it. I was running quick out patterns, and I wasn’t catching the ball. I dropped a couple of balls that hit me right in the hands.

“I was so bad that one day they made me stay after practice. Joe Madro, the offensive line coach, was there, and I heard him say, ‘We made a mistake on this guy.’ Fortunately, I finally started catching the ball.”

Once Alworth caught on, the Chargers’ only regret about the 1962 draft was picking fullback Bob Ferguson of Ohio State ahead of him. Ferguson not only didn’t sign, he was a monumental flop. He lasted only two seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who also drafted him No. 1, and gained a total of 209 yards.

“Ferguson and I were with the College All-Stars, and I was surprised he wasn’t bigger,” Alworth said. “I thought he was a real bruiser. At that time, guys in the Big Ten got all the press.”

Once Alworth perfected moves to complement his natural ability, he drove rival defensive backs up the wall. He caught at least one pass in all 96 AFL games in which he played. He made the AFL’s all-league team seven years in a row and was elected unanimously to the AFL’s all-time all-star team.

Alworth played hurt, too, despite his fragile build. In 1966, he caught 37 passes in a seven-game span in which he had both arms in casts because of wrist and hand injuries.

In his second year, 1963, Alworth had one game in which he caught 13 passes and another in which he totaled 232 yards. He was the biggest single reason why the Chargers won their only AFL championship.

“I had one of the best ‘up’ moves, and a great ‘out’ move,” Alworth said. “My corner move was terrible, though. I was so quick, I made my cuts so fast that I never really gave my quarterbacks (primarily John Hadl) time to follow me in.

“I had good hand-and-eye coordination and was blessed with above-average speed, but my quickness was the biggest factor. I was unorthodox in that I caught everything in my stomach. I didn’t like to catch balls above my head, because if I got hit, I might have dropped them.”

Alworth gave much of the credit for his success to Gillman. “Sid was probably the greatest offensive mind ever to coach the game,” he said, “and I feel that he was 50% or more responsible for my success. Even though they played a lot of zone then, he figured out ways to get us in one-on-one situations. He was 20 years ahead of his time.”

The champion Chargers of 1963 were so good that Alworth said, “We felt we could have beaten anybody in either league. We had everything going offensively, and what people didn’t realize is that we were also a great defensive team.”

One of Alworth’s happiest moments was watching Joe Namath and the Jets upset the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

“I had no resentment against the NFL until they said we couldn’t play with them,” Alworth said. “Everybody talked about the debacles of the first two Super Bowls when Green Bay won, but they didn’t realize that Green Bay beat everybody like that. Everybody in the NFL behind Green Bay was just another team.

“I felt that Kansas City wasn’t our best team for Super Bowl I. I thought there were three teams that were better, and that we were one of the three. I was in the stands when the Jets did it, and I was yelling, ‘Go, Joe.’ I haven’t been much more excited in my life.”

Of all enemy cornerbacks, Alworth had his most memorable duels with Fred (The Hammer) Williamson.

When Alworth was a rookie in 1962,, Williamson said he didn’t have any moves. After a Charger-Raider game a year later, he said, “Go ask Sid Gillman how many passes Alworth caught. I caught more than he did, and I play defense.”

Recalling Williamson’s remarks, Alworth said, “I told Freddy one time, ‘I’m tired of this.’ He said, ‘You don’t understand. We’ve got to keep this thing going. I want to be known as the Cassius Clay of the AFL.’

“After that, I said to Sid (Gillman), ‘Put me on this kid. If you don’t run me against him, I’m not going to play.’ Sid said it would be easier on the other side, but he went along with me. I caught two touchdowns and went for 96 yards against Williamson. He never said anything to any of us after that.”

Alworth surprised a lot of people when he chose Davis to present him at the Hall of Fame ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

“Everybody got a little angry with me for that,” Alworth said. “But Al was like a father to me, and he still calls my mom and dad. The thing about him that nobody knows is that he has helped a lot of people, guys out of work, and not just ex-Raiders but guys who played on other teams.

“I believe Al is totally misunderstood. To me, he’s a gem.”

Alworth’s election to the Hall of Fame meant even more to him than a just reward for his achievements.

“I called my dad and said, ‘Dad, your son has just been voted into the Hall of Fame,’ ” Alworth said. “Then I started crying. I had been trying to prove myself to him ever since I was in ninth grade.

“One night I scored two touchdowns, but he said to me, ‘There were a couple of times tonight when you kind of dogged it. Remember, no matter how good you are, there is always somebody better.’

“That brought me down to earth very quickly. It put everything in perspective for me.”