Johnny Unitas
Unitas in 1967
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| No. 19 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | May 7, 1933 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | ||||||||||||||
| Date of death: | September 11, 2002 (aged 69) | ||||||||||||||
| Place of death: | Baltimore, Maryland | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 196 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Pittsburgh (PA) St. Justin's | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Louisville | ||||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1955 / Round: 9 / Pick: 102 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Pass attempts: | 5,186 |
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| Pass completions: | 2,830 |
| Percentage: | 54.6 |
| TD–INT: | 290–253 |
| Passing yards: | 40,239 |
| Passer rating: | 78.2 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
John Constantine Unitas (/juːˈnaɪtᵻs/; Lithuanian: Jonas Konstantinas Jonaitis; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002), nicknamed "Johnny U" and "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career playing for the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the NFL's most valuable player in 1957, 1959, 1964 and 1967. For 52 years he held the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass (which he set between 1956 and 1960), until quarterback Drew Brees broke his long standing record on October 7, 2012. Unitas was the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback with a strong passing game, media fanfare, and widespread popularity. He has been consistently listed as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.
John Constantine Unitas was born to Francis J. Unitas and Helen Superfisky, who both were of Lithuanian descent, in Pittsburgh, in 1933, and grew up in the Mount Washington neighborhood. When Johnny was five years old, his father died of cardiovascular renal disease complicated by pneumonia, leaving the young boy to be raised by his mother, who worked two jobs to support the family. His unusual surname was a result of a phonetic transliteration of a common Lithuanian last name Jonaitis. Attending St. Justin's High School in Pittsburgh, Unitas played halfback and quarterback. After high school, Unitas looked for an opportunity to play college football.
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