Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr.
(almost always known by his initials)
Y. A. Tittle, (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was a professional
American football quarterback. He played in the
National Football League (NFL) for the
San Francisco 49ers,
New York Giants, and
Baltimore Colts, after spending two seasons with the Colts in the
All-America Football Conference (AAFC).
[b] Known for his competitiveness, leadership, and striking profile, Tittle was the centerpiece of several prolific offenses throughout his seventeen-year professional career from 1948 to 1964.
Tittle played college football for
Louisiana State University, where he was a two-time All-
Southeastern Conference (SEC) quarterback for the
LSU Tigers football team. As a junior, he was named the
most valuable player (MVP) of the infamous
1947 Cotton Bowl Classic—also known as the "Ice Bowl"—a scoreless tie between the Tigers and
Arkansas Razorbacks in a snowstorm. After college, he was drafted in the
1947 NFL Draft by the
Detroit Lions, but he instead chose to play in the AAFC for the Colts.
With the Colts, Tittle was named the AAFC Rookie of the Year in 1948 after leading the team to the
AAFC playoffs. After back-to-back one-win seasons, the Colts franchise folded, which allowed Tittle to be drafted in the
1951 NFL Draft by the 49ers. Through ten seasons in San Francisco, he was invited to four
Pro Bowls, led the league in touchdown passes in 1955, and was named the
NFL Player of the Year by the
United Press in 1957. A groundbreaker, Tittle was part of the 49ers' famed "
Million Dollar Backfield", was the first professional football player featured on the cover of
Sports Illustrated, and is credited with coining "
alley-oop" as a sports term.
Considered washed-up, the 34-year-old Tittle was traded to the Giants following the 1960 season. Over the next four seasons, he won multiple NFL MVP awards, twice set the league single-season record for touchdown passes, and led the Giants to three straight
NFL championship games. Although he was never able to deliver a championship to the team, Tittle's time in New York is regarded among the glory years of the franchise.
[3] In his final season, Tittle was photographed bloodied and kneeling down in the
end zone after a tackle by a defender left him helmetless.
The photograph is considered one of the most iconic images in North American sports history. He retired as the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts, completions, and games played. Tittle was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and his jersey number 14 is
retired by the Giants.
Tittle was the sixth overall selection of the
1948 NFL Draft, taken by the
Detroit Lions.
[16] However, Tittle instead began his professional career with the
Baltimore Colts of the
All-America Football Conference in 1948. That season, already being described as a "passing ace",
[17] he was unanimously recognized as the AAFC Rookie of the Year by UPI after passing for 2,739 yards and leading the Colts to the brink of an Eastern Division championship.
[8] After a 1–11 win–loss record in
1949, the Colts joined the
National Football League in
1950. The team again posted a single win against eleven losses, and the franchise folded after the season due to financial difficulties.
[18] Players on the roster at the time of the fold were eligible to be drafted in the next NFL draft.
[19]
Tittle was then drafted by the
San Francisco 49ers in the
1951 NFL Draft after the Colts folded. While many players at the time were unable to play immediately due to military duties, Tittle had received a
class IV-F exemption due to physical ailments, so he was able to join the 49ers roster that season.
[20] In
1951 and
1952, he shared time at quarterback with
Frankie Albert. In 1953, his first full season as the 49ers' starter, he passed for 2,121 yards and twenty touchdowns and was invited to his first
Pro Bowl.
[21] San Francisco finished with a 9–3 regular season record, which was good enough for second in the
Western Conference, and led the league in points scored.
[22]
In
1954, the 49ers compiled their
Million Dollar Backfield, which was composed of four future
Hall of Famers: Tittle; fullbacks
John Henry Johnson and
Joe Perry; and halfback
Hugh McElhenny.
[23][24] "It made quarterbacking so easy because I just get in the huddle and call anything and you have three Hall of Fame running backs ready to carry the ball," Tittle reminisced in 2006.
[23] The team had aspirations for a championship run, but injuries, including McElhenny's separated shoulder in the sixth game of the season, ended those hopes and the 49ers finished third in the Western Division.
