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Best NFL Players of All Time: Johnny Unitas

For every other quarterback, he is the ideal quarterback. One of the first great quarterbacks of the modern era of football was Johnny Unitas, also known as Johnny U. to a generation of football fans. No one before Johnny Unitas could throw the football and place it precisely where he wanted it to go; Otto Graham was an incredible winner, and Bobby Layne controlled the huddle just as well as Unitas did.

In today’s pass-happy world, Unitas’ stats will not compare to those of Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, but he played in an era when teams actually attempted to run the ball and where offense balance meant combining long and short runs to win games.

The quarterback who made the game-changing play was Unitas. Unitas’s first head coach in Baltimore, Weeb Ewbank, saw how accurate and powerful his arm was. Raymond Berry, a glue-hungry wide receiver for the Colts, ran exact patterns that he and Unitas knew by heart for hours on end. Unitas did not even need to glance at the receiver while Berry was running a square out. He was aware that Berry would be there when the ball arrived if he only took one step to return the ball to the sidelines 12 yards ahead after finishing his dropback.

Unitas led the Colts to the NFL championship game against the New York Jets. He was the best quarterback in the NFL and possibly the main factor in its development.

Giants in the championship match of 1958—which went down in history as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” For all of the quarterbacks who came from the football hotbed of western Pennsylvania in the future, Unitas was the standard bearer. Born in Pittsburgh in 1933, Unitas was the envy of everyone around. Legends Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly, all from Western Pennsylvania, modeled their own games after Unitas’. In the Hall of Fame, all four came after Unitas.

For his time, Unitas was also a prolific passer. Between 1957 and 1960, he led the NFL in passing yards four times, and from 1957 to 1960, he led the league in touchdowns four times in a row. It doesn’t quite make the point, though, when you lead the league with 3,099 yards and 25 touchdown passes. These are mediocre figures in the new millennium, but they were excellent during the crew-cut era.

Unitas’s fortitude was what made him so unique to his teammates despite his extraordinary talent. Unitas joined the Colts as a pocket passer even before he could tie his own high-top sneakers. When it came to waiting for Berry or Lenny Moore to become available, Unitas would wait until the very last moment to let go of the football, even if it meant accepting penalties. He kept his mouth shut about it.

Former Colts defensive lineman Art Donovan stated, “I’ll never forget the shots this guy would take in order to throw a pass.” It was terrible. This person was consistently getting hit in the field during games, and at times it seemed like he was hit every play. However, nothing ever did. He wouldn’t complain; he would just stand there and take it. He endured so much abuse that he had to be the hardest Colt of them all.

The NFL record book has long since deleted the majority of Unitas’s records. For instance, Unitas had set a record 27 times in a game when he completed his playing career after the 1973 campaign (during which he wore a San Diego Chargers suit). Marino, who accomplished it an astounding 63 times with the Miami Dolphins, currently holds the record.

For the most consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass, Unitas still holds the top place. Brett Favre only accomplished this feat 36 times between 2002 and 2004, but he accomplished it 47 times between 1956 and 1960. It never really mattered to Unitas, which is one of the reasons he was able to establish that mark. To him, attempts, yards, touchdowns, and completions were just statistics. Securing victory in the game was his sole concern. He would have been content to play a game in which he had to do nothing but pass the ball and the Colts had only scored touchdowns. Many quarterbacks would boldly lie to the media, saying that they don’t care about personal glory.

He told the Baltimore Sun, “I never paid much attention to the touchdown streak, not like the newspaper people and radio people did.” “My goal was to win games with any tool at my disposal. As long as our focus was on winning, it didn’t matter if we took the running or throwing approach. Everybody was in agreement. Nobody harbored any jealousies. The team executed the plays I directed without once questioning them.

Unitas was dissatisfied with what he seen on the football field at the conclusion of his career and in the years that followed. He objected to the overabundance of coaches and quarterbacks who were no longer in charge of calling plays. “Who is more knowledgeable about the game’s happenings than the quarterback?” Unitas enquired. “The quarterback ought to be calling plays because of this. It is absurd to believe that an assistant coach is more knowledgeable about what would be effective on the field. All they’re doing is trying to defend themselves. I want the quarterback to decide what plays to run.

Bart Starr of the Green Bay Packers was Unitas’s main opponent in the early 1960s, when pro football was at its height of growth. Starr was at his best in championship games, even though he never had the stats that Unitas did. Unitas had a lot of respect for Starr’s ability to play winning football. Starr never lacked confidence, even when he was playing against Unitas and the Colts. “With the football in his hands, [Unitas] could do anything he wanted,” Starr remarked. “He could do it quickly and toss it anywhere he pleased. The Colts always had a chance to win when he was on the field.

