June 11, 2000
Chapter 7:
Beating Down the Door
by Bob Hulsey
HoustonProFootball.com
If one Oiler season should be put in a time capsule, 1979 would be the one. No other year had so many highlights, lowlights and special moments that illustrate why football is such a passion in Houston. The momentum of the previous year continued to grow and soon other Houston teams started to look like winners too. The Astros were in their first honest-to-goodness pennant race in their history. The University of Houston Cougars asserted their power in the Southwest Conference that had shunned them for so long. And the Oilers were basking in the glow of a season that had seen their first post-season victory since 1961.
The draft brought support players and Bum Phillips concentrated on defense, adding DT Mike Stensrud and DE Jesse Baker with the top two picks. LB Daryl Hunt and DB Carter Hartwig came later. Only Baker would provide an impact – a speed rusher on a team that stiffened more than attacked. The Oilers also brought in a defensive back from the Canadian Football League named Vernon Perry.
It was the offensive line, it turned out, that needed a boost. OT Greg Sampson suffered a life-threatening blood clot during training camp that required surgery. And OG George Reihner blew out a knee. Both were out for the season and the left side of the line was suddenly lost. Bum knew he needed to act quickly or lose the season.
Phillips struck a deal with New England to acquire their star OT Leon Gray, who was holding out of the Patriots’ camp in a contract dispute. The price was two draft choices (a first and a sixth-rounder). They signed Gray and soon boasted how they had “stolen” the two-time All-Pro. Conway Hayman moved from tackle into Reihner’s spot.
Dan Pastorini started the season banged up and played that way all year. But the pain was tolerable when his primary job was to turn and hand the ball to Earl Campbell. Houston struggled but built a 7-3 record through the first ten games, including overtime wins against the Bengals and Jets. Mixed in were humbling losses to Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Seattle.
Hard-hitting Oakland was next and the Oilers gutted out a 31-17 victory over one of the NFL’s best. Pastorini got the most out of ten passes and Campbell carried for 107 yards but one single yard was the most memorable. A yard shy of a go-ahead touchdown, Campbell charged off right tackle for what seemed like a sure score. Oakland’s Jack “The Assassin” Tatum flew in and belted Campbell so hard that he should have landed in Rosenberg. Earl’s momentum was instantly changed as he fell back, shifted his balance and staggered backward like a drunk over the goal line. No lesser athlete would have scored.
Thanksgiving Day provided the next test. For two decades, the Oilers were known as “that other team” in Texas. The Dallas Cowboys were the Texas team with the titles and the rings, having won it all just two years before. They had folks like Tom Landry, Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly – men of nauseating earnestness who somehow managed to meet every challenge. Houstonians probably hated the Cowboys and their fans worse than they did the Steelers.
The two teams played every year in the preseason for the Governor’s Cup and Houston had won its share. When it really counted though, the Oilers were 0-2, losing by a combined score of 62-10. The game would be on national television before a holiday audience. To the minds of many Texans, the Oilers were not to be taken seriously until they could beat Dallas.
Dallas scored early on a 56-yard bomb but Campbell answered with a 61-yard sweep to tie it. Campbell scored again before halftime to cut the Dallas lead to 21-17. Pastorini connected with Mike Renfro to put Houston ahead. It wouldn’t last. Down 24-23 in the fourth quarter, Pastorini connected with a streaking Ken Burrough for a 32-yard score then held on for a 30-24 triumph.
All week long, Phillips had rebuffed any talk that the Dallas game was special. Now the pressure Bum felt had finally lifted. “Remember how I told you guys that this was just another game?,” he grinned. “I lied.”
The Steelers, before a sellout Monday Night crowd at the Astrodome, were next. Campbell rushed for 109 yards and Houston won, 20-17. The intensity of these three games took its toll both in injuries and focus. The Oilers lost to Cleveland and Philadelphia after beating Dallas and Pittsburgh. Bum’s boys finished the year 11-5, but again failed to take the division title as Pittsburgh finished 12-4. Campbell won the league’s rushing title with 1,697 yards and 19 TD’s.
