Charley Hennigan went undrafted in both the NFL and AFL, but the Houston Oilers of the latter gave him a chance, and aren't they glad they did!

The Wide Receiver managed 722 Yards as a rookie, and he is credited with scoring the first TD in Oilers history.  He was a big part of Houston reaching the AFL Championship Game and winning it, catching four passes for 71 Yards.  He wasn't going to sneak up anyone in 1961, but it didn't matter, as he was unstoppable, leading the AFL in Receiving Yards and Yards from Scrimmage (1,746), and was so dominant in the month of October that he had 822 Yards, a record that stood for 34 years!  He set (and will forever hold) the single-game receiving yard record with 272 Yards.  The Oilers won their second AFL Title, which never happens without Hennigan.

Hennigan, who was an All-Star and First Team All-Pro in 1961, was an All-Star again perennially until 1965.  He would win his second First Team All-Pro in 1964, a season in which he would once again lead the AFL in Receiving Yards and Yards from Scrimmage.  After a steep decline, he retired after the 1966 season, but his dominance in the first half of the 1960s should never be forgotten.  We know that we won't.

Dick Barwegan was an outstanding Pro Football player, but other than those who decided who should be on the 1950's All-Decade Team; he might be one of the most under the radar players in the history of the game.

It is easy to see why, as he was a late-round pick of the Brooklyn Tigers in 1945, but didn’t play pro ball until 1947, and that was with the New York Yankees of the AAFC.  He played there only one year, then went to the first incarnation of the Baltimore Colts (again in the AAFC) and finally played in the NFL in 1950 with the Chicago Bears, where he played three seasons before finishing with the second incarnation of the Baltimore Colts for two years.

All of these factors led to Barwegan being lost in the annals of history, as he has no deep association with any team.  Thus, we have a four-time First Team All-Pro who does not get his due.

We have to go way back for this one, as Al Nesser played in the NFL from 1920 to 1931, and predated that before the NFL formed, with a decade in the long-defunct Ohio League.  Nesser was one of six brothers who played pro football, and he was the last player in professional football not to wear a helmet.  He was a member of two NFL championship teams: the Akron Pros in 1920 and the New York Giants in 1927.

Frankly, we are just happy we could mention the Akron Pros!

Anyone who plays 225 Games defensively in the National Football League is without question a double-tough competitor, and that is what we have in the run-stuffing Linebacker, Hardy Nickerson.

Nickerson was named to five Pro Bowls, all as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his second team after spending six seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  With Tampa, he was also named a First Team and Second Team All-Pro twice and led the league in Tackles in 1993.  Nickerson would retire with over 1,500 Combined Tackles and would also be named a 1990’s Second Team All-Decade Selection.