Ignore the fact that Starr has defeated Unitas in ten of his previous fifteen head-to-head matches. His team was the better one. No quarterback in history has contributed more to the game than Unitas, who elevated professional football to a new level and propelled it into the sports world.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Johnny Unitas Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD	AV
1956	23	BAL	QB	19	12	7	36589	110	198	55.6	1498	9	4.5	10	5.1	54	7.6	6.2	13.6	124.8	74		202				1	3
1957	24	BAL	QB	19	12	12	36712	172	301	57.1	2550	24	8	17	5.6	82	8.5	7.5	14.8	212.5	88		212				3	3
1958	25	BAL	QB	19	10	9	36739	136	263	51.7	2007	19	7.2	7	2.7	77	7.6	7.9	14.8	200.7	90		120				3	2
1959	26	BAL	QB	19	12	12	36772	193	367	52.6	2899	32	8.7	14	3.8	71	7.9	7.9	15	241.6	92		185				2	3
1960	27	BAL	QB	19	12	12	36683	190	378	50.3	3099	25	6.6	24	6.3	80	8.2	6.7	16.3	258.3	73.7	18	190				1	2	16
1961	28	BAL	QB	19	14	14	36744	229	420	54.5	2990	16	3.8	24	5.7	72	7.1	5.3	13.1	213.6	66.1	28	204	6.3	6.22	4.52	3	4	13
1962	29	BAL	QB	19	14	14	36714	222	389	57.1	2967	23	5.9	23	5.9	80	7.6	6.1	13.4	211.9	76.5	31	255	7.4	6.46	5.09	3	3	11
1963	30	BAL	QB	19	14	14	36744	237	410	57.8	3481	20	4.9	12	2.9	64	8.5	8.1	14.7	248.6	89.7	42	298	9.3	7.04	6.73	3	3	14
1964	31	BAL	QB	19	14	14	36862	158	305	51.8	2824	19	6.2	6	2	74	9.3	9.6	17.9	201.7	96.4	37	254	10.8	7.51	7.84	2	2	17
1965	32	BAL	QB	19	11	11	37105	164	282	58.2	2530	23	8.2	12	4.3	61	9	8.7	15.4	230	97.4	29	221	9.3	7.42	7.17	3	2	14
1966	33	BAL	QB	19	14	13	36773	195	348	56	2748	22	6.3	24	6.9	89	7.9	6.1	14.1	196.3	74	21	146	5.7	7.05	5.32	1	1	12
1967	34	BAL	QB	19	14	14	37561	255	436	58.5	3428	20	4.6	16	3.7	88	7.9	7.1	13.4	244.9	83.6	25	198	5.4	7.01	6.31	4	3	19
1968	35	BAL	QB	19	5	0		11	32	34.4	139	2	6.3	4	12.5	37	4.3	0	12.6	27.8	30.1	2	15	5.9	3.65	-0.47	0	1	1
1969	36	BAL	QB	19	13	12	36712	178	327	54.4	2342	12	3.7	20	6.1	52	7.2	5.1	13.2	180.2	64	12	93	3.5	6.63	4.69	2	3	9
1970	37	BAL	QB	19	14	13	37166	166	321	51.7	2213	14	4.4	18	5.6	55	6.9	5.2	13.3	158.1	65.1	19	158	5.6	6.04	4.49	3	3	10
1971	38	BAL	QB	19	13	5	36587	92	176	52.3	942	3	1.7	9	5.1	35	5.4	3.4	10.2	72.5	52.3	15	129	7.9	4.26	2.45			4
1972	39	BAL	QB	19	8	5	36529	88	157	56.1	1111	4	2.5	6	3.8	63	7.1	5.9	12.6	138.9	70.8	14	114	8.2	5.83	4.72			4
1973	40	SDG	QB	19	5	4	36528	34	76	44.7	471	3	3.9	7	9.2	51	6.2	2.8	13.9	94.2	40	14	96	15.6	4.17	1.33			1
Career					211	185	118-63-4	2830	5186	54.6	40239	290	5.6	253	4.9	89	7.8	6.7	14.2	190.7	78.2	307	3090				34	38	145
17 yrs		BAL			206	181	117-60-4	2796	5110	54.7	39768	287	5.6	246	4.8	89	7.8	6.7	14.2	193	78.8	293	2994				34	38	144
1 yr		SDG			5	4	36528	34	76	44.7	471	3	3.9	7	9.2	51	6.2	2.8	13.9	94.2	40	14	96	15.6	4.17	1.33			1

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD
1958*+	25	BAL	QB	1	1	36526	26	40	65	349	1	2.5	1	2.5	60	8.7	8.1	13.4	349	90.5		27				1	1
1959*+	26	BAL	QB	1	1	36526	18	29	62.1	264	2	6.9	0	0	59	9.1	10.5	14.7	264	114.7		57				1	1
1964*+	31	BAL	QB	1	1	0-1	12	20	60	95	0	0	2	10	23	4.8	0.3	7.9	95	32.3	2	6	9.1	4.05	-0.05
1968	35	BAL	QB	1	0	0-0	11	24	45.8	110	0	0	1	4.2	21	4.6	2.7	10	110	42	0	0	0	4.58	2.71
1970	37	BAL	QB	3	3	36586	20	56	35.7	478	4	7.1	2	3.6	75	8.5	8.4	23.9	159.3	76.3	5	24	8.2	7.44	7.28
1971	38	BAL	QB	2	2	45292	33	57	57.9	367	0	0	4	7	27	6.4	3.3	11.1	183.5	47.9	3	15	5	5.87	2.87
Career				9	8	45445	120	226	53.1	1663	7	3.1	10	4.4	75	7.4	6	13.9	184.8	68.9	10	129	6	6.02	4.07	2

 

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