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Number Crunching: #19
by Chris Brophy
28/7/2009
Just like a young adult, we prepare to leave our teenage numbers with a sense of regret and excitement but before we go and head into the roaring twenties we head back to the middle of the last century to go over the story of one of the greatest players in NFL history and a man who will always have the word “legend” closely associated with his name.
FD’s All Time #19: Johnny Unitas, Quarterback (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers)
 Over the opening fifth of this long journey the Diner is undertaking we have talked about some of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history already but no debate is complete without the legend that is The Golden Arm John Constantine Unitas.
Like our all-time #13 (Dan Marino) and #16 (Joe Montana), Johnny Unitas was born in the quarterback production line state of Pennsylvania. He had a tough upbringing as his father passed away when he was only four years old and his mother worked two jobs to support the family. He was a halfback and quarterback at high school but upon looking for college opportunities he found it hard going. Notre Dame passed him over, he failed the entrance exam for his home state college of Pittsburgh but finally he got a scholarship from the University of Louisville.
He did pretty well at Louisville where he was considered the star attraction but not being the most high profile of schools meant he was not on every pro teams radar when it came to graduating and being considered for the next step.
The Pittsburgh Steelers took a shot on him in the 9th round of the 1955 draft but he failed to win a roster spot. He was beaten out for the final QB job by future Colts and Ravens head coach Ted Marchiborda. By the time of his release from the Steelers it was too late to catch on elsewhere so Unitas, now married and with a child to support, took on a construction job whilst playing semi-pro at the weekend for the Bloomfield Rams.
The following off-season he was granted the chance to win an NFL job again by the Baltimore Colts and he earned the back-up job for the team behind George Shaw. In the fourth game of the season Shaw broke his leg and a nervous young QB entered the fray. The nerves showed. His first ever pass was intercepted and returned for a TD. His first ever hand-off was botched and resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the opposing Bears. His first ever action as a pro seen his team routed although he threw a late TD pass and that must have given him confidence because the following week he out-duelled highly regarded veteran Tobin Rote of the Packers with the help of star halfback Lenny Moore (185 yards rushing and 2TD’s) and then topped that achievement by leading the defeat of the Cleveland Browns the defending NFL Champions! Later on in the season he would out-perform our all-time #11 Norm Van Brocklin in a 56-21 smacking of the Rams (who had been the other championship game team the season before).
The Colts were a young franchise but the performances of Unitas, combined with the skills of Lenny Moore and Alan Ameche in the backfield promised much. The following season saw the Colts record their first winning season and Unitas contributed with 24 touchdowns passes. He had also found a new favourite target in the shape of receiver Raymond Berry who enjoyed a breakout season.
The scene was set for a run for glory. The Colts were putting together an awesome offensive attack and young Unitas was the centrepiece under the guidance of head coach Weeb Ewbank. 1958 saw the Colts start off the season 6-0 including two comprehensive wins over the defending NFL Champion Detroit Lions. Unitas was hitting Lenny Moore, Raymond Berry and Jim Mutscheller like clockwork and the defense was cracking opposition skulls too. They eventually lost their first game to the New York Giants but Unitas was missing that day – although George Shaw threw three TD passes in relief. The team went on to take the NFL West division with a 9-3 record and they would face those same Giants in the Championship Game.
 What would happen at Yankee Stadium that day would be the real start of Unitas’ legend. In the first ever NFL championship game to be decided by sudden death overtime, Unitas showed a response to pressure like no one could have expected. Having established a solid 14-3 halftime lead which included a Unitas touchdown toss to Berry (who would catch 12 balls for 178 yards and that TD grab) the Colts lost momentum in the second half when they turned the ball over on downs at the Giants 1 yard line. The Giants, behind Charlie Connely and Frank Gifford, got back on top and heading into the games closing stages now led 17-14.
With two minutes left Unitas had his offense at their own 14 yard line. He missed his first two passes but on 3rd down found Lenny Moore for 11 yards. After trying to catch the Giants with a failed deep ball attempt Unitas went back to his favourite target of the day, Raymond Berry for a 25 yard hook up. He’d hit Berry again for 15 yards down the left hand sideline and then found Berry again for 22 yards to put the Colts at the Giants 13 yard line and with no time remaining kicker Steve Myhra kicked a 20 yard field goal to tie the game and send it to sudden death overtime. 80 yards in less than two minutes from Unitas and company had given the Colts renewed hope.
In the extra period, the Giants got the ball first but had to punt it away. They pinned the Colts back at their own 20 but Unitas led a controlled, balanced drive down the field in 13 plays. From the one yard line he handed off to Alan Ameche who piled into the end zone for the winning score to hand the Colts their first ever NFL championship in a game that is still known as the greatest game ever played. Twice Unitas led his team 80 yards when they needed him to and whilst he would never quite pull off a feat of the same magnitude throughout the rest of his career it set his reputation as a game winner in clutch situations and he would pull the Colts fat out of the fire plenty of times in the future.