[24][25] Tittle starred in his second straight Pro Bowl appearance as he threw two touchdown passes, including one to 49ers teammate
Billy Wilson, who was named the game's MVP.
[26]
[/url]
Tittle on the cover of
Sports Illustrated in 1954
Tittle became the first professional football player featured on the cover of
Sports Illustrated when he appeared on its fifteenth issue dated November 22, 1954, donning his 49ers uniform and helmet featuring an
acrylic face mask distinct to the time period.
[24][27] The cover photo also shows a metal bracket on the side of Tittle's helmet which served to protect his face by preventing the helmet from caving in.
[28] The 1954 cover was the first of four
Sports Illustrated covers he graced during his career.
[29]
Tittle led the NFL in touchdown passes for the first time in
1955, with 17, while also leading the league with 28 interceptions thrown.
[4] When the 49ers hired
Frankie Albert as head coach in
1956,
[30] Tittle was pleased with the choice at first, figuring Albert would be a good mentor.
[4] However, the team lost four of its first five games, and Albert replaced Tittle with rookie
Earl Morrall. After a loss to the
Los Angeles Rams brought San Francisco's record to 1–6, Tittle regained the starting role and the team finished undefeated with one tie through the season's final five games.
[4][31]
In
1957, Tittle and receiver
R. C. Owens devised a pass play in which Tittle tossed the ball high into the air and the 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Owens leapt to retrieve it, typically resulting in a long gain or a touchdown. Tittle dubbed the play the "
alley-oop"—the first usage of the term in sports
[32]—and it was highly successful when utilized.
[33] The 49ers finished the regular season with an 8–4 record and hosted the
Detroit Lions in the Western Conference playoff. Against the Lions Tittle passed for 248 yards and tossed three touchdown passes—one each to Owens, McElhenny, and Wilson—but Detroit overcame a twenty-point third quarter deficit to win 31–27.
[34] For the season, Tittle had a league-leading 63.1 completion percentage, threw for 2,157 yards and thirteen touchdowns, and rushed for six more scores. He was deemed "
pro player of the year" by a
United Press poll of members of the National Football Writers Association.
[35][36] Additionally, he was named to his first
All-Pro team and invited to his third Pro Bowl.
[37][38]
After a poor 1958 preseason by Tittle, Albert started
John Brodie at quarterback for the
1958 season, a decision that proved unpopular with the fan base.
[4] Tittle came in to relieve Brodie in a week six game against the
Lions, with ten minutes left in the game and the 49ers down 21–17. His appearance "drew a roar of approval from the crowd of 59,213," after which he drove the team downfield and threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to McElhenny for the winning score.
[39] A right knee ligament injury against the
Colts in week nine ended Tittle's season, and San Francisco finished with a 7–5 record, followed by Albert's resignation as coach.
[4] Tittle and Brodie continued to share time at quarterback over the next two seasons.
[4] In his fourth and final Pro Bowl game with the 49ers in
1959, Tittle completed 13 of 17 passes for 178 yards and a touchdown.
[40]
Under new head coach
Red Hickey in
1960, the 49ers adopted the
shotgun formation.
[41] The first implementation of the shotgun was in week nine against the Colts, with Brodie at quarterback while Tittle nursed a groin injury. The 49ers scored a season-high thirty points, and with Brodie in the shotgun won three of their last four games to salvage a winning season at 7–5.
[4] Though conflicted, Tittle decided to get into shape and prepare for the next season. He stated in his 2009 autobiography that at times he thought, "The hell with it. Quit this damned game. You have been at it too long anyway." But then another voice within him would say, "Come back for another year and show them you're still a good QB. Don't let them shotgun you out of football!"
[4] However, after the first preseason game of 1961, Hickey informed Tittle he had been traded to the
New York Giants.
[4]
In mid-August 1961, the 49ers traded the 34-year-old Tittle to the
New York Giants for second-year
guard Lou Cordileone.
[42] Cordileone, the 12th overall pick in the
1960 NFL Draft, was quoted as reacting "Me, even up for Y. A. Tittle? You're kidding,"
[24] and later remarked that the Giants traded him for "a 42-year-old quarterback."
