Spending time with my buddy Johnny gets me onto stories he used to tell me back when we were growing up. He was always so focused on his NFL goals, even then. Everyone knew that he was going to make it to the top. No one expected how far he could go, though.
At first, Johnny Unitas was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955, but the team wasn’t interested in his long career. He eventually got signed with the Baltimore Colts in 1956 and his legendary career kicked off from there. His first game saw two touchdowns in the first quarter and from then on the legend of Johnny Unitas only grew.
What is mind-blowing is how long Johnny Unitas stayed in the NFL, and he stayed with the same team for the most part. Even today when the NFL is so competitive and teams are switching players like crazy, it is rare to find a player that stayed with one team for 18 years! When one considers how the rules of the league and the highly dynamic nature of it all, it’s a near miracle that Johnny managed to play for Baltimore for so long.
Johnnny was playing football deep into his 30s, and he was still on top of his game. He was a consistent top 10 QB for almost a decade and I’m sure he was the bane of other teams strategy sessions. He was such an asset to the team that even when he retired, he returned for one last season in 1973 for Baltimore.
His career was simply amazing, and it made a huge impact on the NFL. He was a legend of the game and you could see his influence in how the NFL looked at the position of a Quarterback from then on. Watching Johnny play was an all time experience as he had an innate ability to motivate his players.
Apart from football, Johnny was also an effective leader off the field. He was passionate about the game and inspired many younger players to follow their dreams. He had a special vision of the game and many of his teammates went to become hall of fame players.
Johnny Unitas even inspired many players that followed him. He was an NFL pioneer and changed the way the game is played. His long career in the NFL among other things shows how dedicated he was to the sport. No matter how hard life got for him, Johnny always kept looking forward and refused to give up. This is something that inspires me to this day.