Johnny Unitas

John Unitas was and will remain the greatest Quarterback of the NFL. He invented the two minute drill and did the most to use passing into what was then a basic running game. He played in an era where the Quarterback was not protected and was just one of the players. He was the field general, he called his own plays and he admitted his mistakes, like a MAN!!! He was clean-cut, believed in working hard and playing hard, as his record shows. The best way to explain Unitas was just before a game and the coach had given his pep talk to the team. He then turned to John Unitas and asked him if he had anything to say. John just said, "talk is cheap, let's play ball." Enuff said!! Charlie P.S. I remember seeing John Unitas in action, not just on the web.

Johnny was great but he was over rated.

Great in his day but compared to today's qb he was slow and didn't have a quick release.

Unitas was quarterback on the NFL's Half-Century Team. I saw him play in person perhaps six, eight times. In Unitas' prime, I think Fran Tarkenton was his closest competitor. If you gauge a quarterback by what he can accomplish in the final two minutes of a pivotal game, then you have to rate Unitas as the best at his position. Of course it did not hurt him to have Raymond Berry as his primary receiver. I urge every fan of the best days of the NFL to read and savor Tom Callahan's bio of Number 19. It's the best-written sports book since Seabiscuit.!

Looked like a pair of pliers. Dropped back like a crippled duck. Threw like my aunt. But he could win. God could he win.

The first great QB. Put the NFL on the map after the 1958 championship overtime victory on live Television against the Highly Rated NY Giants. In the mid-sixties, Unitas was replace by a losser of a QB, that will not be mentioned, and during the 68 Super Bowl 3, Unitas was placed in and nearly lead the Comeback against old Bradway Jow Namethe. Lead many Comebacks, and with the help of offencive co-ordinator Vince Lombardi, Johnny Untis is and will remain the First Great Quater Back

I love JOhnny Unitas and people are going to scream but I am comparing him to today.  He had a bad qb rating which he would not gey away with today.  He was tough but he was slow and unlike Warner didn't have as quick of release to make up for it.  That being said he was still a great QB.  My rating in no way reflects on how great overall he was but against todays pass rush he would have had it rough.

John Unitas as the best in the rough and tumble game of the last 50's. He had no mentor, no trainer no million dollar contract, just a gut level desire to win and win he did. When he was on the field, he was in charge. Every great quarterback that has played since then owes Number 19, a thank you. Even the great Joe Montana (and he is great) when asked if he was the best quarterback of all time, Joe Montana deferred to John Unitas as the best of all time. Mr Baltimore, the best.......

John Unitas created the modern day quarterback position and the style that is still in use today. Imagine just how great he would have been if he could have watched a guy like John Unitas first then lifted weights and had the benfit of modern day coaching at a young age...then John Unitas would have been even so much better that there would be NO ARGUEMENT AS TO WHO WAS THE GREATEST QUARTERBACK OF ALL TIME...Johnny U that's who!!!

He has the perfect image. He'd never be on a sex cruise, today's quarterbacks need to learn from this man. He's a good boy, and he's a all American guy. Perfect all American haircut, and he played the game the right way. He's the kind of boy you'd want your daughter to meet. I don't have kids, but if I had a daughter, I'd want her to meet a all American guy like him.

Still holds many records and only threw 18-25 times per game compared to Dan Marino's 40 or so. How many quarterbacks still call their own plays? Virtually invented the audible. Plus, the drive to tie the Greatest Game Ever Played is often forgotten. They faced 3rd. and 10 inside their own thirty with less than two minutes to play in the 1958 NFL Championship Game. Unitas put it together and set up the game-tying field goal. Definitely the greatest of all-time.

he is a three star but since his rating is too high i must help get it closer to what he really is.

I dont know what was considered good at the time he played but i hear from people he was great so ill have to agree with them Dan is still the best though :)

After analyzing every conceivable performance measure for NFL quarterbacks, I conclude that Joe Montana, John Elway, and Johnny Unitas are the top 3 of all time - the NFL's QB Triumvirate, the Top Tier of the Elite. When all is said and done, other NFL quarterbacks come close (Graham, Young, Favre, Marino, Starr, Staubach, Bradshaw, Baugh); but Montana, Elway, and Unitas - each in his own incomparable way - are unsurpassed in what they accomplished on the gridiron. Raw statistics are one important measure, but they are not the final arbiter, not the true measure of greatness. Fact is, it's not hard to find other quarterbacks, some not members of the Hall, whose ratings and passing numbers look better than many of the 21 Hall of Fame greats. But who won more Super Bowls and performed as superbly in the big games than Cool Joe? Who won more NFL games, more championships combined (SB, AFC/NFC, divisional), and more comeback victories than the magician Elway? And who was a superior f... Read more

Best QB of all time, set todays benchmark. Remember, he was Mr BALTIMORE Colt, not a redneck Indy Gelding.

If you don't think Unitas is a legend, well then you should just stop acting like you know football. Unitas posted huge stats for the 60s and yes records are always made to be broken. but he was the first man to set the bar high enough for a challenge. a true role-model for upcoming QBs.

Greatest quarterback of the '60's. The only other quarterback of that era who comes close is Bart Starr.