[43] Tittle's view of Cordileone was much the same, stating his dismay that the 49ers did not get a "name ballplayer" in return.
[4][43] He was also displeased with being traded to the
East Coast, and said he would rather have been traded to the
Los Angeles Rams.
[43]
Already considered washed up,
[44] the Giants intended to have Tittle share quarterback duties with 40-year-old
Charlie Conerly, who had been with the team since 1948.
[45] The players at first remained loyal to Conerly, and treated Tittle with the
cold shoulder.
[46][47] Tittle missed the season opener due to a back injury sustained before the season.
[48] His first game with New York came in week two, against the Steelers, in which he and Conerly each threw a touchdown pass in the Giants' 17–14 win.
[49] He became the team's primary starter for the remainder of the season and led the revitalized Giants to first place in the Eastern Conference.
[50] The
Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) awarded Tittle its
Jim Thorpe Trophy as the NFL's players' choice of MVP.
[51][52] In the
1961 NFL Championship Game, the Giants were soundly defeated by
Vince Lombardi's
Green Bay Packers, as they were shut-out 0–37.
[53] Tittle completed six of twenty passes in the game and threw four interceptions.
[54]
In January 1962, Tittle stated his intention to retire following the
1962 season.
[55] After an off-season quarterback competition with
Ralph Guglielmi,
[45] Tittle played and started in a career-high 14 games. He tied an NFL record by
throwing seven touchdown passes in a game on October 28, 1962, in a 49–34 win over the
Washington Redskins.
[56][57] Against the
Dallas Cowboys in the regular season finale, Tittle threw six touchdown passes to set the single-season record with 33, which had been set the previous year by
Sonny Jurgensen's 32.
[58] He earned player of the year honors from the
Washington D.C. Touchdown Club,
[59] UPI,
[36] and
The Sporting News,
[60] and finished just behind Green Bay's
Jim Taylor in voting for the
AP NFL Most Valuable Player Award.
[61] The Giants again finished first in the Eastern Conference and faced the Packers in the
1962 NFL Championship Game. In frigid, windy conditions at
Yankee Stadium and facing a constant
pass rush from the Packers'
front seven, Tittle completed only 18 of his 41 attempts in the game. The Packers won, 16–7, with New York's lone score coming on a blocked
punt recovered in the end zone by
Jim Collier.
[62]
Tittle returned to the Giants in
1963 and, at age 37, supplanted his single-season passing touchdowns record by throwing 36.
[4][63] He broke the record in the final game with three touchdowns against the Steelers, three days after being named NFL MVP by the AP.
[64] The Giants led the league in scoring by a wide margin, and for the third time in as many years clinched the Eastern Conference title.
[63] The Western champions were
George Halas'
Chicago Bears. The teams met in the
1963 NFL Championship Game at
Wrigley Field. In the second quarter, Tittle injured his knee on a tackle by
Larry Morris, and required a
novocaine shot at halftime to continue playing. After holding a 10–7 halftime lead, The Giants were shutout in the second half, during which Tittle threw four interceptions. Playing through the knee injury, he completed 11 of 29 passes in the game for 147 yards, a touchdown, and five interceptions as the Bears won 14–10.
[65][66]
The following year in
1964, Tittle's final season, the Giants went 2–10–2 (.214), the worst record in the 14-team league.
[67] In the second game of the year, against Pittsburgh, he was blindsided by
defensive end John Baker.
[68] The tackle left Tittle with crushed cartilage in his ribs, a cracked
sternum, and a
concussion.
[4] However, he played in every game the rest of the season, but was relegated to a backup role later in the year.
[44] After throwing only ten touchdowns with 22 interceptions, he retired after the season at age 39, saying rookie quarterback
Gary Wood not only "took my job away, but started to ask permission to date my daughter."
[44][69] Over seventeen seasons as a professional, Tittle completed 2,427 out of 4,395 passes for 33,070 yards and 242 touchdowns, with 248 interceptions. He also
scrambled for 39 touchdowns.
[70]
(More at the title link).
[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y._A._Tittle]