Johnny Unitas
| Johnny Unitas | |
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Position (s): Quarterback |
Jersey number (s): 19 |
| born on May 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania | |
| died on September 11, 2002 in Lutherville-Timonium , Maryland | |
| Career information | |
| Active : 1956 - 1973 | |
| NFL Draft : 1955 / Round: 9 / Pick: 102 | |
| College : Louisville | |
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| Career statistics | |
| Touchdowns - interceptions | 290-253 |
| Yards | 40,239 |
| Quarterback rating | 78.2 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Stats at pro-football-reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
John Constantine "Johnny" Unitas (born May 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , † September 11, 2002 in Lutherville-Timonium , Maryland ) was an American American football player on the position of quarterback . He played 17 of his 18 years in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and won Super Bowl V with them . Unitas is considered one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
origin
Unita's family immigrated to the United States from Lithuania . His father Leon was a coal merchant and died when Unitas was four (according to other sources, he died when Johnny was five). His mother Helen was then forced to take an accounting class in an evening school in order to run the family business and to support him and his three siblings. She also worked as an accountant in another company - Unitas grew up in poor circumstances. He already played American football in high school in his hometown, but not in the position of quarterback. Only an injury to the starter in this position forced his team to use him as a quarterback. He had to familiarize himself with the role within a week and solved this problem with flying colors . His physical development did not initially suggest that he would make a career as a professional athlete. After high school, he looked for a scholarship, but was rejected by various colleges or failed the entrance exam. Only a college in Kentucky offered him a scholarship.
Player career
college
Johnny Unitas, nickname : "The Golden Arm" played college football for the University of Louisville in Kentucky. During his college days from 1951 to 1954, he showed his outstanding skills as a quarterback. During his four years of study he achieved for the Louisville Cardinals with 245 passes a total of 2912 yards and scored 27 touchdowns . At that time, football was still characterized by the running game . Running backs tried to overcome the opposing defense by running . The quarterback mainly had the task of passing the ball on to the running back after the start of the play, who carried the ball as far forward as possible. The ability of Unitas to overcome the opposing defense by means of a precise passing game provided an enrichment in the attacking game. For the present day the statistical values obtained by Unitas may appear meager; back then they were outstanding values. More and more the passing game became a dominant attack weapon.
The athletic skills of Unitas had developed so well that he was also used several times in other player positions, for example as a punter or as a linebacker .
Unita's college career, however, was not entirely undisturbed. In 1952 the academic requirements of the college were increased. The Cardinals lost 15 players who did not match these. Unitas thought about changing college as he saw his goal of becoming a professional player as jeopardized by the weakening of the team. Unitas, however, was persuaded to refrain from this step and stayed in Louisville. In 1954 he also suffered numerous injuries, at times he lost his position as a starter.
NFL
Unita's professional career began slowly. In 1955 he was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the ninth round of the 1955 NFL Draft . The relatively late election by the Steelers was probably also due to the fact that the team's head coach at the time, Walt Kiesling , was not convinced of Unita's abilities. He thought he was too stupid to keep moves. In addition, the Steelers were only looking for a third quarterback and then filled this position with Ted Marchibroda . Unitas never played a game for the Steelers. He first found an employer in the semi-professional team of the Blommfield Rams and earned only six dollars per game. Kiesling's behavior was frowned upon by the Steelers' team owner, Art Rooney , but accepted nonetheless. However, he personally wished Unitas to become the greatest quarterback of all time.
The head coach of the Baltimore Colts , Weeb Ewbank , was looking for a second quarterback for his team in 1956. He came across Johnny Unitas, who still had to borrow the fare to be able to do a trial training with the Colts. Unitas was able to convince in the trial training and signed a professional contract in Baltimore . After the fourth game he replaced George Shaw on the position of playmaker due to an injury . His first pass, however, was an interception from which his opponent scored a touchdown.
After this false start, Unitas convinced with his sovereign game design, his strong throwing arm and his ability to turn a game that had already been thought lost in the final phase. In 206 games for the Colts, he scored 287 touchdowns by passing and 13 by running the ball into the opponent's end zone . Johnny Unitas was also responsible for the introduction of the so-called No- Huddle - Offense . The move is not announced by the quarterback in a players' meeting before the start of the game, but called by him directly on the line of scrimmage . On December 28, 1958, the Colts were down 17:14 in the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants . There were still 116 seconds to play when Unitas announced to his teammates that he would immediately announce his moves directly to the line of scrimmage. He wanted to save valuable playing time. The Colts managed to equalize and then won the game 23:17 in extra time with a touchdown from Alan Ameche . Unitas had gained 340 yards of space by passing play, Raymond Berry was able to use one of his passes for a touchdown. The game against the Giants in 1958 is considered the best football game of all time ( The Greatest Game Ever Played ).
In 1959 he succeeded with his team again to win the NFL championship . The New York Giants were beaten again, this time by 31:16. Unitas again achieved an outstanding performance. He achieved a gain of space of 264 yards with his passes, he was able to carry a ball into the opposing end zone himself, two of his passes were used by Lenny Moore and Jerry Richardson for touchdowns.
