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Number Crunching: #11
by Chris Brophy
9/6/2009
Number 10 brought us a prolific quarterback. Number 11 follows on with another great quarterback who spent his years after playing coaching our all time number 10. Read on to find out about the Hall of Fame quarterback known as The Dutchman.
FD’s All Time #11: Norm Van Brocklin, Quarterback (Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles)
 Norm Van Brocklin was one of the great players of his era. He tasted a lot of success but at times must have felt frustrated as he was held up behind other talented players or not didn’t fit in with his coaches. Given an unhindered path he could have been more productive and prolific.
Van Brocklin entered the NFL in 1949 after being named All-American at the University of Oregon. He had actually foregone his final year of eligibility but this was allowed at the time because he had served in the Navy previously and his original college class had already graduated.
The Rams selected Van Brocklin with the 4th overall pick in the ’49 draft which was seen as a shock at the time because they already had a superb quarterback in Bob Waterfield. He had to bide his time and wait whilst Waterfield continued to be the starter in his rookie season. He got bits of spot duty but then in the season finale against the Redskins he was asked to share significant time in a game they needed to win for the divisional title. He responded with a four TD pass performance off only 10 attempts and the Rams headed for the Championship game (they lost to the Eagles).
Rams coach Clark Shaughnessy then moved on after the ’49 season. Regarded as one of the great offensive minds ever and a man who was ahead of his time, one has to wonder what could have been had Van Brocklin got more years with him. Joe Stydahar replaced Shaughnessy and he decided the answer to the Van Brocklin Waterfield conundrum was to play both! So in 1950 Bob Waterfield played the first and third quarters and Norm Van Brocklin played the second and fourth quarters. However strange that may sound it doesn’t matter as long as it works and it worked wonderfully as Van Brocklin won the league passing title, managing over 2000 yards and 18TD passes despite the spilt in playing time. The Rams rode their dual headed passing game to the divisional title once again and a play-off victory over the Chicago Bears before losing in the Championship Game to the Browns.
Things continued in the same vain the following season (1951) but Waterfield this time edged out his team mate for the passing title by the narrowest of margins. However, Van Brocklin’s greatest day as a passer came in this year as he bombed the New York Yanks for an NFL record 554 yards! It’s remarkable that the mark is still an NFL record almost 60 years later!
The Rams would again make the Championship game and again, it would be the Browns they faced. Waterfield struggled badly, throwing two interceptions and only managing 9 completions from 24 attempts so Van Brocklin came in with the game tied 17 apiece and proceeded to hit Tom Fears for a 73 yard TD pass to take the game and the Championship off the dominant Browns 24-17.
1952 would again see the two great quarterbacks share the passing duties and the team again made the Championship game although this time they lost to the Lions. Waterfield retired after that season leaving the path clear for Van Brocklin to be the clear cut starter with new coach Hampton Pool. He responded with great statistical seasons the next two years, throwing for well over 2000 yards both seasons. The play of the team as a whole dropped off though until Sid Gillman took over the coaching reins. The Rams then returned to the Championship game in 1955 but strangely, Van Brocklin’s play actually dropped off and in the Championship game loss to the Browns that year Van Brocklin would throw six interceptions. The style of Shaughnessy continued by Pool had seen the ball spread around the field to backs and receivers from his pro set offense whilst Gillman preferred to throw the ball down the field attacking the sidelines. The adjustment didn’t come naturally to Van Brocklin and Gillman also removed some of Van Brocklin’s responsibilities on the field which was not to the Dutchman’s liking.
 In 1956 he missed time injured allowing back-up Billy Wade to show he was capable and although he returned to take the job back in 1957 he was feeling he was close to the end and retirement was strongly considered.
However, a chance for a fresh start came. The Philadelphia Eagles needed a quarterback and wanted Van Brocklin. Despite his age (32) they offered the Rams two players and a first round draft choice. The Rams took it happy to get a seemingly great bounty for a veteran gunslinger that was close to the end. The Eagles however got value for their risk.
The Eagles had been in the mire for the past few seasons. They had brought in Head Coach Billy Shaw who had enjoyed plenty of success with the San Francisco 49ers. He’d long admired the play of fellow west coaster Van Brocklin and he gave him the keys to his offense.
