Often considered one of the greatest wide receivers of all time,[1][2][3][4] he played for 11 seasons, from 1962 through 1972, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978.
[5] Born in Houston, Texas, Alworth was raised in Hog Chain, Mississippi, a small community in Lincoln County.
[9] Alworth was a key member of Arkansas teams that won, or shared, three consecutive Southwest Conference championships between 1959 and 1961, winning 25 games in that time span.
The American Football League's Oakland Raiders selected him with their first pick (ninth overall) in the second round of the 1962 AFL Draft, and then traded his rights to the San Diego Chargers in return for halfback Bo Roberson, quarterback Hunter Enis, and offensive tackle Gene Selawski.
His second year was a different story, as he set franchise records in receptions (61), yards (1,205), and touchdowns (11),[12] earning the UPI's AFL Most Valuable Player award.
He had 4 receptions for 77 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown, in San Diego's AFL championship win over the Boston Patriots.
Alworth formed a formidable tandem with Chargers quarterback John Hadl, and is considered by many to be the best wide receiver in all professional football during the 1960s.
He was the first of only a few American Football League stars to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated,[11][15] which like other media of the 1960s, showed a distinct bias for the NFL.
[17] Alworth would later call the two receptions he made in Super Bowl VI (one that converted a third and long and the other for the touchdown) the two most important catches of his career.
In 1978, he became the first San Diego Charger and the first player who had played in the AFL to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
[18] He chose to be presented at the Canton, Ohio ceremony by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, his former position coach at San Diego, who had much to do with the success of the AFL.
[29][30] Alworth's first wife, the former Betty Jeanne Allen, later married Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker.