I was born and raised in Baltimore and I lived about 8 blocks from Memorial Stadium.Johnny Unitas was like a GOD in Baltimore and the Colts was Americas team at that time and Unitas made the NFL what it is today.Rest in Peace Johnny Unitas,you was the greatest
Unitas was the prototype for all modern quarterbacks. And, he played in an era when quarterbacks didn't have the rules to protect them like they do now.
@@Mateo.7777 Unitas called his own plays, made up his own game plan, he had no NFL rules that protected him and his receivers from illegal hits, and his receivers did not wear "sticky gloves" like they do now in the NFL...he also got to play only 12 game per year, not 17 games to rack up bigger numbers...plus that, he threw at least one TD pass in 47 consecutive games....NO other QB is even close
@@daBears06U have a good point...but the game has evolved Johnny U played in a different era....I've met Tom Brady several times and he has acknowledged that...(what have the Patriots done when they let Tom walk) being a resident of Florida I was happy for Tampa...
Brady couldn't take those hits John did and stay in the game as long as he did. His receivers also had a huge advantage with only a 5 yard bump and run rule vs. John's receivers getting bumped all the way downfield until the ball was in the air. It's like comparing apples to grapefruit @@daBears06
My mother was an employee of the University of Louisville and my aunt was a student there while Johnny U was quarterbacking the Cardinals. Johnny's mother had to approve U of L as his college before he would come there, and she said if he gets in trouble of any kind, she would pull him out. The college assigned my mom and aunt the unofficial job of keeping Johnny out of trouble, tutoring him and making sure he got to class. I am proud of my family's role in helping the NFL's greatest quarterback to succeed.
That's beautiful brother. I'm only 38 but I know the impact of Johnny Unitas. He's basically the reason we have Sunday football and Superbowls. Thank you for your family's contribution.
Johny football should've gotten a check from every modern QB for changing how the QB plays that position thank you Johny U for making football fun to watch
I have no problem with that statement whatsoever considering the legacy, standard, and numbers Johnny Unitas reached & set. Without question, an all-time great.
The best then, the best now, the best 100 years from now......the great Johnny U.......I grew up in Lutherville/ Timonium Md, Johnny was a neighbor...as a Baltimore Colt season ticket holder I had the gift of being able to see him play.....RIP Johnny.....Heaven 19- Baltimore 0......
I have a Unitas jersey in my closet and am 62 years old. When I was a kid in 1966 Tucson Arizona we would play football at the park in the streets or in someone's yard if they weren't home.We were the Colts and I of course was Johnny U! Other kids on the team were Mackey, Jimmy Orr and Tom Matte.
@@jamescoelectric I'm from the Bronx NYC. I became a COLTS FAN back then because of UNITAS. After they moved to Indianapolis I stopped being a Colts fan. Now I have no interest in the NFL. The last game I watched was the Super Bowl of 1999.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame voted him the best PLAYER, ( not QB, but player!) in the NFL's first 50 years!!! That about says it all!! Imagine how good the 1959 Unitas would be playing in today's game, with all the rules protecting OB's!!!
THE GOLD STANDARD IN THE 50s AND 60s. THANK U GOD FOR BEING BORN IN TIME TO WATCH HIM PLAY LIVE. MORE THAN A PRIVILEGED. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES JOHNNY U. RIP.
I grew up in Wisconsin as probably the only Baltimore Colts fan during the Packer glory years. John, Raymond, Lenny and the rest of the team were my hereos. Still are.
In a biography on Unitas the author pointed out that, after Unitas was with the Colts and had achieved much success, they acquired a new Offensive Lineman... who was newly married. The guy bought a new home that was under construction, and, to help him move in, Unitas came over and laid down the linoleum for his kitchen floor. When the Colts drafted Lenny Moore at Halfback, as a black man in Baltimore, no one wanted to room with him... so Unitas said he would and they did for as long as they both played for the Colts. Born in 1952, I grew up loving the Bears because in Great Falls, MT, we got the Black & Blue division games. But when a game with Unitas at QB for the Colts was broadcast in our area, I found that I couldn't help but admire him. He was intelligent - as I could tell in his interviews, he was gritty - as I could tell from the beatings the Bears' D would issue him and he'd pick himself up and continue the game, and he was a great quarterback - as I could tell by how he would surgically remove the other team from their expectations of a WIN. To me, it never seemed like the Colts were out of a game as long as Unitas was still at QB. He always seemed like a gentlemen and a consummate professional football player. Turns out, he was always both of those things. P.S. But I always hated him wearing those ugly black high-top cleats. I thought they made him look like a dork. I wanted him to wear the more athletic-looking newly popular in the league white shoes... like the KC Chiefs did under Hank Stram.
