Johnny Unitas: Simply, the best - Former Colts QB was the 'ultimate triggerman'

The Dallas Morning News ^ | September 12, 2002 | Rick Gosselin

[MeekOneGOP]

Johnny Unitas: Simply, the best

Former Colts QB was the 'ultimate triggerman'

09/12/2002

If you wanted to build the perfect quarterback for your NFL team, you'd take the mind of Joe Montana, the body of John Elway, the rifle arm of Brett Favre, the feathery touch of Dan Marino and the swagger of Joe Namath.

Or you could just hand the football to Johnny Unitas.

The greatest quarterback ever to take an NFL snap died Wednesday of a heart attack. He was 69.

More than 40 years ago, Unitas gave the NFL its definition for how the position should be played and it's still the standard by which all quarterbacks are measured today.

"He was the ultimate triggerman," said Cincinnati Bengals coach Dick LeBeau, who has spent the last 44 years of his life in the NFL as a player and then coach.

Johnny U broke in with the Baltimore Colts in 1956, when the games were played on the ground. The league's best players then were its running backs Joe "The Jet" Perry, Alan "The Horse" Ameche, Ollie Matson and Rick Casares. Teams ran the ball and played defense, ran the ball and played defense.

Otto Graham won an NFL passing title at Cleveland in 1955 throwing the ball just 185 times. Then Unitas arrived and the bar was suddenly, shockingly raised. He became the first quarterback to pass for 30 touchdowns in 1959 and the first to pass for 3,000 yards in 1960.

More important, Unitas won.

In what has been billed historically as the greatest game ever played, Unitas passed for 349 yards and a touchdown in Baltimore's 23-17 victory over the New York Giants in the 1958 championship game the first overtime game in NFL history.

Unitas captured back-to-back NFL titles in 1958-59 as a young quarterback and won a Super Bowl in the 1970 season as an old one. He retired from the game as the most prolific passer in NFL history with 40,239 yards and 290 touchdowns.

Unitas retired in 1973 but hasn't been pushed very far down those lists in the 28 years he's been away. Despite the explosion in offensive football and passing statistics in the 1980s and '90s, Unitas still ranks fifth on the all-time touchdown list and 11th in yards.

Unitas wasn't a product of a system like today's quarterbacks. He didn't benefit from the Run-and-Shoot like Warren Moon or the West Coast offense like Montana and Steve Young.

AP

Johnny Unitas (left) makes a pass during a game against the Cowboys.

Unitas was the system. He called his own plays, at times even drawing them up in the dirt. And he didn't have five receivers and five options in a pattern like a Kurt Warner does in today's game.

Unitas had two receivers running downfield patterns in the 1950s and three in most patterns in the 1960s. If his receivers weren't open, it was his responsibility to create daylight for them with laser-like spirals. His job was to complete passes, no matter how tight the coverage.

Unitas led the NFL in touchdown passes four years in a row from 1957-60 a record that still stands. He authored another record that may stand forever throwing touchdown passes in 47 consecutive games. That's football's equivalent to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. The next-best streak in league history was 31 games by Marino.

"If you know John Unitas, he didn't throw a single touchdown pass in a 50-0 game just to keep the record," said New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi. "Every pass he threw and every play he made was designed to do one thing win a football game."

Unitas went to 10 Pro Bowls and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1979. He was named the lone quarterback on the NFL's 50th anniversary team in 1969 and one of four quarterbacks on the NFL's 75th anniversary team in 1994.

With his crew cut, sloped-shoulders and black high-tops, Unitas single-handedly ushered in the quarterback as the premier player in football and put the position atop the salary chart. The Roger Staubachs, Terry Bradshaws, Joe Montanas, Brett Favres and Kurt Warners all owe him a debt of gratitude.

No. 19 was the best.

THE BEST EVER
Rick Gosselin ranks the top five quarterbacks of all-time:
Rank	Quarterback	Comment
1	Johnny Unitas	Perfect blend of passer, leader, winner
2	Joe Montana	Best big-game quarterback in history
3	Otto Graham	Played in 10 championship games in 10 years
4	Dan Marino	Most prolific passer in NFL history
5	John Elway	Could beat you with his arm, legs or heart

JOHNNY UNITAS AT A GLANCE

Born: May 7, 1933, Pittsburgh

Died: Sept. 11, 2002, Baltimore

Height/weight: 6-1, 200

Position: Quarterback, Baltimore Colts (1956-72); San Diego Chargers (1973)

Education: St. Justin's High School (Pittsburgh); graduated from the University of Louisville, 1955

Drafted: Ninth round (102nd overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers (1955). He was cut before the start of the 1955 season and signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Colts in 1956.

Uniform number: 19 (retired by the Colts)

CAREER MILESTONES

Completed 2,830 passes for 40,239 yards and a record 290 touchdown passes

Threw TD passes in an NFL-record 47 consecutive games

Had three seasons of 3,000 yards or more

Led the Colts to the 1958 and 1959 NFL crowns and a Super Bowl V victory in 1971

NFL Most Valuable Player in 1964, 1967

Player of the Decade for the 1960s

Ten Pro Bowl selections

Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979

Named the Greatest Player in the First 50 Years of Pro Football

Named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/091202dnspounitasobit-hp.1493.html

[A CA Guy]

I have a signed football by him when I met him. Was a very nice man. RIP!

[MeekOneGOP]

I grew up and am still a Giants fan but Johnny Hightops was the best quarterback I ever saw and one of the toughest sob's to ever strap it on.

Godspeed Mr. Unitas, it was a pleasure watching you play the game the way it was meant to be played.

Thanks for you nice comments. I just saw your post. You might be interested to re-visit and see some of the pictures that have been added to this thread since your comment. Thanks again.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thank you. That's what I've heard too !

Check out the photos on this thread if you missed them! Thanks.

[Mr Rogers]

FWIW - When I was a kid, my Dad insisted I have a crewcut. After several years of arguing, he gave in to letting my hair grow out 2-3 inches. "Well", he said, "If Jonny Unitas can grow his hair out, then who am I to object!"

[Tribune7]

Looks like a modern kid.

[dennisw]

Great photos. Thanks. Unitas had two knee replacements due to football injuries. Fingers were damaged too so he could only slowly sign autographs

[notdownwidems]

RIP, Johnny U! He had more class in his right arm than most of these prima donnas have in their whole overpaid bodies today.
BTW, Rick's list of the best 5 ever; NO WAY should Marino be ranked ahead of Elway! In every statistical category except passing yards (which is pretty close) Elway leads Dan...and also, how many super bowls did Marino play in? Elway won two and took mediocre teams to three more.

[MeekOneGOP]

Done. There's another thread with the same petition linked on #23, btw.....

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

Unitas was a class act both on the field and off. No pompous arrogance like one sees on many current-day players.

[PatriotGames]

John Unitas defined what a quarterback should be. He once did an interview on PBS. The reporter asked him why he never got excited during the game. He replied, "I get excited about children and animals. I don't get excited about football." As much of a football fanatic I am and as much as I loved to watch him play I just HAVE to love a man who says things like that.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. I've heard so much that was good about Johnny U on this thread.