Finishing second meant another wild card playoff game. The Denver Broncos provided the first challenge and it was costly. Campbell scored in the second quarter for a 10-7 lead but soon left with a pulled groin. Pastorini and Burrough also left with injuries and the game rested with Houston’s defense. They came through, sacking Craig Morton six times and forcing two interceptions to stay alive with a 13-7 victory.
The questions the next week were if Houston could get their stars healthy to play the high-scoring San Diego Chargers, and if they would be able to put up a fight without them. The answers were “no” and a resounding “yes”. Burrough barely played. Pastorini and Campbell could not go. Nobody would have expected the Oilers to win without their best weapons. The future looked bleaker when Dan Fouts cut through the Oiler defense like a surgeon for a score on their opening drive.
With Gifford Nielsen subbing for Pastorini and Rob Carpenter replacing Campbell, the Oiler offense sputtered. Vernon Perry blocked a field goal attempt that led to points on the Houston side. Just before the half, Nielsen scrambled for 14 yards and was belted out of bounds. Toni Fritsch kicked a field goal but a penalty on the play gave the Oilers a first down and Bum knew he wouldn’t get many chances for points on the day. With no Earl, Phillips called on backup fullback Boobie Clark who scored for a 10-7 halftime lead.
The Chargers regrouped in the third quarter for another touchdown, this time from Lydell Mitchell. The Oilers answered when Nielsen hit a weaving Renfro who used every downfield block for a 47-yard score. From there, Perry and Company frustrated Fouts at every turn, despite 333 yards passing. Perry picked off four tosses (he’d had three all season) as well as the blocked FG to emerge as the hero. Houston managed a miraculous 17-14 victory and a return ticket to icy Pittsburgh for a chance at the Super Bowl.
Equally inspiring was Carpenter who had twisted an ankle in practice and came to the ballpark on crutches. He touched the ball 22 times for 90 yards and was in such agony he once literally crawled back to the huddle. “I didn’t take a pain-killer,” said the scrappy halfback. “I wanted to feel the pain.”
The momentum carried the fragile but sky-high team into their most important game of the year – the AFC Championship. Perry snagged a Terry Bradshaw dart and sailed 75 yards for the first touchdown. Could miracles come in bunches? Fritsch added a field goal for a 10-3 second-quarter advantage. But even with their trio of stars back, the Oiler offense still struggled against the powerful Steelers, who stacked the line against Campbell and dared Pastorini to beat them.
Given enough chances, Pittsburgh’s offense started to click. Bradshaw connected for two touchdowns and the Steelers led at the half, 17-10. It stayed that way until the Oilers mounted a drive that brought them to the Steeler six-yard line. Pastorini lobbed a throw into the back corner of the end zone. Renfro snared it with his fingertips as Ron Johnson forced him over the end line. The officials watched each other, hoping for a decisive ruling.
With nobody sure if Renfro’s feet were in bounds or whether he had possession of the ball, the officials ruled the pass incomplete as Phillips fumed on the sidelines and NBC showed the catch over and over. The consensus (outside of Pennsylvania) was that Renfro had a touchdown that wasn’t. The call became the moment when the NFL decided to seriously consider using television replays to affect the game – a policy with many defenders and detractors to this day.
The drive stalled and Fritsch kicked a short field goal but Pittsburgh still led, 17-13. The Oiler defense had stymied the Steelers for the third quarter but ran out of gas in the fourth quarter allowing a field goal then an insurance touchdown from Rocky Bleier. The final count read 27-13.
Another celebration at the Astrodome had already been planned, win or lose. The place was packed and more were turned away. With the backdrop of Americans being held hostage in Iran, emotions overflowed. Speeches were made by players and politicians, but it was Bum Phillips who said what nobody there would soon forget.
“One year ago, we knocked on the door. This year, we beat on the door. Next year, we’re gonna kick the son-of-a-bitch in.”
Who in that stadium was going to believe otherwise?
Bob Hulsey has a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin. He has worked in print and radio covering sports throughout Texas since 1976. He presently works for a telecommunications company in Austin.
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