Teams
- Chicago Bears (1949)
- Baltimore Colts (1950)
- Chicago Bears (1950-1958)
- Houston Oilers (1960-1966)
- Oakland Raiders (1967-1975)
Accolades
- Pro Football Hall of Fame
- 3x AFL Champion (1960, 1961, 1967)
- AFL Most Valuable Player (1961)
- 4x AFL All-Star (1961-1963, 1967)
- First-Team All-AFL
- Bert Bell Award (1970)
- Walter Payton Man of the Year (1974)
“He was a football player. He hated to be called a ‘kicker.’ If anyone says ‘kicker George Blanda’ or ‘George Blanda comma kicker,’ he hated that. He wanted to be known as a football player. And he was a football player, who played quarterback and also kicked. That’s what he wanted to be known as. There was a time when he was with the Chicago Bears and he wasn’t playing much quarterback so he told George Halas that he just wanted to play, so he played linebacker. That was the type of guy he was. He was a quarterback that could play NFL football as a linebacker.”
—John Madden, Hall of Fame Head Coach, Oakland Raiders (source)
A lot of people will say that George Blanda is only in the Hall of Fame because he played so long. Turns out that, statistically, he’s much better than he often gets credit for. He was one of the pioneers of the pass-emphasized play that made the AFL so much fun and put up some tremendous numbers that were little-seen in pro football before 1960. An NFL castaway who didn’t even start playing in the AFL until his thirties, he managed to redeem himself and provided the league with much-needed early legitimacy before the arrival of future stars like Joe Namath, John Hadl, and Daryle Lamonica.
George Blanda was taken by the Chicago Bears in the 12th Round of the 1949 NFL Draft out of the University of Kentucky. But Bears owner and Head Coach George Halas intended to use him primarily as a kicker, which was the case for all but 22 passes from 1949-1951 (including a strange one-game stint for the Baltimore Colts). With the Bears already in the midst of a lost season in ’52 at 4-6, Blanda would start the final two games, going 1-1. But in 1953, Halas would finally give his kicker a chance to take the team’s snaps. The results were decidedly mixed. Blanda would finish sixth in passer rating, despite leading the NFL in pass attempts and completions. But Chicago would finish at 3-8-1.
The following year would get off to a much better start, with Blanda leading the Bears to a 4-3 record before being lost for the rest of the season with an injury. Beginning in 1955, he would be replaced by Ed Brown as Chicago’s new primary signal caller. He would not start another game during his tenure with the Bears, although he would see significant time in relief of Brown during the 1956 NFL Championship game, a 47-7 blowout loss to the New York Giants. Blanda would go 12-for-27 for 140 yards and an interception. He would be released by the Bears after the 1958 season. It appeared to be the end of an unrealized career.
In 1960, the American Football League took the field. In need of a quarterback, the Houston Oilers took a shot on “NFL reject” George Blanda to complement 1959 Heisman-winning running back Billy Cannon. The pair helped give the AFL immediate legitimacy. As though years of not be able to pass the ball had been percolating inside the already 33-year old Blanda, he would lead the initial AFL season in touchdowns per pass attempt at 6.6%. In going 10-4, the Oilers would make the very first AFL Championship game, facing Jack Kemp and the Los Angeles Chargers. Blanda would absolutely rip the Chargers apart for 301 yards, no turnovers, and three touchdowns, none more important than an 88-yard hook-up with Cannon late in the fourth quarter to cap off the 24-16 win. The “NFL reject” was now “AFL champion”.
Blanda would follow up his impressive 1960 AFL season with a dramatically better one in ’61. His 3,330 passing yards was the league’s best by over 600. His 36 TD passes more than doubled every other league QB except for Al Dorow (who had 19), and one out of every 10 of his passes found the end zone. And while no other QB finished with a passer rating above 76.5, Blanda finished with a crazy 91.3 mark. Not only was Blanda the AFL MVP in 1961, he was the best QB by a mile! After a disappointing 1-3-1 start, Head Coach Lou Rymkus was replaced by Wally Lemm. The move worked perfectly. The Oilers won out, scoring 45+ points in five of their final nine games. But their work wasn’t done. At 10-3-1, they were set for a rematch with the Chargers, who had relocated to San Diego. This time, Blanda was incredibly erratic, throwing five interceptions. But Kemp, his counterpart, would throw four himself, keeping the game close. In the end, it was a second quarter 35-yard pass to Cannon that proved the difference. In a 10-3 final, Blanda and Houston would repeat as AFL champions.
In 1962, the Oilers would continue to commit to the passing game under new Head Coach Pop Ivy. In one of the most preposterous displays of inefficiency in the history of the sport, Blanda would throw a seemingly-impossible 42 interceptions, an average of three per game. That is still an NFL/AFL record for a single season, the next-closest being Vinny Testaverde’s 35 interception “effort” in 1988. That said, he would also finish second in the league in passing yards (2,810) and TD passes (27). Despite the three-plus turnovers per game, Houston would still go 11-3 and return for a third consecutive AFL Championship Game.
