In their first rematch with the Jets, Unitas and Namath threw a combined nine interceptions in a 2922 Colts win. Johnny Unitas Death Facts: Age, Cause of Death, Birthday, Date of Death His first wife, Dorothy Jean Yet, few people receive adequate information when medication is prescribed. Attending St. Justin's High School in Pittsburgh, Unitas played halfback and quarterback. Unitas was traded from the Colts to the San Diego Chargers on January 20, 1973, in a transaction that originally had future considerations returning to Baltimore. He completed 2,830 of 5,186 passes for 40,239 yards and 290 touchdowns, monumental figures for an era in which the rules did not benefit quarterbacks the way they do now. The following year, Baltimore beat the Giants 31-16 in the championship game. Click here for reprint permission. Unitas continued his prowess in 1958 passing for 2,007 yards and 19 touchdowns as the Colts won the Western Conference title. BALTIMORE -- Johnny Unitas, the Hall of Fame quarterback who broke nearly every NFL passing record and won three championships with the Baltimore Colts in an 18-year career, died Sept. 11 at. Johnny Unitas was born in Pittsburgh. Unitas later said he learned more about courage from his mother than any coach. [14], In 1959, Unitas was named the NFL's MVP by the Associated Press (AP) for the first time,[b] as well as United Press International's player of the year, after leading the NFL in passing yards (2,899), touchdown passes (32), and completions (193). "[40], Unitas lived most of the final years of his life severely hobbled. After three middle-of-the-pack seasons, Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom fired Weeb Ewbank and replaced him with Don Shula, who at the time was the youngest head coach in NFL history (33 years of age when he was hired). Dont you think Id be living in a mansion somewhere? he said. After that, Unitas established himself as one of the games greatest players. What made Unitas so good and so different, Berry said, ''was his uncanny instinct for calling the right play at the right time, his icy composure under fire, his fierce competitiveness and his utter disregard for his own safety. At 6-foot-1, just under 200 pounds, his body was that of an everyday person except for the scars, bumps and bruises. The Louisville product got the chance to prove himself with the then-Baltimore Colts as he earned a workout with the team. I wish it could be resolved.. [24] He would spend most of the season sitting on the bench. Unitas, who wore No. He then engineered an 80-yard drive for the winning touchdown. "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. 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. The Hall of Fame has never complied with the request. Even though her marriage broke up, she remained a good friend to my father. Johnny Unitas, American football player. Sandra Unitas also declined to comment for this story, as did most of the remaining siblings. [27] In Super Bowl V against the Dallas Cowboys, he was knocked out of the game with a rib injury in the second quarter, soon after throwing a 75-yard touchdown pass (setting a then-Super Bowl record) to John Mackey. The team won their first game in 1953, against Murray State, and lost the rest for a record of 17. After high school, he wanted to go to Notre Dame, but it was wary of a 6-foot quarterback who weighed only 138 pounds. Nicknamed "Johnny U" and the "Golden Arm", Unitas was considered the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback. Unitas received the honor of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 while his No. Named to the NFL's 75th Anniversary Team. '', Unitas had an uncanny ability to find soft spots in an opposing defense, and his coaches with the Colts, first Weeb Ewbank and later Don Shula, relied on his astute play calling.
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