George Frederick Blanda was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and quarterback in the American Football League and National Football League.
32 Facts About George Blanda
2.
George Blanda retired from pro football in August 1976 at age 48, the sport's oldest player ever.
3.
George Blanda was a quarterback and kicker at Kentucky from 1945 to 1948.
4.
George Blanda was the starting quarterback his last two seasons at Kentucky, compiling 120 completions in 242 passes, 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns.
5.
George Blanda began his professional career with the Chicago Bears in 1949.
6.
George Blanda spent four seasons with the Bears, where he established himself as a talented quarterback and kicker.
7.
Blanda was signed by the Chicago Bears for $600 in 1949, an amount owner George Halas demanded back when he made the team.
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George Blanda was given a lucrative contract of $6000, as the $600 was just a sign on bonus.
9.
George Blanda retired after the 1958 season because of Halas' insistence on only using him as a kicker, but returned in 1960 upon the formation of the American Football League.
10.
George Blanda signed with the Houston Oilers as both a quarterback and kicker.
11.
George Blanda was derided by the sports media as an "NFL Reject", but he went on to lead the Oilers to the first two league titles in AFL history, and he was the All-AFL quarterback and won AFL Player of the Year honors in 1961.
12.
George Blanda's 42 interceptions thrown in 1962 is a record that still stands.
13.
From 1963 to 1965, George Blanda led the AFL in passing attempts and completions, and ranked in the top ten for attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns during seven consecutive seasons.
14.
George Blanda would cede playing time at quarterback to the 25-year-old Don Trull, though George Blanda continued to serve as the team's primary kicker.
15.
In 1970, George Blanda was released during the exhibition season, but bounced back to establish his 21st professional season.
16.
George Blanda's achievements resulted in his winning the Bert Bell Award.
17.
George Blanda was named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, being the first-ever professional football player to earn the award.
18.
George Blanda was released during training camp in late August 1976, succeeded at kicker by rookie Fred Steinfort, but pulled for the team as the Raiders went on to win the NFL title that season in Super Bowl XI.
19.
George Blanda finished his 27 professional football seasons having completed 1,911 of 4,007 pass attempts for 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns.
20.
George Blanda held the NFL record for most interceptions thrown with 277, until Brett Favre broke it on October 14,2007.
21.
George Blanda rushed for 344 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground, kicked 335 of 641 field goals, and 943 of 959 extra points, giving him 2,002 total points.
22.
George Blanda is the placekicker on the All-Time All-AFL Team, and was one of only 20 players to play all ten years of the AFL, as well as one of only three who were in every AFL game their teams played.
23.
George Blanda was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981, his first year of eligibility, and was inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Fame.
24.
George Blanda held the record for most professional football games played with 340 until September 26,2004, when it was broken by another placekicker, Morten Andersen as well as the record for most consecutive games played until September 26,1976, by defensive end Jim Marshall.
25.
George Blanda broke Lou Groza's career scoring record in 1971, a record he held until 2000 when it was broken by Gary Anderson.
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In 1999, George Blanda was ranked number 98 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
27.
George Blanda was the first-ever recorded fantasy football draft pick when the game was first created in 1962 by The Greater Oakland Professional Pigskin Prognosticators League.
28.
George Blanda was the son of a Slovak-born Pittsburgh-area coal miner.
29.
George Blanda was married to Betty Harris from December 17,1949, until his death on September 27,2010, ten days after his 83rd birthday.
30.
Towards the end of his career, George Blanda served as a commercial spokesman for Chrysler Corporation.
31.
George Blanda was often seen in television commercials promoting the full-size Dodge Truck line, most notably its new "Club Cab" after the line received a complete redesign in 1973.
32.
George Blanda appeared in commercials for Schaefer Beer, Brut cologne, Kellogg's cereals and many others during the early 1970s.