All-American WR Mike Renfro shattered SWC records in the 1970s
26 | WR Mike Renfro (1974-1977)
TCU Library | The Horned Frog Yearbook 1977-78
TCU was an abysmal football team in the mid-1970s, winning a total of four games from 1974-1977, however this period had one shining beacon of greatness in dynamic wide receiver Mike Renfro. Despite the Horned Frogs’ struggles in the win0loss column, Renfro was a three-time First Team All-Southwest Conference honoree and named an All-American in his standout senior season. At the time of his graduation, Renfro held SWC records for career receptions (162), career receiving yards (2,739), career yards-per-reception (16.9), single-season TDs (10). In the TCU record-books, Renfro still ranks top-five all time in every career receiving metric.
Renfro would become a 4th Round selection by the Houston Oilers in the 1978 NFL Draft where he’d play for six seasons, accumulating over 2,100 for the Oilers. However his most memorable play for Houston is one that was ruled an incompletion in one of the most controversial calls in NFL history. In the 1979 AFC Championship Game, the Oilers were trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers by seven and Renfro made the apparent game-tying score, a diving catch in the back of the end zone before the officials ruled an incompletion.
1-6-80 AFC Championship Game: #Steelers advance to their 4th Super Bowl in 6 years by defeating the Oilers 27-13. There was controversy when an apparent Mike Renfro touchdown, was ruled incomplete. pic.twitter.com/RcBKDzpTiA
— Rob Zimmer (@PGHfan_66) January 7, 2021
Renfro continued his pro career in Texas, joining the Dallas Cowboys in 1984 where he’d spend another four seasons, gaining another 2,500 yards and 17 touchdowns.