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| Position | Safety | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born | (1944-11-12)November 12, 1944 (age 81) Lufkin, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 197 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school | Dunbar (Lufkin, Texas) | ||||||||||||
| College | Prairie View A&M (1963–1966) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1967: 9th round, 214th overall pick | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Kenneth Ray Houston (born November 12, 1944) is an American former professionalfootball player who was asafety in theAmerican Football League (AFL) andNational Football League (NFL). He was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.
Houston played for the AFL'sHouston Oilers from 1967 through 1969, and after theAFL–NFL merger, with the Oilers from1970 through1972, then with theWashington Redskins until1980.
Houston was born inLufkin, Texas and was the third of four children. His father, Herod, owned a dry cleaning business.[1] Houston attendedDunbar High School where he played basketball andfootball.[1]
The only school that recruited Houston after high school was Prairie A&M College (nowPrairie View A&M University).[1]Bishop College initially offered him a scholarship, but then withdrew it. (The school had yet to be desegregated.)[1]
Houston attended and playedcollege football at Prairie View A&M College (Prairie View A & M University].[1] For a short time he was acenter, and then became the startinglinebacker and was selectedAll-American in theSouthwestern Athletic Conference.[1]
Houston also ran track, and was on the swim team during the four years he was at Prairie View.
Houston was an all-league free safety player for twelve consecutive years: anAmerican Football League All-Star in 1968 and 1969, and then in the AFC-NFCPro Bowl from 1970 through 1979.[2] He was selected All-Pro three times. In 1999, he was ranked number 61 onThe Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.[3]
Throughout his career, he had an extraordinary ability to know where the ball was going. Houston intercepted 49 passes, recovered 21 fumbles, gained 1,498 return yards (on interception, fumble, blocked field goal, kickoff, and punt returns), and scored 12 touchdowns. He is a member of the 1986 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[2]
Houston wasdrafted in the ninth round of the1967 NFL/AFL draft by theHouston Oilers of theAmerican Football League. He became a starter by the third game of his rookie season.[2] Two weeks later, in a game against theNew York Jets, he scored two touchdowns, one on a 71-yard (65 m) blockedfield goal attempt, and the other on a 43-yard (39 m)interception return.[2]
In1971 he set an NFL record with five touchdown returns (four interceptions and one fumble). This would stand until surpassed byDevin Hester's six return touchdowns in the2006 season.[4] His defensive touchdown record was unequaled until it was tied byDaRon Bland in2023.
After six years with the Oilers, Houston was traded to theWashington Redskins for five veteran players in1973.[2] Included in the trade wereoffensive linemanJim Snowden,tight endMack Alston,wide receiverClifton McNeil,defensive endMike Fanucci, anddefensive backJeff Severson.[1] While with the Redskins, Houston went to seven straight Pro Bowls.
After his retirement in 1980, Houston served as a head football coach forWheatley High School andWestbury High School inHouston, Texas.[1] From1982 to1985, he was the defensive backfield coach for theHouston Oilers and from 1986 to 1990 he was the defensive backfield coach for theUniversity of Houston.[1]
Since 1990, Houston has served as aguidance counselor for children in hospitals and who are home-bound or have been placed in child care agencies by the State of Texas. He does this work for theHouston Independent School District.[1]
Houston has a wife, Gustie, a daughter, Kene; and a son, Kenneth Christian.[1]
Ken Houston—awards and honors | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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