Charlie Hennigan
Encyclopedia
Charles Taylor Hennigan, Sr., known as Charlie Hennigan (born March 19, 1935), is a retired American football
player with the former Houston Oilers who resides in Shreveport
, Louisiana
. Born in Bienville
in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Hennigan grew up in nearby Minden
, the seat of Webster Parish, located thirty miles east of Shreveport. His father, Clarence Roland Hennigan (1905–1992), was still a sheriff's deputy when he died at the age of eighty-seven. His mother, Lura E. Hennigan (1916–1997), was a Pentecostal minister, piano
teacher, and artist. Hennigan graduated in 1953 from Minden High School
, where he excelled in football, basketball
, and track
as well as academics.
Minden, a small city, produced other successful athletes too, including David Allen Lee
(born 1943), the punter for the Baltimore Colts
from 1966–1978, and Fred Haynes
(1946–2006), the holder of many football records as the quarterback at Louisiana State University
in Baton Rouge during the late 1960s.
Hennigan attended LSU on a track scholarship but wanted to play football. He therefore transferred to Northwestern State University
(then Northwestern State College) in Natchitoches
, where he became the star of the team. In 1960, he joined the American Football League
's Houston Oilers in the team's first year of operation. Prior to joining the Oilers, he had taught high school biology
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 athletes.
Hennigan scored the first touchdown in Oilers history. 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, a pro-football record that stood for 34 years. One of quarterback George Blanda
’s main targets, Hennigan was the second professional football player to catch more than a hundred passes in a single season (101 in 1964) 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 on October 13, 1961.
Hennigan was selected by his peers as a Sporting News 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
.
Hall of Famer Willie Brown was originally signed by the Oilers in 1963, but was cut during training camp. On the 2009 Showtime series Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
, George Blanda
tells this story: "Willie couldn't cover Charley Hennigan in practice, so he was let go, and the Broncos picked him up. The next year we played Denver, and Charley needed nine catches to break Lionel Taylor
's record of 100 receptions in a season. Charley got the nine he needed, with Willie covering him. Willie's in the Hall of Fame. Charley Hennigan should be, too."
On January 19, 1962, Minden observed "Charlie Hennigan" Day. Then State Senator
Harold Montgomery
, State Representative
, Parey Branton
, Mayor
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.
In 1967, Hennigan received his doctorate in education from the University of Houston
. He operates an educational tutoring service in Shreveport and works with prisoners seeking the General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Hennigan has seven children, the oldest being Charles, Jr., who was born in Natchitoches in 1957.
On April 6, 2002, Hennigan, a Democrat
, ran in a special election for Place 8 on the Caddo Parish Commission, his parish's governing body. He was defeated by Republican
Michael Long. Long obtained 2,139 votes (74.9 percent) to Hennigan's 716 ballots (25.1 percent).
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player with the former Houston Oilers who resides in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. Born in Bienville
Bienville, Louisiana
Bienville is a village in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 262 at the 2000 census.There are seven cemeteries located near the village....
in Bienville Parish in north Louisiana, Hennigan grew up in nearby Minden
Minden, Louisiana
Minden is a city in the American state of Louisiana. It serves as the parish seat of Webster Parish and is located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish. The population, which has been stable since 1960, was 13,027 at the 2000 census...
, the seat of Webster Parish, located thirty miles east of Shreveport. His father, Clarence Roland Hennigan (1905–1992), was still a sheriff's deputy when he died at the age of eighty-seven. His mother, Lura E. Hennigan (1916–1997), was a Pentecostal minister, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
teacher, and artist. Hennigan graduated in 1953 from Minden High School
Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)
Minden High School is the public secondary educational institution in Minden, a small city of 13,000 and the seat of Webster Parish located twenty-eight miles east of Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana...
, where he excelled in football, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
as well as academics.
Minden, a small city, produced other successful athletes too, including David Allen Lee
David Lee (Baltimore Colts)
David Allen Lee is a former American football punter for the former Baltimore Colts in the National Football League and subsequently retired from a career as a General Motors executive in Shreveport, the seat of Caddo Parish, in northwestern Louisiana...
(born 1943), the punter for the Baltimore Colts
History of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....
from 1966–1978, and Fred Haynes
Fred Haynes
Freddie Lynn "Fred" Haynes was an American football player for the Louisiana State University Tigers from 1966–1968, having climaxed his three-season career by successfully quarterbacking both the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans and the Peach Bowl in Atlanta in calendar year 1968...
