George Blanda

[BroTom64]

On of my favorite NFLers. I remember reading a article on Blanda's 50 or maybe 55 birthday. He said he was ready and waiting for a call from the Raiders to come back and kick for them.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/27/SPSE1FKCKA.DTL

Hope and pray He knew the Lord.

 

[Crabtownboy]

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.

 

[Bob Alkire]

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?

 

[Alcott]

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.

 

[BroTom64]

Bear also sent Scott Hunter, and Jeff Rutledge. Both played back-up for sevral years. Hunter claim to fame was winning a highscoring game against Ol' Miss and Archie Manning. I've heard that Bear called it the worse game he had ever saw.

"While offensive records were shattered by the 1969 team, this time it was the defense which struggled as Bama slipped to a dissapointing 6-5 season. One of the few highlights came when the Tide defeated Ole Miss 33-32 in Birmingham in one of the most electrifying games ever played on national television. Scott Hunter hit 22 of 29 passes for 300 yards in his fabled duel with Rebel quarterback Archie Manning, who compleated 33 of 52 for 436 yards while he rushed for 104 more."

http://www.angelfire.com/al/bamacrimsontide/bryantera.html