George Blanda

I've never been a Raiders fan, but I always liked Blanda. He played back in the days when they played for the love of the game and not for money. Most pros back then had second off-season jobs so they could make it financially the rest of the year. In 1949 George signed with the Chicago Bears for $600.

I had a friend, recently deceased, who played in the old Baltimore Colts band. He said that Johnny Unitas and others all had second jobs. He was working at a physical therapy center when he died of a heart attack in 2002.

 

It is hard to believe he played at Ky. and for the Bear. I believe most football fans have enjoyed his play at one time or another.

Side note, how many Qb's did the Bear send to the NFL?

 

Blanda, Namath, Stabler, Todd... 38 years of coaching, I'm sure there are more than those.

I first knew of Blanda in the 1970 season, when he pulled so many games out for the Raiders. I think it was a year or 2 later that I was reading and found out his NFL career was thought over, then he became the original AFL star with the Houston Oilers; and was almost over again when the Raiders picked him up just when they were becoming a power. He had an interesting, inspiring career, alright.