Threw for over 40,000 yards long before rule-changes made life easy for offenses. Won championships in a cold-weather city. Made comebacks famous and was a complete legend. Living proof that you can't pick a QB because he's 6'4 (See - Ryan Leaf) QB's have to have it from the neck up and Johnny U. can't be any lower than 2 or 3 on anybody's top list.

Without question the best QB of his time, the best the COLTS have had until Peyton Manning and a Baltimore legend. Definitely in the top 5 of all time. Where would Terry Bradshaw have ended up if the Steelers would have kept Johnny U??

He was a great QB. But I don't think he'd do as well if he played nowadays.

Did it all and from Pittsburgh to boot.

He would never make it in the NFL today. He was weak and would get crushed by even the smallest DB. Should not even be in the top 20.

Johnny U. belongs in the top 5 ever. Threw for over 40000 yards with 2800 completions and almost 300 TDs. He was named player of the decade in the 1950's and won the 58 championship on a final 80 yard drive to beat the Giants 23-17. He was also tough as nails. One time during a drive a player stepped on his face with his cleats- back in the days when the face mask was one bar- cutting a hole through his cheek into his mouth. The gash caused profuse bleeding but Unitas simply packed his mouth and face with dirt from the field and kept playing, leading his team to a touchdown on that drive and never missing one play during the game.

Johnny Unitas, along with Joe Montana, was the best quarterback ever. Mentally tough and physically gifted with a golden arm, Johnny U was the ultimate field general on the gridiron. But perhaps his greatest moment came during the 1958 NFL championship with he led his beloved Baltimore Colts to an overtime victory against the Sam Huff-led New York Giants. Only Montana was able to conjure up such cool under pressure over thirty years later with his Superbowl winning drive against the Cincinnati Bengals. But Johnny U epitomized greatness at a time when football was played by average working joes (no pun intended).

He sucked

The greatest QB in NFL history invented the 2 minute drill in the NFL championship Game in 58 made his player play to their potential and frankly his greatest feat was in 1970 when he lead an older less talented Colt team to the last of his three championships on what was a bum arm.and most importantly he called his own plays something that no QB does today.

The best of the best at QB. He didn't have an O Coord. calling plays in his ear. Johnny U. looked at the D, and went to work. His passing records were established in a running era.

Tougher than nails, great competitor and team leader. Can't use the fact that he called his own plays, almost all QB's in today's game audiable at least 35% of the plays. Poor man's Favre.

Still holds the record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass. And Pittsburgh was DUMB to let him go. He did everything to help the Colts win.

he called his own plays and set records in an era where the ball simply was not thrown like it is today. probably the guttiest qb to ever take the field.

Unitas was the best. He had 22 quarterbacking records at the time of his retirement, and one that stand today is his record of 47 consecutive games with a touchdown pass. Unitas was a money player, and its a sad thing that he had passed away this past year.

The first prolific QB in an era where passing was difficult, and a true champion and competetor.

greatest player evr...until a few years down the road when ray-ray takes his spot

AWSOME PLAYER!!

Johnny Unitas on offense and Chuck Bednarik on defense. Enough said.

The greatest quarteback ever. period.A real field general not just a doer.

The best I ever saw. Had a supreme command of the field. Classic rags-to-riches story.

this man simple was largen then life.he ruled the game.

Simply the best ever. He made everyone else around him better. 47 straight games with a TD pass. He invented the 2-minute drill and the west coast offense. Called all his own plays. Was probably the toughest QB to ever play...always played hurt. He held all the passing records until they changed the rules to protect the QB and eliminate holding on WRs. But he still holds a few. Elway, Marino and Montana are great, but they wouldn't have come close to Unitas had they played under the same set of rules.

couldn't hold Elway's jockstrap

What's with this overrated QB. Dan Marino is 10 times better. He played in the 60s. Every one sucked back then. On a list of the top 100 QBs ever. He would rank 60th. TAKE THAT COLTS! BEST QB EVER- Dan Marino

Mr.unitas is the best quarterback to ever play the game. As much as I like Elway, Marino, Montana, etc. if Johnny U. were playing in this pass friendly era, with indoor playing fields, look out! his stats would be off the chart, remember he called all his own plays!!

The greatest quaterback of all time. Played when seasons were only 12 games, and it was much harder to pass than it is now. Had all the major passing records when he retired. His passing rating seems only average now because of rule changes that have made passing easier. Put pro football on the map with his daring play-calling in the 1958 sudden death championship game against the N.Y.Giants. Won 3 M.V.P. awards,and in 2000 was voted as footballs greatest quaterback of all-time,ahead of such stars as Joe Montana and Dan Marino! Was a true leader on the field who called all his own plays. His record of throwing touchdown passes in 47 straight games may never be broken!

He and Marino are the two best QBs. I saw them both and I still don't know who I'd pick.

One of the great athletes of the 20th. century. And, a working man. Johnny U. is the epitome of what a professional athete should stand for. The man is a real "Meansch" (all round great guy!). Still lives and leads a productive life in his adopted home town of Baltimore. Johnny U. is our number one Raven's fan. Long live Johnny U!

His name is synonymous with great football player. Johnny U was the first football player I ever knew by name, as a kid. He lead one of the greatest football teams ever.