27
Sep
2010
Pro football legend George Blanda passes away at age 83
George Blanda, 1927-2010
George Blanda, the Hall of Fame quarterback and kicker best known for his late-game heroics, passed away today at the age of 83. Known as the “ageless wonder”, Blanda played professional football for 26-years, longer than anyone else in history, before retiring from the game one month shy of his 49th birthday. During a career spanning five decades (1949-1975), Blanda spent 10 years with the Chicago Bears, seven with the Houston Oilers, and then nine more seasons with the Oakland Raiders.
Blanda was the Brett Favre of his generation, throwing for a ton of yards and interceptions, retiring and un-retiring, but somehow always finding a way to come through in the clutch. He threw for almost 27,000 yards in his career and held the record with 277 interceptions until Brett Favre surpassed him in 2007.
But Blanda will be most remembered for a 5-game run with the John Madden-coached Raiders in 1970, now referred to by the Oakland organization as the “Miracle of George Blanda”. He finished his career with 2,002 points scored, kicking 335 field goals and 943 extra points, running for nine touchdowns and throwing for 236 more.
“George Blanda will always be remembered as a legend of our game,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement, “including his amazing career longevity of 26 seasons in four different decades. George’s multi-talented flair for the dramatic highlighted the excitement of pro football during an important period of growth for our sport.”
The news also came as a shock to Raiders owner Al Davis, who had been hoping to lure Blanda out of retirement yet again to give his club team a much-needed dose of toughness. (sorry, I couldn’t resist)
WATCH A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO BLANDA AFTER THE JUMP
21
May
2009
Thirsty Thursday: AFL Legacy Jerseys, Eli Manning on Plax, Donte Stallworth update and more!
Is it ironic that they gave Josh McDaniels a Jay Cutler jersey for this shoot?
Eight former AFL teams will be donning throwback uniforms during “legacy games” in the 2009 NFL season. From L-R in the photo above: Chargers, Broncos, Chiefs/Dallas Texans, Raiders, Oilers/Titans, Bills, Jets/Titans, Patriots.
As we all know by now, this is nothing more than a ploy to sell more jerseys. Every team in the NFL wears some version of a throwback every year, in the hopes that you have to have your favorite player in every color and style variation imaginable. And besides, we’ve already seen several of these AFL uniforms in league play before.
But because this particular set of jerseys is a tribute to the defunct AFL, it somehow seems newsworthy. And quite frankly, these jerseys are MUCH cooler than most of these throwback things usually look. Shutdown Corner has been doing daily reviews of each AFL Legacy uniform, and today they pick their favorites.
Here are your Thursday afternoon links:
- Eli Manning on Plax – “Its not like we need to have him” [Newsday]
- Donte Stallworth may get a break on manslaughter charge [Yahoo!]
- This is just a great read. After their recent victory in court, a (wildly naive) 1st Year Associate at Redskins’ Law Firm takes his superiors to task via company-wide emails for racial insensitivity. [from Above The Law via WithLeather]
