Charles Douglas Frazier (August 12, 1939 – August 16, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for nine seasons in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) and the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

and

Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

from 1962 to 1970. Frazier was an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

in 1966.

Early life

Frazier was born in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

on August 12, 1939. He attended Marshall High School in nearby

Angleton, Texas Angleton is a city in and the county seat of Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, Texas, United States, within the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Angleton lies at the intersection of Texas State Hi ...

. He then studied at

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

, where he starred for the

Texas Southern Tigers The Texas Southern Tigers represent Texas Southern University in Houston, Texas, in intercollegiate athletics. They field sixteen teams including men's and women's basketball, cross country, golf, and track and field; women's-only bowling, socce ...

on its track and field team. He was teammates with future

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

receiver Homer Jones. Frazier ran the

100-yard dash The 100-yard dash is a track and field sprint event of . It was part of the Commonwealth Games until 1970, and was included in the triathlon of the Olympics in 1904. It is not generally used in international events, replaced by the 100- ...

in 9.4 seconds and 220 yards in 20.8 seconds. He did not play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

, and was undrafted after graduating in 1962. Frazier was a nationally accomplished sprinter at the senior level, finishing runner-up in the

220 yards The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

at the 1961 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Professional career

Despite a lack of college football experience, Frazier signed with the

of the

(AFL) prior to the

1962 AFL season The 1962 AFL season was the third regular season of the American Football League. It consisted of 8 franchises split into two divisions: the East Division (Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Titans of New York, Boston Patriots) and the West Divi ...

. With

George Blanda George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American professional American football, football quarterback and placekicker who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda ...

and

Don Trull Donald Dean Trull (born October 20, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL). Trull played football collegiately at Baylor University, where he was an All-American and ...

at quarterback, Frazier totaled 1,129

receiving yards The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and 12

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

receptions in the 1966 season. His 12 touchdown receptions were the second-most in the AFL that year, trailing only

Lance Alworth Lance Dwight Alworth (born August 3, 1940), nicknamed "Bambi", is an American former professional football wide receiver who played for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), and the Dal ...

's 13. Frazier was named to the East's 1966 AFL All-Star team for his accomplishments. In the All-Star game, Frazier scored the game-winning touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Vito Parilli. In March 1969, the Oilers traded Frazier,

Sid Blanks Sidney Blanks (April 29, 1941 – December 12, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Texas A&I and was ...

, Ronnie Caveness, and Larry Carwell to the

for

Leroy Mitchell Leroy Mitchell (born September 22, 1944) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Southern Tigers ...

. The Patriots placed Frazier on the move list in December 1970, rendering him ineligible to play for the remainder of that season. He retired with 207 receptions, 3,452 receiving yards, and 29 touchdowns.

Later life

After retiring from professional football, Frazier spent several seasons coaching in the high school and college ranks. He coached at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres. Rice University comp ...

, the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

and

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU). After spending six seasons at TCU, he returned to Houston and became a teacher and coach at Reagan High School. When he retired from teaching in 2006, he became a team ambassador for the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

of the

. Frazier died on the evening of August 16, 2022, four days after his 83rd birthday.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frazier, Charley 1939 births 2022 deaths American football wide receivers Houston Oilers players Boston Patriots players American Football League All-Star players Texas Southern Tigers football players American Football League players Players of American football from Houston American male sprinters

Early life

Professional career

Later life

See also

References

External links