I agree as well in this day of who the greatest is we the world not me talk about now. I’m about the history of the game Johnny U best QB, Jim Brown best RB.
Yes, magical fictional heroic says it exactly...beneath this awesome charisma was an authentic working class hero of epic proportions who never quit, never bragged, and never made excuses. The feeling in Memorial Stadium as he trotted onto the field after being introduced was/is indescribable, but anybody lucky enough to have experienced it knows what I am talking about.
The smartest, toughest QB who ever played. I realize Brady, Montana and others are great too, but they played under a very different set of rules designed to keep QB's from getting hit.
@@4orrcountry Montana played in the era of Reggie White,Bruce Smith,Charles Mann,Lawrence Taylor where these guys were allowed to do their jobs as defenders.Brady had to deal with ppl like Ray Lewis,Michael Strahan in his early yrs but now defensive players can't even look at ppl like Brady much less touch him.
The BALTIMORE COLTS were N. F. L. WORLD CHAMPIONS in 1958 & 1959 before Dallas Cowboys ever even got in the N. F. L. Yes Tom Matte you are righ the BALTIMORE COLTS with JOHNNY UNITAS were AMERICA’S TEAM with all the fans from all over AMERICA 🇺🇸 coming to all our home games contributing to all of our sell out crowds. Road games he had fans cheering him too.
Absolutely a true sports hero... a wonderful man who was kind and I experienced that kindness on more than one occasion... it was a different era and men were true men... I don't watch the moronic children of today's NFL... He was the Greatest... EVER...
The "U" on the helmet of the Colts will always stand for, "Unitas". Yes it's a horseshoe, but like Tom Matte says, " The Baltimore Colts were truly America's team" and Johnny U was Captain.
Here's the real GOAT, people. Johnny U not only sculpted the position of the modern quarterback, but he elevated an entire team sport to unparalleled status. All the while, he gave hope that we too could achieve the American Dream. Now tell me who else has done THAT . . .
Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers Johnny Unitas went to St Justin's High School just up the street from the house I grew up in . My dad would tell me the High School Football Teams were Always good and the Greatness carried over in the NFL Absolute Legend #19 .
If I had to win ONE football game that literally means life or death for me--if my team loses I get killed--I want Johnny Unitas in his prime as my QB.
I'm from Baltimore went to see colts practice in 68 age 8 got John's autograph told him he was the greatest went and got John Mackey autograph he stepped on my foot didn't say anything my claim to fame colts were great orioles were great bullets great clippers great best time of my life love Baltimore left in 75 what happened? Bad politics
@@dwightlove3704 Don't know, but I was living in MD when Johnny U died. It was amazing how many people had a personal connection to him of one sort or another....his mystique seems to be getting stronger as time goes by.
A story I heard, not sure about it's validity, somebody was talking about Dan Pastorini being able to throw a football over a 10 story building and Johnny's answer was, "yeah, but his receiver was on the 7th floor!"
Agree with many others that Johnny Unitas set the standard for todays quarterbacks and invented the 2 min offense in nfl championship game in 58 against giants He and Brooks Robinson were my sports hero’s growing up in Baltimore In the end many quarterbacks have been compared to Johnny U, but Johnny was never compared to any other qb That says it all I felt blessed
Who remembers Art Donovan when he appeared on the kids show in the very early nineties. That’s how I was introduced to Unitas. And knew i just learned about a real hero Adventures of pete and Pete was the show Johnny Unitas’ name is in the title of the episode. Donovan was hilarious while talking about the Great Unitas. So blessed to had met Unitas in 1999. I was 12. He signed a football, 8x10 and 3 cards for me and had the pen wedged between his fingers because his hand was SO screwed up. Yet to this day. Is the most amazing autograph appearance ever. And I’ve been collecting and autograph hunting for sheer passion for 25 years now. The GREATEST: #19 My only issue with this: someone comparing this to General Patton and his troops through Europe. As a combat veteran I think that was out of line. Unitas was a legend....BECAUSE of men like Patton.
