John Brodie
John Brodie is a name that is now nearly forgotten, partly due to the greatness of later 49ers quarterbacks, and partly because of his lack of success in the playoffs, but he was considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of his time.
Brodie spent his entire life in the Bay Area, being born in San Francisco, going to college at Stanford, then being drafted by his hometown 49ers. For the majority of his career only two teams advanced past the regular season, so postseason success was rare. He played for San Francisco for 17 years, making three playoff appearances late in his career, but he was very consistent throughout his prime.
His breakout season came in 1965, his 9th in the NFL, when he led the league with 3112 yards and 30 touchdowns, and he received a huge contract offer from the Houston Oilers of the AFL to jump leagues. After rumors of a merger surfaced and the 49ers upped their offer, he elected to stay home and continue on with the Niners.
His very best season came 5 years later, in 1970, when he again led the league in both yardage and touchdowns, with 2941 and 24, but his team finished 10-3-1, earning the first playoff berth for the 49ers in 13 years. They even managed to win one playoff game, beating the Minnesota Vikings 17-14 behind Brodie's two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. For his efforts during the regular season Brodie was named the league MVP.
He had just one more good season left in him, as he took San Francisco back to the playoffs once again, managing to win another playoff game before being taken out by Dallas for the second year in a row. He retired at the end of the 1973 season, and at the time he was #3 in league history in passing yardage.
Brodie is another quarterback, like Esiason, who just didn't have the championship pedigree, but put up big numbers for a long time, and with the MVP award under his belt, he has earned the right to be ranked as the #40 quarterback of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment