1959 Topps football card of one of the all time legendary quarterbacks in NFL history, John Unitas. Until Sunday night, he held an NFL record said to be the football equivalent of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak in baseball – throwing at least one touchdown pass in 47 consecutive games. Drew Brees, who broke Dan Marino’s single season passing yardage mark last season, tossed a TD pass in his 48th straight game to pass Unitas. “Johnny U” was rescued from the scrap heap, after being cut by the Steelers, by the Baltimore Colts, and he rewarded them with a 17 year career (of the 19 years he played altogether) that included 3 world championships, 3 league MVP awards and 10 selections to the Pro Bowl. Unitas was named to the NFL’s All Decade team for the 1960s, the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All Time team, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. He was always recognizable with his flat-top haircut and black high-top shoes, and his penchant for keeping drives alive with pinpoint passes and leading clutch fourth quarter comebacks made him the prototype for today’s signal callers, even though he played in an era dominated by a “three yards and a cloud of dust” conservative mentality. Unitas passed away of a heart attack in 2002.