George Blanda

Did You Know?

• Blanda was a quarterback and kicker at Kentucky from 1945 to 1948, starting his last two seasons and compiling 120 completions in 242 passes for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns.
• Coach Paul 'Bear' Bryant arrived at Kentucky in Blanda's sophomore year after a 1–9 season in 1945; the Wildcats lost only three games in each of the next three years.
• Blanda was the first-ever recorded fantasy football draft pick when the game was created in 1962 by The Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League.

Professional career

Blanda signed with the Chicago Bears in 1949 for a $600 signing bonus, which owner George Halas demanded back when Blanda made the team; Blanda then received a $6,000 contract. He played quarterback, placekicker, and occasionally linebacker. He became the Bears' top quarterback in 1953, but an injury the next year ended his starting role, and he was used mostly as a kicker. Blanda later said Halas was too cheap to buy him a kicking shoe and that by the 1950s the professional game had moved beyond Halas.

He retired after the 1958 season because Halas insisted on using him only as a kicker, but returned in 1960 with the formation of the American Football League, signing with the Houston Oilers as both quarterback and kicker. Derided by sports media as an "NFL Reject," Blanda led the Oilers to the first two AFL titles. In 1961 he was the All-AFL quarterback and AFL Player of the Year, leading the league in passing yards (3,330) and touchdown passes (36).

His 36 touchdown passes that year were the most by any NFL/AFL quarterback in a single season until matched by Y. A. Tittle two years later, and the record stood until Dan Marino's 48 in 1984. In the 1961 title game, Blanda threw five interceptions, becoming the fourth quarterback to do so in a playoff game, but the Oilers won 10–3 on defense, a field goal by Blanda, and a touchdown pass to Billy Cannon. He is the only player to throw five or more interceptions in a playoff game and not lose.

Records and honors

George Blanda played professional football for 26 seasons, from 1949 through 1975, appearing in games across four decades. He completed 1,911 of 4,007 passes for 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns, but also threw 277 interceptions—an NFL record until Brett Favre surpassed it in 2007. His single-season high for interceptions was 42 in 1962. He tied the record for passing touchdowns in a game with seven on November 19, 1961, against the New York Titans. On the ground, he rushed for 344 yards and nine touchdowns. As a kicker, he made 335 of 641 field goals and 943 of 959 extra points, totaling 2,002 points. He also recorded one interception, two kickoff returns for 19 yards, 22 punts for 809 yards, and 23 fumble recoveries.

Blanda holds the records for most seasons played (26) and most seasons scoring a point (26). He is one of only two players to appear in four different decades, along with John Carney. He was the oldest player to play in an NFL game. His 340 games played stood as a record until 2004, and he still holds the mark for most games by a player who was not exclusively a kicker or punter.

His 114 postseason points were an NFL record at his retirement. He broke Lou Groza’s career scoring record in 1971 and held it until 2000. Blanda is the placekicker on the All-Time All-AFL Team and was one of 20 players to play all ten years of the AFL, one of three to appear in every game his team played. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility, and is in the University of Kentucky Hall of Fame.

In 1985, U.S. Route 119 in his hometown of Youngwood, Pennsylvania, was renamed George Blanda Boulevard. The Sporting News ranked him 98th on its 1999 list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. He was also the first-ever recorded fantasy football draft pick in 1962.

Personal life

Blanda was the son of a Slovak-born Pittsburgh-area coal miner. He married Betty Harris on December 17, 1949, and they had two children. He died on September 27, 2010, ten days after his 83rd birthday, after a short illness. A moment of silence was held before the September 27, 2010, Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

Legacy

In the Happy Days episode "Football Frolics" (aired January 20, 1976), set in 1956, Richie Cunningham argues that George Blanda, then 30 and considered washed up, still had two or three good years left—a joke because Blanda was still playing 19 years later. Toward the end of his career, Blanda was a commercial spokesman for Chrysler Corporation, promoting the Dodge Truck line, and appeared in ads for Schaefer Beer, Brut cologne, and Kellogg's cereals during the early 1970s.