Posted on 10/09/2017 12:20:35 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Yelberton Abraham Tittle, the Hall of Fame quarterback whose career spanned 17 professional season, has died at the age of 90.
Tittle may be best remembered for the iconic photograph of him by Morris Berman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, showing him as he attempted recover from being beaten and bloodied by a brutal hit by John Baker of the Steelers in 1964, his final season. The 38-year-old Tittle suffered a concussion and broken sternum on the play, but played through his injuries and didn’t miss a game that season.
An All-SEC quarterback at LSU and MVP of the 1947 Cotton Bowl (a snowy game that was referred to as the Ice Bowl before a more famous NFL game took that name), Tittle was drafted by the Lions in the NFL but chose instead to play for the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference from 1948 to 1950.
When some AAFC teams joined the NFL, the Colts and other AAFC teams folded (the team later called the Baltimore Colts was a new franchise), and in a draft for the players from those teams Tittle was chosen by the 49ers. After spending his first two seasons as a backup in San Francisco, Tittle became the 49ers’ starter in 1953 and was chosen to the NFL’s third annual Pro Bowl.
Tittle lasted 10 seasons in San Francisco, and he made an impact off the field as well as on. In 1954, Tittle became the first professional football player featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. In 1957, Tittle coined the term “alley-oop” for a play in which his 6-foot-3 receiver R.C. Owens would plant himself in the end zone and jump as high as he could, and Tittle would throw him a high pass. The term would later become associated with basketball, but Tittle came up with it first.
By 1961, the 49ers thought Tittle was way past his prime, and they traded him to the Giants. But he found his second wind in New York, being named to the Pro Bowl each of his first three seasons in New York and winning the league MVP award in 1963, when he led the league in completion percentage, touchdowns and yards per completion.
Tittle is remembered as a great passer, a great leader and as one of the toughest quarterbacks in history. And he’s remembered as the subject of one of the greatest sports photographs ever taken.
YA Tittle is followed by Mr. Get on all Fours like a dog who was carried off the field crying yesterday.
when men were men ...
Never saw him play but heard stories from my elders (who were all avid Giants’ fans). Those really were the days.
Rest in Peace, Y.A. You were loved.
In earlier years, one exciting game was burned into memory
Due to the fact the sports announcer repeatedly stated:
It’s Tittle at the throttle! There, HE THROWS. Tittle at the Throttle repeated again and again.
A player before PC turned the other players into fairies.
I had no idea he was still alive.
I remember his league championship game against the Packers. It was a repeat from the year before, same two teams in the pre-superbowl era, fighting it out. My Daddy was for Green Bay and I was for the Giants. Green Bay won and Tittle’s offense was contained throughout. Jerry Kraemer had three field goals which was the winning margin for the Pack.
Y.A. was also a game show panelist on the Match Game with another celebrity...a young Betty White.
Mr. Get on all Fours like a dog is out for the year.
It’s obvious he is kneeling for the anthem/s
No truth to the rumor that he died of embarrassment......
I believe around the players his nickname was “Yat{?
Back when football was football. I actually watched him on B&W TV. Ya....
Watched him play many, many times when I was a kid in the ‘50s at Kezar when he was QB for the ‘49s....
I remember watching games with my father. How many times deep in the game the announcer would yell “Tittle is back...he looks...he throws! He was a living legend even then.
Those were the days. I loved the NFL in the 60s.
Y. A. Tittle looked older than he was due to being bald and he probably played a season or two past his prime. One of the greats.
Even the wild ones like Max McGhee, Joe Namath, and Paul Hornung were not disrespectful.
The best QB I ever saw was Bart Starr but that was partly because he played in the days where the QB literally ran the team on the field including calling the plays.
RIP Y.A. Tittle, an NFL legend! An honorable man from an honorable time.
Hated the Giants, but loved watching him play. Surprised he was still alive, but a helluva tough guy.
No h.
I hit the “G” accidentally then noticed it and thought “that looks right” so I left it in.
Thanks for the correction.
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