The following year the Colts would repeat as NFL Champions but with more style and panache as Unitas threw for 32TD’s, being named the NFL’s MVP in the process. They again faced the Giants in the championship game but won by the more comfortable score of 31-16 with Unitas throwing two touchdowns and rushing for another.
Over this winning period in Colts history Unitas managed to fire a TD pass in 47 consecutive games until the streak ended in Week 11 of the 1960 season against the Rams. That record still stands today, even in a league where passing is now king.
After Ewbank left in the early 1960’s Don Shula took over as head coach and the Colts would return to the championship game in 1964, a season which seen Unitas earn his second MVP award but in the championship game they were blown out by the Cleveland Browns. A knee injury close to the end of the 1965 season seen running back Tom Matte have to fill in as emergency QB and in the play-offs the Colts lost to the Packers. 1967 seen Unitas earn his third NFL MVP award as he threw for 3428 yards, his only 3000+ yard career year.
 By now the Super Bowl era had begun in pro football and the Colts were widely regarded as an NFL powerhouse but with Unitas suffering from an elbow problem in the 1968 season it seemed their chances were over. However, back-up Earl Morrall came in and not only replaced Unitas enough so that the team could still compete; he went on to be the NFL’s MVP that season. By the time Unitas returned to health, he couldn’t get back onto the field. Morrall would lead the Colts to the NFL Championship with a 34-0 whipping of the Browns but when they met the AFL upstart Jets in Super Bowl III, he infamously missed a wide open Jimmy Orr and repeatedly turned the ball over to allow Joe Namath’s famous guarantee to ring true. Unitas would come off the bench in that game but it was too little too late and despite leading a late TD drive, he couldn’t repeat the heroics of a decade earlier.
Unitas got his job back but Don Shula was never quite forgiven for allowing the Colts to be shamed that day and he moved on to the Dolphins a year later. New coach Don McCafferty came in and the Colts made another run for glory. The now 37 year old Unitas wasn’t at the peak of his physical powers anymore but he still had the ability to rally a team at the business end of a game. In Week 1 he led a drive for the winning field goal in a 16-14 victory over the Chargers. Then in Week 4 he hit Roy Jefferson with a late winning TD pass over the Oilers. In Week 11 he’d hit tight end John MacKay with a late 4th quarter 54 yard TD pass to give the Colts a 1 point victory over the Bears Unitas was still a man for the clutch situation. For the year the Colts won the AFC East (they had swapped conferences in the merger) with an 11-2-1 record and in post season Unitas threw two long TD bombs to get past the Bengals in the divisional round, followed by a 68 yard bomb to Ray Perkins to seal victory over the Raiders in the Conference Championship.
Then, in Super Bowl V, a game littered with mistakes, he produced one of the luckiest plays ever when his deflected pass was taken 75 yards for a TD by John Mackey for the Colts only touchdown of the day. Unitas then injured his ribs and missed the rest of the game but the Colts were victorious 16-13 on Jim O’Brien’s game winning 32 yard field goal.
That championship season would effectively be the end for Unitas. He played on for three more years, including a season in San Diego with the Chargers after being traded there but he struggled to remain healthy and only played in bits and pieces. He retired after the 1973 season having played eighteen NFL seasons and having become the first quarterback to break 40000 career passing yards, passed for 300 yards in 26 games, threw for 290 career TD passes and being named All-NFL six times.
He remained in the Baltimore area after his playing days were done, working as a colour commentator for CBS but he shared the anger of the entire city when the team was moved by owner Bob Isray to Indianapolis in 1984 and he campaigned for his ties with the franchise to be cut. However, his #19 is still retired by the Colts franchise although a statue of him stands at Ravens Stadium in Baltimore, a franchise Unitas considered to be the true successor to the departed Colts.
He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 and was named the best player ever when the league celebrated its 50th anniversary. He died of a heart attack on September 11th 2002, just a month before his statue was unveiled at Ravens Stadium. Today, we have a modern day fairytale story in current Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, but Johnny Unitas underwent a similar and probably tougher path to fame to become regarded as one of the games all time greats.
Honourable Mentions:
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Lance Alworth, Wide Receiver (San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys)
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Bernie Kosar, Quarterback (Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins)
 Lance Alworth is one of the greatest wide receivers to grace pro football. A part of the explosive San Diego Chargers offenses of the AFL he won a championship with them in 1963, a year he was also named AFL MVP. Later on he would play two seasons for the Cowboys, helping them win Super Bowl VI with a touchdown reception against the Miami Dolphins. For his career, Alworth caught 542 passes for 10266 yards and 85 TD’s at an outstanding 18.9 yards per catch!
The Dawg Pound found a new hero in 1985 when the Cleveland Browns added Bernie Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft. Kosar earned the starting job quickly and helped the Browns to three AFC championship games but he would be denied by John Elway and the Broncos each time. His side arm delivery was unusual but worked for him and after falling out of favour with the Browns in the early 90’s (he lost his job when the team was coached by a certain Bill Belicheck!) he would earn a Super Bowl ring as Troy Aikman’s back-up when he caught on with the Dallas Cowboys.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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