rayonsports.com

It was really sad to hear of the passing on Monday of one of the great legends of pro football, George Blanda, at the age of 83. He retired from the game in 1975 and still holds or shares at least 10 NFL records, but rattling off statistics wouldn’t do Blanda’s story justice. His journey in pro football is a remarkable one, and his 26 year career is almost, well, like 3 separate careers. After playing college ball at Kentucky under Paul “Bear” Bryant, he started with the Chicago Bears in 1949 and played with them until 1958. He was a quarterback, placekicker and also saw time as a linebacker, then in 1953 became the Bears’ regular signal caller. An injury forced him out of the lineup, however, and he never regained the starting position. While in Chicago he had a tempestuous relationship with owner/coach George Halas. Finally, he decided to retire in ’58 when Halas insisted that he give up quarterbacking and devote his career to  becoming a full time kicker. Those 10 years in Chicago would be considered a successful career for almost any player, but it turns out Blanda was just getting warmed up.

George Blanda with the Chicago Bears in the 1950s.

In 1959, the “Foolish Club”, a group of millionaires led by Lamar Hunt who were frustrated in attempts to acquire NFL franchises, decided to form a new league. Blanda came out of retirement to sign with the Houston franchise because, as he said, “I knew Bud Adams (Oilers’ owner) had a lot of money”. After battling over every dime with the cheap Halas in Chicago, George followed the money. He wound up becoming the new American Football League’s first star player, leading the Oilers to the first 2 AFL championships while orchestrating a wide-open, pass-happy offense that turned out to be the trademark of the new league. Despite his success, Blanda became the target of the media at that time who belittled the new league as a “Mickey Mouse” operation, and mocked the Oilers’ QB as an “NFL reject”. Blanda continued to be the face of the Houston franchise, as the AFL gained more respect into the mid-’60s, until he was released by the team in March of  1967. Again, had Blanda decided to actually retire at that point, his football career would have been considered a huge success.

Blanda with the AFL’s Houston Oilers in the 1960s.

However, Oakland Raiders’ owner Al Davis still saw a lot of value in Blanda, and signed him for the ’67 season as his kicker and backup quarterback to the “Mad Bomber”, Daryle Lamonica. With the Raiders, Blanda was pretty much relegated to the role that he had resisted in Chicago, as the team’s full-time kicker. He led the AFL in scoring in ’67 with 116 points. The 1970 season, however, turned out to be a magical one for the ageless wonder. It was the first season after the AFL and NFL merged so it was technically a return to the NFL for Blanda after 12 years. During that season, he had a remarkable run of winning games for the Raiders with clutch kicks and also as the quarterback, relieving Lamonica when he was injured or ineffective. His clutch play helped the team make the playoffs where they reached the AFC title game against the Baltimore Colts. When Lamonica was hurt in that game, Blanda replaced him and at 43 became the oldest QB to ever play in a championship game. He threw 2 touchdown passes and kicked a 48 yard field goal to almost single-handedly keep his team in the game, but the bubble burst when he threw 2 interceptions late in the game as the Colts pulled away and won. He continued on as the Raiders’ kicker, one of the last straight-ahead kickers in the game, before finally actually retiring in 1975, at age 48, after playing pro football in four different decades.  

Blanda quarterbacking the Oakland Raiders in the 1970s.

A humorous story that pretty much sums up Blanda’s career involves an episode of the 1970s television show Happy Days. The show was set in the 1950s in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the episode, Richie Cunningham and his friend Ralph Malph are watching a Packers-Bears game on TV, and debating whether Blanda is any good as a quarterback or whether he is washed up and should just quit. If you were a football fan, of course you got the joke, because at the time the show aired Blanda was STILL playing in the NFL.

Rest in peace, George Blanda, a true American sports legend.