The first year was difficult with only Van Brocklin and the passing game proving to be any threat but vast improvement came in the second season as the Eagles improved from 2-9-1 in ’58 to 7-5 in ’59. Van Brocklin threw for 2600 plus yards for the second time in his career and set a career high for completion percentage in a season (56.2%). Things were looking up.
They would reach a peak in 1960 with the completion of the turnaround. Throwing for just under 2500 yards and a career high 24 TD passes in a season, Van Brocklin lead the Eagles to a 12-2 record and took the NFL’s MVP award as the Eagles reached the NFL Championship game against the Green Bay Packers.
Van Brocklin proved to have the plays when they mattered in the big game. In the second quarter he hit receiver Tommy McDonald with a 35 yard touchdown pass which gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead. Then in the fourth quarter and trailing by three points Van Brocklin led his team to the winning score, a 5 yard run by Ted Dean.
The Eagles were NFL Champions! They have never won a league championship since and it would also prove to be Packers coach Vince Lombardi’s only ever play-off loss.
Norm Van Brocklin was atop of the NFL pile and decided to retire with no more worlds to conquer as a player. He would go on to become the first ever Head Coach of the newly formed Minnesota Vikings franchise and later on Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. After being fired by the Falcons in 1974 he stepped back from coaching apart from a brief stint coaching running backs at Georgia Tech in 1979. He suffered a number of illnesses and unfortunately passed away on May 2nd 1983, ironically only three months after his old team mate Bob Waterfield had headed off to the big football field in the sky.
In his NFL career the Dutchman won three NFL passing titles and led the league in punting twice. He made the Pro Bowl nine times and totalled over 23000 yards and 173 touchdown passes in his twelve seasons. He was rightly elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971 which was five years removed from his election to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Honourable Mentions
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Cloyce Box, End (Detroit Lions)
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Danny White, Quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
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Phil Simms, Quarterback (New York Giants)
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Mark Rypien, Quarterback (Redskins, Browns, Rams, Eagles, Falcons, Colts, Seahawks)
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Drew Bledsoe, Quarterback (Patriots, Bills, Cowboys)
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Jim Jensen, Back (Miami Dolphins)
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Larry Fitzgerald, Wide Receiver (Arizona Cardinals)
Cloyce Box was one of Bobby Layne’s favourite targets for the dual Championship Detroit Lion teams of 1952 and ’53 that seen them beat the same dominant Browns team that caused Norm Van Brocklin’s Rams so many headaches in that same era. Box was a speedy receiver who played at receiver, tight end and even some quarterback for the Lions.
Danny White took over the Cowboys starting Quarterback job from the legendary Roger Staubach and helped keep the Cowboys competitive in the 1980’s under Tom Landry. He was never quite the player Staubach was but unfairly perhaps, took a lot of the criticism for the Cowboys not getting back to the Super Bowl.
 He’s known to many of you now as CBS Sports lead colour analyst but Phil Simms was the MVP of Super Bowl XXI with one of the best ever performances in the big game, going 22 of 25 passing in the Giants 39-20 victory. He was also a part of the Giants Super Bowl XXV squad helping them to an 11-0 start that season until injury ended his year.
Mark Rypien is another #11 who won a Super Bowl MVP award when he helped the Redskins win Super Bowl XXVI. He was only at the top for a short time but no one since has ever made the Redskins QB spot their own for a substantial period.
Drew Bledsoe looked capable of being the next prolific quarterback after Dan Marino in the early 1990’s as he helped Bill Parcell’s turnaround of the Patriots at that time. However, he is better known as the guy who got injured to give Tom Brady his chance and help turn the Pats into a modern day dynasty. After that shoulder injury Bledsoe never seemed quite the same player.
Former Dolphin jack of all trades Jim Jensen deserves an article of his own. When Dan Marino was drafted by the Dolphins Jensen sensed he needed to find a way to stay on the roster so he asked to play special teams. He showed a knack for making plays on coverage and started to get involved in offense. He’d line up at receiver, tight end or running back and showed an uncanny ability to know where the marker was on 3rd down. He managed over 200 receptions by the time his career was done.
Last but not least is current Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald who could well take this all time spot over in future years if he keeps up his current level of play.
Learn More about past NFL greats in our History Archive
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