George Blanda
Blanda played record 26 seasons:
After quarterbacking the University of Kentucky for three seasons, George Blanda joined the NFL’s Chicago Bears and had a 10-year career with them. He became Chicago’s starting quarterback in 1953 and led the NFL in pass attempts with 362 and completions with 269, a 46.7 completion percentage and 23 interceptions against 14 touchdowns.
George Blanda played professional football for a record 26 seasons, retiring in 1976.
An injury sidelined him for about half the 1954 season, and he became a backup quarterback and place-kicker for the rest of his time with the Bears. He retired after the 1958 NFL season, but returned in 1960 upon the formation of the American Football League. He signed with the Houston Oilers as both a quarterback and kicker and went on to lead the Oilers to the first two league titles in AFL history. He led the AFL in passing yardage with 3,330 and touchdown passes with 36 in 1961; in completions with 224 and yardage with 3,003 in 1963; and in completions with 262 in 1964 and 186 in 1965.
He was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 1967, where he was primarily a kicker. Blanda became a legend, especially among older fans. On October 25 of 1967 he threw touchdown passes of 19, 43, and 44 yards in a 31-14 victory over Pittsburgh. The following week he kicked a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left to give Oakland a 17-17 tie with Kansas City.
Blanda was named the AFC Player of the Year and the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year. He announced his retirement before the 1975 season, shortly before his 49th birthday.<br/>During his incredible 26-year long career, Blanda completed 1,911 of 4,007 passes for 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns, with 277 interceptions. He scored nine touchdowns, kicked 943 extra points and had 335 field goals for a record 2,002 points. In 1999, he was ranked 98th on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
BIO INFO
No. 64, 22, 16
Quarterback / Kicker
Personal information
Date of birth: September 17, 1927
Place of birth: Youngwood, Pennsylvania
Date of death: September 27, 2010 (aged 83)[1]
Place of death: Alameda, California
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)Weight: 215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
College: Kentucky
NFL Draft: 1949 / Round: 12 / Pick: 119
• Debuted in 1949 for the Chicago Bears
• Last played in 1975 for the Oakland Raiders
Career history
- • NFL Chicago Bears (1949)
- • NFL Baltimore Colts (1950)
- • NFL Chicago Bears (1950–1958)
- • AFL Houston Oilers (1960–1966)
- • AFL Oakland Raiders (1967–1969)
- • NFL Oakland Raiders (1970–1975)
Career highlights and awards
- • Pro Football Hall of Fame (1981 inductee)
- • 4× AFL All-Star game selection, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1967
- • 5× All-AFL selection (1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967)
- • 2× All-Pro selection (1967, 1970, 1973)
- • 1963 UPI, AP, TSN AFL MVP
- • 1970 Bert Bell Award
- • AFL All-Time Team
- • 2× AFL leader in passing yards (1961, 1963)
- • Led AFL in passing TDs (1961)
- • 3x American Football League Champion, 1960, 1961, 1967
Career NFL statistics
Pass attempts4,007
Pass completions1,911TD-INT236-277
Passing Yards26,920
QB Rating60.6
Points scored2,002
• Stats at NFL.com
• Stats at DatabaseFootball.com
—Information from Wikipedia.org
