Remembering Bobby Ply's 1962 Season

by Jeffrey J. Miller

Bobby Ply, 1965

The recent play of Buffalo Bills cornerback Christian Benford in which he scored defensive touchdowns in back-to-back games (a fumble return versus Pittsburgh on November 30 followed by an interception return against Cincinnati on December 7) was an outstanding accomplishment.  My good friend and colleague Terence Jon Troup tells me that players scoring defensive touchdowns in back-to-back weeks is extremely rare. We could only identify five other players since 1940 who have accomplished the feat, including four Hall-of-Famers in Tom Landry (1951), Dick Lane (1952), Herb Adderley (1965) and Ken Houston (1971). Benford is in exceptionally good company, indeed!

Buffalo's DB Christian Benford returning an intercepted
 Joe Burrow pass for a touchdown at Highmark Stadium,
December 7, 2025 

Benford’s exploits brought my mind back to a moment in time I had referenced in a Pro Football Journal article a few years ago.  In one of my “AFL Defensive Players of the Week” series of articles, I spotlighted a two-week performance by a little-known Dallas Texan defensive back named Bobby Ply. It inspired me to turn the spotlight back on Mr. Ply, who in back-to-back games right around this very time in December of 1962, pilfered a record seven (yes, 7!) enemy aerials.

 

Ply had been a college quarterback and safety at Baylor.  He led the Bears to the Gator Bowl in 1960, where he earned co-MVP honors in a 13-12 loss to Florida, completing a then-record 13 passes in the game.  The New York Titans tapped him with their fifth-round pick (37th overall) but traded him to the Texans a few weeks later. The NFL Pittsburgh Steelers selected Ply using their 16th-round pick (216th overall) but knowing his chances of even making the Steelers’ active roster were slim, made for an easy decision to go with the AFL team. 

 

The Texans intended to use Ply on the defensive side of the ball, but they already had two outstanding first-string rearguards in Johnny Robinson (the future Hall-of-Famer) and Bobby Hunt. Undeterred, Ply forged a spot for himself as the third safety and special teamer. But when Robinson was knocked out of the lineup with a late-season injury, Ply was ready to fill the void.  Ply’s first start came in Game 12 (December 2) against the Buffalo Bills, a 23-14 loss. 

 

He started again a week later (December 9) when the Texans faced off against the Denver Broncos at the Cotton Bowl. Ply had a huge game, recording three interceptions in leading the Texans to a 17-10 victory.  His interceptions of Denver passes on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter sealed the win that bumped the playoff-bound Texans’ season record to 10-3.

 

Ply made a third straight start in the season finale against the San Diego Chargers (December 16), and not only did the heroics continue, he was even better!  After swiping three passes the previous week, Ply nabbed four against the Chargers, which tied the pro individual record for interceptions in a single game. The total of seven interceptions in successive games, however, is an individual record that stands to this very day.

 

Del Rio (TX) News-Herald,
December 17, 1962.

Despite the records, Ply found himself back on the bench the following week as Robinson returned to the lineup for the AFL Title Game between the Texans and Houston Oilers. The Texans prevailed, winning the league championship with a historic 20-17 double-overtime victory. That made for one incredible three-week stretch for Bobby Ply.

 

Unfortunately, Ply would never come close to recapturing the dizzying heights he reached in early December 1962. In fact, in the six years of professional football he was destined to play, Ply never appeared in an All-Star game or received an All-Pro mention. He started just 16 of the 77 games he played.  What makes Ply’s feat all-the-more curious is the fact that these seven picks were his total for the entire 1962 season, and he would record only two more the rest of his career!

 

So, even though no one would ever mistake Bobby Ply for teammate Johnny Robinson, for one glorious stretch during the 1962 campaign, Ply sure looked like it was he, rather than Robinson, who was destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.