(1946–2006), the holder of many football records as the quarterback at Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in Baton Rouge during the late 1960s.
Hennigan attended LSU on a track scholarship but wanted to play football. He therefore transferred to Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University
Northwestern State University, known as NSU, is a four-year 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 University of Louisiana System.NSU was founded in 1884 as...
(then Northwestern State College) in Natchitoches
Natchitoches, Louisiana
Natchitoches is a city in and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. Established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as part of French Louisiana, the community was named after the Natchitoches Indian tribe. The City of Natchitoches was first incorporated on February...
, where he became the star of the team. In 1960, he joined the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Houston Oilers in the team's first year of operation. Prior to joining the Oilers, he had taught high school biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
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 athletes.
Hennigan scored the first touchdown in Oilers history. 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, a pro-football record that stood for 34 years. One of quarterback George Blanda
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker...
’s main targets, Hennigan was the second professional football player to catch more than a hundred passes in a single season (101 in 1964) 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 on October 13, 1961.
Hennigan was selected by his peers as a Sporting News AFL All-League
1961 American Football League All-League Players
-Sporting News American Football League All-League Team - 1961:The 1961 American Football League All-League Team was selected by AFL players and published by the Sporting News. The 1961 All-League players were augmented by other All-Stars to form two squads, Eastern and Western, to play in the...
offensive end in 1961, 1962, and 1964. He was an American Football League Eastern Division All-Star
American Football League All-Star games
-All-League Teams:The Sporting News published American Football League All-League Teams for each season played by the American Football League, 1960 through 1969...
five straight years (1961 - 1965), and retired after the 1966 season. He was selected to the All-Time All-AFL Second Team
American Football League All-Time Team
The American Football League All- Time Team was selected on January 14, 1970. The first and second teams would be determined by a panel of members of the AFL's Hall of Fame Board of Selectors: Since the First team included two halfbacks, rather than a halfback and a fullback, Cookie Gilchrist, a...
.
Hall of Famer Willie Brown was originally signed by the Oilers in 1963, but was cut during training camp. On the 2009 Showtime series Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League
Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League is a sports documentary miniseries that focuses on the American Football League , recognized by many as the genesis of modern Professional Football...
, George Blanda
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker...
tells this story: "Willie couldn't cover Charley Hennigan in practice, so he was let go, and the Broncos picked him up. The next year we played Denver, and Charley needed nine catches to break Lionel Taylor
Lionel Taylor
Lionel Thomas Taylor is a former American football wide receiver who led the American Football League in receptions each year for the first six years of the league's existence.-College football:...
's record of 100 receptions in a season. Charley got the nine he needed, with Willie covering him. Willie's in the Hall of Fame. Charley Hennigan should be, too."
On January 19, 1962, Minden observed "Charlie Hennigan" Day. Then State Senator
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
Harold Montgomery
Harold Montgomery
A. Harold Montgomery, Sr. , was an agricultural businessman and a Louisiana state senator, who is remembered as an outspoken conservative within his state's dominant Democratic Party...
, State Representative
Louisiana State Legislature
The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana Senate with 39 senators...
, Parey Branton
Parey Branton
Parey Pershing Branton, Sr. , was a businessman from Shongaloo, Louisiana, who was from 1960 to 1972 a Democratic member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from what is now District 10 in Webster Parish...
, Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Frank T. Norman
Frank T. Norman
Francis Toadvin Norman, known as Frank T. Norman , was a Democratic mayor of the small city of Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, from 1958-1966. From 1952-1958, Norman had served on the Minden City Council as the then public safety commissioner under the since disbanded...
, and other local officials presented Hennigan with a signed document of his accomplishments. A luncheon and evening meal were served in his honor.
In 1967, Hennigan received his doctorate in education from the University of Houston
University of Houston
The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
. He operates an educational tutoring service in Shreveport and works with prisoners seeking the General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Hennigan has seven children, the oldest being Charles, Jr., who was born in Natchitoches in 1957.
On April 6, 2002, Hennigan, a Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, ran in a special election for Place 8 on the Caddo Parish Commission, his parish's governing body. He was defeated by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Michael Long. Long obtained 2,139 votes (74.9 percent) to Hennigan's 716 ballots (25.1 percent).
External links
- Campaign to get Hennigan inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Hennigan Website
- Hennigan's 1965 Topps football card
- http://www.caddoclerk.com/results_040602.htm
- http://www.mindenmemories.com/Fifties%20Minden%20High%20School%20Grigs.htm
- Hennigan's first AFL contract