Gary Cutsinger, who played defensive tackle for the Houston Oilers for six seasons when the franchise was in the American Football League, died on May 16. He was 86.
At 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, Cutsinger helped the Oilers reach the AFL championship game in 1962, where they lost a double-overtime thriller to the Dallas Texans.
The Oklahoma State graduate played for the Oilers from 1962 to 1968, intercepting two passes and recovering one fumble.
RIP to Gary Cutsinger who played defensive end for some of the earliest Houston Oilers teams in the 1960s, including once returning an interception 72 yards. https://t.co/emNoEnGOXy
— Houston Chronicle (@HoustonChron) May 17, 2026
One of those interceptions came at Buffalo in 1965, when he grabbed a tipped pass from quarterback Jack Kemp and returned it 72 yards to the Bills’ 8, the Houston Chronicle reported.
“I ran 72 yards? No wonder I was so tired,” Cutsinger told the newspaper in the next day’s newspaper. “By the time I got to their 30, I could hardly lift my legs.”
The Oilers would defeat Buffalo in that game, 19-17.
The 1965 season was Cutsinger’s best, as he recorded seven sacks, the Chronicle reported.
According to his obituary, Cutsinger was born on Feb. 4, 1940, in Perry, Oklahoma. He excelled on the defensive line at Oklahoma State University and was drafted in the fourth round of the 1962 AFL draft by the Oilers.
After he retired from football, Cutsinger remained in the Houston and Austin areas in Texas. He became a successful home builder and developer with Cutsinger Homes, settling in Horseshoe Bay, located in Texas’ Hill Country according to his obituary.
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