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He was the first professional football player featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.... inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and his jersey number 14 is retired by the Giants.
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I don't have to clink the link from the Times to see what it is. I know the picture-in fact I have a framed picture of it my mancaveden, along with Slingin' Sammy, Automatic Otto, the Starr, and #19, the guy who wore those high tops.
It was Tittle's last season with the Giants. It was only the season before that he took the NY Giants to the NFL Championship game against the Chicago Bears, and sadly lost his 3rd attempt at a championship.The previous two were against Vince Lombardi and the Packers. And that last season wasn't kind to Tittle as head coach Allie Sherman gutted the defense and sent people to other clubs, guys like Rosey Grier, Sam Huff, and Dick Modzeleski.
Though Tittle started his career with Baltimore, he gained fame with the 49ers and their "Million Dollar Backfield" of John Henry Johnson, Joe "The Jet" Perry, and Hugh McIlhenny, whose nickname was "The King". Certainly a million dollar payroll, well, maybe not a million, but we're talking about 4 HOFers here. It was mystifying how Frisco couldn't win an NFL Championship, but not for a lack of trying. Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Detroit were winning those championships in the 1950's and don't forget that Frisco was one of those teams from the AAFC that merged with the NFL when that league folded.
The Rams and the 49ers were great teams during Tittle's time with Frisco, they developed a great rivalry. In fact, my NFL fact book shows huge attendance figures the times that the 49ers would play the Rams in the 1950's. In 1953 when Frisco came to the LA Coliseum, the attendance was 93,751. In 1957, the attendance for those games was 102,368. 1957 would be the only time that Frisco had a playoff game, which was against the Lions, sadly Tittle would lose to those Lions 28-24. Frisco was then described as a team that was "always a bridesmaid but never a bride."
As John Brodie was starting to develop and with Tittle's time fading, Frisco traded him to the New York Giants as Giant quarterback Charlie Connerly's time had run out. Tittle was a 7 time pro bowler, won the passing crown 3 times. The guy was old school. Tough as nails? Damn right he was. I still remember that 1963 NFL Championship game--Jack Brickhouse on the call, Chris Shenkel on commentary, George Connor, the old ex Chicago Bear on the field doing the interviews.
He was never an official NFL champion but I include Tittle with Sammy Baugh, Jim Brown, Unitas, Otto Graham, Dick "Night Train" Lane, Jim Taylor, Chuck Bednarik, Raymond Berry, Sam Huff, Rosie Greer, Steve Van Buren, Leo Nomellini, Norm Van Brocklin, and others that made the NFL what it later became. The BEST game.
RIP, Yelberton Abraham! Your contributions to the NFL are well noted in Canton.
He was the first professional football player featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.... inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, and his jersey number 14 is retired by the Giants.
Yep, it is the picture I thought it would be...granted, I thought for sure I had seen the picture from another angle where he was facing the opposite direction...
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