Quarterback, Baltimore
Age: 31
9th
season in pro football & with Colts
College: Louisville
Height: 6’1” Weight: 194
Prelude:
Unitas was
chosen in the 9th round of the 1955 NFL draft by the Steelers, but
failed to make the team in the preseason. After playing semi-pro football, he
was signed by the Colts to back up starting QB George Shaw and when Shaw went
down with a broken kneecap four games into the ’56 season, Unitas got his
chance, showed potential, and held onto the job. He broke out in 1957, leading
the league in pass attempts (301), yards (2550), TD passes (24), and yards per
attempt (8.5). The Colts contended and Unitas was selected to the Pro Bowl and
received MVP consideration. It set the stage for a championship season in ’58,
with Unitas leading the NFL with 19 TD passes despite missing two games due to
injury and then leading the Colts to a title with a memorable overtime win over
the Giants. Unitas was chosen to a second Pro Bowl and was a consensus
first-team All-Pro for the first time. An outstanding play-caller as well as
passer with a quick release, he was adept at throwing long, short, or in
between. He followed up in 1959 by leading the NFL in pass attempts (367),
completions (193), yards (2899), and a then-record 32 touchdown passes. The
Colts repeated as league champs and Unitas received MVP as well as All-NFL and
Pro Bowl recognition. He continued to excel, although the Colts went into a
brief decline. His record 47-straight-game TD passing streak ended in 1960 (and
remained the standard until 2012) and he led the NFL in passing attempts,
completions, and yards twice more and TD passes once through 1963, by which
point he had achieved seven straight Pro Bowl selections.
1964 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 305
[8]
Most
attempts, game – 32 at Chicago 11/8
Completions –
158 [8, tied with Don Meredith]
Most
completions, game – 16 at Chicago 11/8
Yards – 2824 [3]
Most yards,
game – 289 vs. Minnesota 11/15
Completion
percentage – 51.8 [10]
Yards per
attempt – 9.3 [1]
TD passes – 19
[5]
Most TD
passes, game – 3 vs. Chicago 9/27, vs. LA Rams 10/4
Interceptions
– 6 [14, tied with John Roach]
Most
interceptions, game – 2 at Detroit 10/25
Passer rating
– 96.4 [2]
200-yard
passing games – 9
Rushing
Attempts – 37
Most
attempts, game - 5 (for 16 yds.) at Green Bay 9/20
Yards – 162
Most yards,
game – 34 yards (on 4 carries) at Chicago 11/8
Yards per
attempt – 4.4
TDs – 2
Scoring
TDs – 2
Points – 12
Postseason: 1
G (NFL Championship at Cleveland)
Pass attempts
– 20
Pass
completions – 12
Passing
yardage – 95
TD passes – 0
Interceptions
– 2
Rushing
attempts – 6
Rushing yards
– 30
Average gain
rushing – 5.0
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: AP,
UPI, Bert Bell Award, Sporting News
1st
team All-NFL: AP, NEA, UPI, NY Daily News
1st
team All-Western Conference: Sporting News
Pro Bowl
The Colts
went 12-2 to finish first in the Western Conference while leading the NFL in
total yards (4779), scoring (428 points), and touchdowns (54). Lost NFL
Championship to Cleveland Browns (27-0).
Aftermath:
Unitas was
having another outstanding season in 1965 until felled by a knee injury, still
garnering consensus first-team All-NFL honors. He was chosen for the Pro Bowl
following the 1966 and ’67 seasons, the latter of which saw him gain MVP honors
for the fourth (and last) time. A severe elbow injury caused him to miss
virtually all of the 1968 season and he showed wear over the remainder of his
18-year career that ended with the Chargers in 1973, although he quarterbacked
the Colts through one last championship season in 1970. For his career, Unitas set
then-NFL standards for pass attempts (5186), completions (2830), yards (40,239)
and touchdowns (290). He was named to 10 Pro Bowls and received first- or
second-team All-NFL honors eight times. Unitas had his #19 retired by the Colts
and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1979.
--
MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or
Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or
USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football
Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press
International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league
itself).
