Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Do the names Miller Farr, Fred Glick, Tony Banfield, and/or Jim Norton ring any bells with anybody? People know who Ken Houston was and speak of him effusively but what about those other four? From what I can tell they must've made for a pretty good defensive secondary for the Houston Oilers back in the 1960s. Anybody have any recollection of the group or of any of the individuals?

Farr and Norton were good players along with W.K Hicks later on but the cool story is about Willie Brown, who failed to make their team. Many people like receiver Charlie Hennigan, while others thought he was overrated but he gave Brown problems in training camp, which led to him going to Denver and becoming an All-time player ...

I think the secondary was the strength of the team from 1967 -69. They had the best pass defense in the AFL, while their offense was very pedestrian. Hicks, Houston and Zeke Moore were from HBCUs, so the Oilers were a bit ahead of the curve in that regard. Despite all that, the Oilers were bombed out of their playoff appearances by Daryle Lamonica and Raiders (40-7 and 56-7 losses). Strange.

Miller Farr was great....led the AFL interceptions one year....had several pick 6s....he grew up in Beaumont, Texas and went to Hebert High School -- same high school as Warren Wells, Jerry LeVias and Miller's brother Mel...Hebert's rival was Charlton Pollard, where Bubba Smith's dad coached...so you had a lot of future stars playing in those games....