In 1964 Unitas moved with the Colts for the third time in the NFL final. His team had to admit defeat to the Cleveland Browns 27: 0 . Shortly before the merger of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL), the Colts made it into Super Bowl III . They had previously defeated the Cleveland Browns 34-0 in the NFL final. Unitas was only substitute quarterback behind Earl Morrall at this point . The Colts lost against the New York Jets from the American Football League to quarterback Joe Namath 16: 7. The game went down in football history as Namath guaranteed his team's victory against the favorites in public before the game started.
In Super Bowl V , Unitas also managed to win a Super Bowl in 1971 . The Colts had meanwhile switched to the American Football Conference and met after a 27:17 win over the Oakland Raiders in the AFC Championship Game on the Dallas Cowboys from the National Football Conference under their head coach Tom Landry . These were beaten by 16:13. Unitas managed his only thrown touchdown in a Super Bowl with a pass to John Mackey .
After another season with the Colts, Unitas moved to the San Diego Chargers , but then ended his career after just one season. During his career, Unitas scored 290 touchdown passes in 253 interceptions in 18 seasons in the regular season . With passes he gained 40,239 yards of space. His statistical successes still occupy top positions in the NFL record books. His record with the most consecutive games with a touchdown pass (drawn up between 1956 and 1960) was only broken by Drew Brees in 2012 after more than 50 years . He also achieved numerous NFL annual bests during his professional career.
Honors
Unitas played ten times in the Pro Bowl and was voted best player of the game ( MVP ) in 1959, 1960 and 1963, respectively . He is a member of the National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team , the National Football League 1960s All-Decade Team , the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame . He was named the NFL Most Valuable Player in 1959, 1964 and 1967 . The Towson University , near Baltimore area, named their stadium after Johnny Unitas. The Baltimore Ravens honor him on the Ring of Honor .
After the career
Unitas was married twice and had eight children. He lived in Reno , Nevada . After his career he worked in the economy and worked as a consultant for various large companies with his own company. He also worked as a presenter for television and repeatedly appeared in smaller film roles, for example in the film Every Damn Sunday .
In addition, Unitas was very committed to society and promoted young football players. He died of a heart attack . Until his death, he suffered greatly from the injuries and physical wear and tear he had suffered through his athletic career. Johnny Unitas is buried in the Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium , Maryland.
literature
- Jens Plassmann: NFL - American Football. The game, the stars, the stories (= Rororo 9445 rororo Sport ). Rowohlt, Reinbek near Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-19445-7 .
Web links
- Homepage of Johnny Unitas
- Johnny Unitas Foundation
- Biography, Obituary of the Louisville Cardinals
- Johnny Unitas in college
- Johnny Unitas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Frank Litsky: Johnny Unitas, NFL's Genius of the Huddle, Dies at 69 , obituary in The New York Times of September 12, 2002 (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ John Clayton: NFL: Where do the Indianapolis Colts 'Peyton Manning and the Minnesota Vikings' Brett Favre rank among history's greatest QBs? Favre or Manning could improve his ranking on Clayton's list of the 10 best-ever QBs. In: sports.espn.go.com. ESPN, January 19, 2010, accessed December 29, 2013 (English, One of the problems of comparing eras is how the game changes. Until the 1980s, the NFL was a running league. That's why Graham and Unitas can't be forgotten . They set standards of excellence for passers that opened the door for the Montanas, Elways and Mannings to thrive.): “Unitas opened the eyes of coaches who loved running the football and playing defense. He taught the NFL that a smart quarterback could lead a passing attack from the field and become the ultimate field general. "
- ↑ Dave Anderson: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/12/sports/sports-of-the-times-when-you-know-what-you-re-doing.html Sports of The Times; When You Know What You're Doing. In: New York Times . September 12, 2002 (History of the No Huddle Offense)
- ^ Annual statistics of the Baltimore Colts 1958
- ^ Statistics NFL final 1958
- ^ Annual statistics of the Baltimore Colts 1959
- ↑ Statistics NFL final 1959
- ^ Annual statistics of the Baltimore Colts 1968
- ^ Statistics NFL final 1968
- ↑ Statistics Super Bowl III
- ↑ Annual statistics of the Baltimore Colts 1970
- ↑ Statistics AFC Championship Game 1970
- ↑ Statistics Super Bowl V
- ^ Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas' record for consecutive games with a TD pass in front of suspended coach Sean Payton. In: espn.go.com. ESPN, October 8, 2012, accessed December 29, 2013 : "Drew Brees set an NFL record Sunday night with touchdown passes in 48 straight games, breaking the mark set by Johnny Unitas a half-century ago."
- ^ Statistics from Johnny Unitas, annual bests are in bold
- ^ Obituary for Johnny Unitas
- ^ Tomb of Johnny Unitas in the Find a Grave database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Unitas, Johnny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Unitas, John Constantine |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American football player on the position of the quarterback |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 7, 1933 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 11, 2002 |
| Place of death | Lutherville-Timonium , Maryland , United States |