Well, now we know why another legendary Colts quarterback named Peyton Manning broke down and cried when announcing his retirement…his tribute to Johnny U was quite moving
My mom road the streetcar with him every day on his way to St. Justin's. She went to nearby St. Mary Of The Mount High School on Pittsburgh's Mount Washington
And the Steelers cut him. Because the Chief said it should be up to the Head Coach who the quarterback is even though Dan Rooney wanted him to stay. Johnny Unitas was the high school player of the year in Pennsylvania, the second place finisher that year? Dan Rooney.
Met Bart Starr ,what class.Never John U though he played at the Crosby n N.C. My dad said Norm Snead was the Best,and Wake Forest.People r loyal 2 the homelocals,Like Earl and Happy Hairston,Jordan of course,But 2 me David Thompson was the Best.Chris Paul and HOward included>Of course>
@@dnasty312 for some reason or another i doubt Peyton Manning would of done very good if he played back then QBs didnt have the protection they do now . every game a saw play against a defense that put lots of pressure on the QB he was very ordinary . Sea Hawks, Ravens, defense he had a very hard time with. if he had to face the Rams front 4, Bears front 4 plus Butkus ,Packers Front 4 plus Nitschke , Lions Front 4, Vikings front4, at the time . of the QBs playing now i think Brady would of done the best once he got over his whining his stats probably would of been about a quarter as good he could never of passed 40-60 times a game every game back then . Brady always had a hard time against the Giants because they had a good front 4
Think about this the Steelers COULDVE had Units, Bradshaw, Marino, & Roethlisberger In a Row.!! That would’ve Been Unmatched EVER...they Drafted 3 out the 4 but Some how they Let Units go for Some1, does Any1 even Know... Thank God they changed who ever was in charged of Personal. LOL But they still didn’t draft Marino
@@youngtruthspitta3655 well 1st they have to get by KC. An remember his 1ST the Kicker Adam Ven. won ten on last play. he won 3 times that happened...yea it pisses me off to. I thought this was GB YR. They screwed up by not get Aaron Rodgers another weapon like stud WR. Why ud draftQQB When he's not close retirement is beyond me..there's always Star QB Every draft...I just don't think the greatest like in basketball u say Jordan Bird Magic Wilt etc, or Bradshaw Montana manning etc etc.. but I feel you bro. Have good day
@@youngtruthspitta3655 Brady earned those rings. Feel better now? If you get angry about that, I'll bet you're just plain angry about all kinds of stuff.
I've heard, (from reliable eye witnesses) that the real originator of the "2 minute drill," was/is Otto Graham. He would "take the Browns down the field &, Lou 'the toe' Groza would kick a field goal for the win." Of course, being the earlier days of TV popularity prior to 1958, little is known or, clebrated of this.
What still makes me Mad as Hell, is that Jet win in SB #3 that to this day, I just can't believe that Johnny U did not come out and start that second half! Why did Shula not start him in the second half but then he put him in at the last 9 minutes, when the game was all but lost! Unitas was able to take the team down the field and scored a touchdown But he did not have enough time to win that game! Had He started that game, IMO the Colts would have had No Problems winning that Game! This makes me believe that Shula was part of a fix and was told not to start Unitas! Maybe I'm wrong but ......... ?
Shula..?? Big mlstake..he was a what..?? team.mate??? what did he ever do on the field..???.NOTHING...that's what...was he even in that '58 game???.. whoever's put shoulda in as coach was as dumb as he was...somebody wanted noteriaty..& control of what Johnny u. accomplished bc now the money was starting to roll in like never before...all bc of Johnny u...
John Elway is the greatest qb of all time. He took 3 teams that didn’t belong in the playoffs to the super bowl. If Tom Brady was drafted to the Broncos in 1983 he’d have 1 Super Bowl, maybe.
