Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas is often remembered as one of the greatest passers of all time, leading the league in many different categories multiple times, but he also struggled to get his team to the playoffs for much of his career, which contributed to him just barely making the top 20.
He was drafted in 1955 by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 9th round, but was cut before the season began, and instead spent what would have been his rookie year working in a steel mill. He signed on with the Baltimore Colts in 1956, and even started 7 games in his rookie year.
In his second season, he led the entire league in passing yards and touchdowns, getting 2550 yards and 24 TD's, but the Colts missed the championship by a game. He led the league in touchdowns again in 1958, but this time they ended up in first place and got to play the Giants for the title. They won that game 23-17 in overtime behind Unitas' 349 yards in the very first overtime game in league history, and Johnny U went from being cut to winning a championship in just 3 seasons.
He followed up that championship performance with the best season of his career, leading the league with 2899 yards and 32 touchdowns and winning the league MVP award while taking Baltimore back to the title game. He threw 264 yards and 2 touchdowns in that game as they repeated as champions by beating the Giants again.
In 1960 he led the league in passing yards and touchdowns again, but set a new career high in interceptions while setting a new career low for winning percentage, with a final record of 6-6, ending his chance at a 3-peat. His overall production continued to drop for the next couple seasons, with his interceptions remaining high, and the Colts could not get back to the title game.
Things finally came together for him again in 1964, when he was able to drop his interceptions to a career-low of 6, and the Colts finished at 12-2 and made it back to the title game after a four year absence. Although he won his second MVP during the regular season, he didn't play like it in the championship, throwing only 95 yards and 2 interceptions as the Colts were shut out by the Browns 27-0.
In 1967 he led the league in completion percentage and nearly set a career high in passing yards, finishing at 3428, but the Colts missed the playoffs due to losing a tiebreaker to the Rams, even though the two were tied for the league's best record. He was rewarded for his efforts with his 3rd MVP award, but no third title.
The next year he injured his throwing shoulder in the preseason, which led to Earl Morrall taking over the starting job, which he did to near perfection, taking Baltimore to a 13-1 record and winning the MVP. He also led them all the way to the Super Bowl, but when he struggled in the title game, Unitas came in and led the team to its lone touchdown, although it wasn't enough to beat the Jets.
Unitas started struggling with interceptions again the next season, tossing 20 of them with only 12 touchdowns, and the Colts missed the playoffs after the Super Bowl loss. He had one last hurrah in 1970, when he led Baltimore to the top record in the AFC and back to the Super Bowl, where he threw a touchdown before getting hurt early in the game. Earl Morrall came in and led them to a comeback victory, but Unitas still got his Super Bowl win.
He lost his starting job after that game, and though he hung around for 3 more years, he didn't have much left. In all, he won 3 titles in his career, 1 Super Bowl and 2 NFL titles. He also won three MVP awards and led the league in passing 4 times, but he also made the playoffs only 6 times in an 18 year career. His team's best season came in the year that he was out with an injury, but there is no denying that he was one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
No comments:
Post a Comment