Their opponents would be QB Len Dawson, Head Coach Hank Stram, and the Dallas Texans. In the battle for the Lone Star state, Dallas would take a 17-point lead into halftime. But Blanda would rally Houston with a TD pass, a field goal, and a hand-off to Charley Tolar for a one-yard rush to tie the game. But in OT, Dallas would kick a 25-yard field goal to win the 1962 AFL Championship. Although Blanda would throw for 261 yards in addition to the TD, he would commit five interceptions for the second straight year, contributing to the tough loss. Meanwhile, the Texans would relocate to Kansas City and become the Chiefs.
Over the next three years, Blanda would lead the league every year in pass attempts, completions……..and interceptions. But he would continue to have success through the air as well. In 1963 he led the AFL in passing yards and was second in passing TDs. He would be second in passing yards in ’64, and third in ’65. He would also finish tied for second in passing TDs in ’65 with 20. But after initially dominating the AFL, Houston would finally decline, winning only six games in ’63, and four each in ’64 and ’65. In 1966, a 39-year old George Blanda would get the Oilers off to a 3-5 start before being replaced by Don Trull. Houston would lose out on the way to a 3-11 year.
In 1967, Blanda would join the Oakland Raiders as placekicker. He would remain with the team through the 1975 season. He would only start one more game as QB, a 43-7 win against Denver in 1968 in which he would throw an amazing four TDs (and only one interception)! He would still get sporadic play under Center throughout his tenure with the Raiders though, even throwing three passes in ’75, his final season (and yes, one was an interception). He would also throw 11 passes over two games in relief of Daryle Lamonica during the 1969 postseason. He would go a cumulative 3-for-11 for 57 yards and three INTs.
He did have one more notable performance though. In the 1970 season, the first one following the AFL-NFL merger, Blanda would have a few memorable outings in helping Oakland continue their march to the postseason. Then, in the AFC Championship Game, Lamonica would get knocked out after only four passes. So, 43-year old Blanda, who had only one start at QB since 1966 would step in and go 17-for-32 for 271 yards, two TDs, and three INTs. Blanda would bring Oakland within three points on a fourth quarter 15-yard TD pass to Warren Wells. But Johnny Unitas would hit Ray Perkins on a 68-yard TD to take Baltimore to Super Bowl V in a 27-17 victory. Still, it was a wonderful last moment for the veteran QB to shine and almost lead his team to a Super Bowl.
Yeah, George Blanda threw a ton of interceptions. So did Joe Namath. So did Brett Favre. And like those other two, Blanda also threw for a ton of yards, and he also led his team to huge wins in championship games. But what separates Blanda from just about every other great quarterback, was that he spent the bulk of his career playing in his thirties after barely getting a shot during the prime of his career. Who knows what he might have accomplished had Papa Bear George Halas given Blanda a chance to thrive in Chicago, or had he played elsewhere, or had he been younger when the AFL was founded. But regardless, what he did accomplish was winning two AFL championships, an AFL MVP, a couple of AFL passing titles, 335 career field goals, and a bust in Canton. Not bad for an NFL reject.
Chart
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 0.008 | 0.085 | 0.113 | -0.063 | 0.001 | -0.026 | 0.089 | -0.042 |
| Playoffs | -0.056 | 0.060 | 0.028 | -0.088 | -0.034 | -0.055 | -0.024 | -0.128 |
Longevity Bonus = 2.0 Title Bonus = 0.6
Index Score = 3.503 (average QB = 0.0)
Deviation Rank (out of 155)
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 81st | 6th | 11th | 150th | 96th | 126th | 22nd | 133rd |
| Playoffs | T-98th | 26th | 39th | 123rd | 100th | 107th | 84th | 117th |
Note: George Blanda threw 21 passes in 1949. As this study only encompasses NFL/AFL quarterbacking since 1950, his 1949 season is not taken into account.
Why is he on the Top 50 list?
Two categories really boost George Blanda, his total yards per game (6th) and total touchdowns per game (12th). Although he wasn’t much of a runner (344 career yards on the ground), his ability to find the end zone with his arm boosts him to 22nd in terms of touchdowns per attempt. Other benefits were his incredible longevity, especially considering the bulk of his years at QB were in his thirties. He gets two full bonus points for longevity, and he also gets 0.6 additional points for winning two AFL titles.
Why isn’t he higher on the list?
I mentioned that Blanda threw a bunch of interceptions, right? For the regular season he’s 150th (out of 155) in deviation for total turnovers per game, and 133rd in interceptions per pass attempt. His lack of precision passing is also shown by his 126th place finish in completion percentage.
The Quarterback Project 