Y.A. Tittle

Y.A. Tittle played 17 seasons of pro football. He played three seasons with the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (1947-49) and one with the Colts in the National Football League (1950).

He played 10 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and a final four seasons with the New York Giants. Although Tittle had excellent personal statistics while playing for the Colts and 49ers, the one thing that eluded him was a championship.

Then, in 1961, when Tittle was traded to New York, it looked like his fate would change. The Giants were contenders. However, when he joined the team, he was about as welcome as a bill collector. The Giants were a veteran, close-knit group, proud of their past successes. They knew that Tittle would be battling a team favorite, 40-year-old Charlie Conerly, for the quarterback job. The Giants might have feigned cordiality to their new teammate but, for weeks, "Yat” was the loneliest guy in town.

When the 1961 season started, Tittle and Conerly shared the quarterbacking duties, but as the Giants moved nearer to the NFL East Division crown, it became more and more evident Tittle was the guy making it all possible. By the time he was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player, the cold-shoulder treatment from the Giants had long since evaporated.

In 1962, Tittle played even better, setting an NFL single-season record with 33 touchdown passes and a career-high 3,224 yards. A year later, he broke his own record by throwing 36 touchdown passes, completed 60.2% of his passes, and again was named NFL Player of the Year. A terrific competitor who was always willing to play hurt, Tittle led the Giants to divisional titles in 1961, 1962 and 1963. Even though they failed to win the overall NFL crown, those were the "glory years" in New York when Tittle was at the helm.

At the time of his retirement, Tittle held the NFL all-time records for pass completions (2,118), passing yards (28,339) and touchdown passes (212).