36 Facts About Sonny Jurgensen

1.

Christian Adolph "Sonny" Jurgensen III was born on August 23,1934 and is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for 18 seasons, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.

2.

Sonny Jurgensen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

3.

Sonny Jurgensen was born on August 23,1934, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

4.

Sonny Jurgensen later won Wilmington's youth tennis championship and pitched for his local Civitan club, which won the city baseball title.

5.

Sonny Jurgensen attended and played high school football at New Hanover High School.

6.

Sonny Jurgensen played a number of positions for the team and as a junior was a backup quarterback on the state championship team.

7.

Sonny Jurgensen joined the varsity team in 1954 as a backup quarterback behind Jerry Barger and he completed 12 of 28 passes for 212 yards, with one touchdown and three interceptions.

8.

Sonny Jurgensen retained a starting position in the defensive secondary.

9.

That season Sonny Jurgensen completed 37 of 69 passes for 536 yards, three touchdowns and seven interceptions.

10.

Sonny Jurgensen rushed 54 times for 48 yards and scored two touchdowns.

11.

Sonny Jurgensen punted four times for a 33.7 average and intercepted four passes for 17 yards.

12.

Sonny Jurgensen threw six interceptions and two touchdown passes and rushed 25 times for 51 yards with three touchdowns.

13.

Sonny Jurgensen rushed for 109 yards and intercepted 10 passes.

14.

Sonny Jurgensen played baseball briefly at Duke, but turned down an invitation to try out for the basketball team.

15.

Sonny Jurgensen was drafted in the fourth round of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

16.

Sonny Jurgensen was Philadelphia's backup quarterback, behind Bobby Thomason in 1957 and Norm Van Brocklin, from 1958 through 1960.

17.

Sonny Jurgensen took over play-calling for the Redskins during the 1964 season.

18.

Sonny Jurgensen was then selected to play in the Pro Bowl following the season and was named second Team All-Pro.

19.

Sonny Jurgensen rushed for a touchdown on a quarterback sneak and threw a game-winning 35-yard pass to Bobby Mitchell.

20.

In 1967, Sonny Jurgensen broke his own record by passing for 3,747 yards and set NFL single-season records for attempts and completions.

21.

Sonny Jurgensen missed much of the 1968 season because of broken ribs and elbow surgery.

22.

Sonny Jurgensen did tie an NFL record early in the 1968 season for the longest pass play in NFL history.

23.

That season, Sonny Jurgensen led the NFL in attempts, completions, completion percentage, and passing yards.

24.

However, Billy Kilmer started in place of Sonny Jurgensen, who was again bothered by injuries in 1971 and 1972.

25.

In 1974, at the age of 40 and in his final season, Sonny Jurgensen won his third NFL passing crown even though he was still splitting time with Kilmer.

26.

Sonny Jurgensen came off the bench in relief of Kilmer and completed six of 12 passes but threw three interceptions.

27.

Sonny Jurgensen is recognized as the finest pure passer of his time.

28.

Sonny Jurgensen exceeded 400 yards passing in a single game five times, and threw five touchdown passes in a game twice.

29.

Later teaming with Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff, Sonny Jurgensen continued to cover the Washington Redskins on radio.

30.

Sonny Jurgensen covered the team for WRC-TV from 1994 until December 2008, when Redskins Report was canceled due to budget cuts.

31.

Sonny Jurgensen served as a game analyst at preseason games and as studio analyst at training camp, making weekly picks, and other assignments.

32.

Sonny Jurgensen retired from broadcasting prior to the 2019 season.

33.

Sonny Jurgensen was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1971 and the Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1979.

34.

Sonny Jurgensen was then inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

35.

In 1999, Sonny Jurgensen was ranked the ninth best sports figure from North Carolina by Sports Illustrated and became a member of Wilmington's Walk of Fame in 2004.

36.

Sonny Jurgensen serves on the board of advisors of the Code of Support Foundation, a nonprofit military services organization.