Posted on 09/11/2002 2:54:49 PM PDT by caa26
BALTIMORE -- Former Colts great Johnny Unitas, one of the top quarterbacks of all time, died Wednesday of a heart attack at the age of 69, a Ravens spokesman confirmed.
Unitas was working out with a therapist when he suffered the heart attack. The Hall of Famer was taken to a Baltimore hospital where he was pronounced dead.
When he retired in 1973, Unitas left behind records for most pass attempts (5,186), most completions (2,830), most total yards (40,239), most touchdowns (290), most 300-yard games (26) and most consecutive games throwing touchdown passes (47). He led the Colts to one Super Bowl title, three NFL championships, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas DiesWed Sep 11, 5:56 PM ETBALTIMORE (AP) - Johnny Unitas, the Hall of Fame quarterback who broke nearly every passing NFL record and won three championships with the Baltimore Colts in an 18-year career, died Wednesday. He was 69.
Unitas died of a heart attack, according to Baltimore Ravens spokesman Chad Steele.
Steele had no other details of Unitas' death.
Unitas underwent emergency triple-bypass surgery in March 1993 after suffering a heart attack.
He was the first to throw for 40,000 yards in his career and now ranks seventh, surpassed by a group of quarterbacks who played in an era when the rules made passing easier. Unitas retired after the 1973 season holding 22 NFL records, among them marks for most passes attempted and completed, most yards gained passing, most touchdown passes and most seasons leading the league in TD passes.
He completed 2,830 of 5,186 passes for 40,239 yards and 290 touchdowns. He completed at least one touchdown pass in 47 straight games, a record that no one has come close to matching since it was set from 1956-60.
Unitas was Most Valuable Player three times and played in 10 Pro Bowls. He led Baltimore to the NFL championship in 1958 and 1959 and the Super Bowl in 1970. He was inducted into the football Hall of Fame in 1979.
On the NFL's 50th anniversary, Unitas was voted the greatest quarterback of all time.
"Johnny Unitas is the greatest quarterback ever to play the game, better than I was, better than Sammy Baugh, better than anyone," Sid Luckman, the great Chicago Bears quarterback of the 1940s, once said.
Unitas was one of the few quarterbacks who called his own plays, an ability traced to his knack for reading an opponent's defense and spotting a weakness, then calling a play to take advantage.
John Mackey, the Colts' tight end during the Unitas years, once said of his teammate, "It's like being in a huddle with God."
The long list of accomplishments was quite a reversal of fortune for a player who hitchhiked home from his first NFL training camp after the Pittsburgh Steelers cut him in 1955. He spent that season playing semi-pro football on rock- and glass-covered fields in Pittsburgh for $6 a game and working as a pile-driver at a construction site.
The Colts signed him the following season after getting tipped to his ability in a most unusual way.
"Unitas was signed after we received a letter from a fan telling us there was a player in Bloomington deserving a chance," former Colts coach Weeb Ewbank recalled a few years later. "I always accused Johnny of writing it."
Unitas became a backup quarterback and made his debut in the fourth game of the 1956 season. His first pass was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. It got worse as Unitas fumbled on his next two possessions.
Fortunately, however, the Colts' other backup had opted for law school and Unitas was able to start the next game, and Baltimore beat the Green Bay Packers 28-21. A week later, the Colts upset the Cleveland Browns, and Unitas had earned himself a job.
Unitas didn't really look like a football player. At 6-foot-1, just under 200 pounds, his body was that of an everyday person — except for the scars, bumps and bruises.
He was right up there with Y A Tittle...
He is someone I considered a true sports hero growing up-- along with Brooks Robinson.
He will always be in our hearts here in Baltimore.
I will mourn his passing.
That said, Unitas was a terrific player and play caller.
Cheers for Johnny U.
At the 2 minute whistle, he could come back from 2 touchdowns behind. What a quarterback! He was a Baltimore treasure.
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