Charley Johnson is a very talented NFL quarterback from NMSU that not many people know about. Having accomplished so much, I feel that people should. Bleacher Report’s Brendan Majev, ranked him the 91st greatest quarterback of all time. He was drafted 10th round by the St. Louis Cardinals. After playing with them and the Oilers, he ended his career with the Denver Broncos in 1975. Topics gone over in this essay include his early life, his college football career, his NFL career, his army career, and his education.
Charley Johnson’s early life is very interesting itself. He didn’t start playing the quarterback position until his senior year of high school. He wasn’t wanted by many colleges because he didn’t use the run-first offense that was
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popular at the time. He earned a scholarship at Schreiner Institute, but they dropped their football program after one year. Afterwards, he went to NMSU on a basketball scholarship. He was very successful as NMSU’s quarterback. He was a walk-on for NMSU’s football team. He earned Border Conference MVP three times in a row, from 1958-1960. He led the Aggies to their only undefeated season ever in 1960. He won the Sun Bowl two times in a row a got MVP of both games in 1959 and 1960. That makes him the only person to be MVP of a college bowl game in consecutive years. He was one of the first people to be inducted into the Sun Bowl Hall of Fame. He was also chosen to be part of the 75th Anniversary All-Sun Bowl Team. In 1959 and 1960, he led the entire nation in touchdown passes and Passer Rating. He is in the NMSU Sports Hall of Fame and is the only person to have his number retired by NMSU (33). He left the Aggies with 23 wins and 9 losses. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 10th round, 109th overall, of the 1960 NFL Draft. He played with them from 1961 to 1969. By the end of the decade, he was their all-time leading quarterback, leading them 1st in passing touchdowns and yards. He now ranks 3rd in touchdowns, and 5th in yards. He was the only Cardinals quarterback who started at least 10 games, to have more wins than losses. Now the current Cardinals quarterback, Carson Palmer, also has that. He was selected to play in the 1963 NFL Pro Bowl because of his good stats that season. In 1964, he led the NFL in passing yards. That was a good season for him, because that same year, he beat the Packers in the Playoff Bowl. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1964 and 1965. In 1970, he was traded to the Houston Oilers. He stayed with them for only two seasons. He had his worst years with this team, recording only three wins and eleven losses. He was injured a lot during these years, breaking his left collarbone. He had to wear a special harness for this injury. He also had to have a knee operation after the 1971 season. He ranks 22nd in most passing touchdowns and yards by an Oilers/Titans quarterback. In 1972, he was traded to the Denver Broncos, who have never had a winning season.
In 1972, he had a Passer Rating of 157.5 in a game. A rare perfect rating would be 158.3. In 1973, he had an amazing season where he brought the Broncos to their first ever winning season. That season he earned a First Team All-AFC, led the AFC in touchdown passes, and earned the Broncos offensive MVP. In 1974, he led the NFL in yards per pass attempt with 8.1 yards. In 1975, he played his final season and retired. He became the Broncos quarterback coach for the 1976 season, then retired from that right after. In 1977, the Broncos went to their first super bowl, the year after Charley Johnson retired. He ranks 7th in most touchdowns by a Broncos quarterback, and 9th in most yards. In 1986, Charley Johnson was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.
One of the things that make Charley Johnson a Trailblazer, is that he was taking classes in college at the same time he was in the NFL. After getting his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering at NMSU in 1961, he continued to take classes at Washington University when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. He had time to both play football and take classes by taking them at night. He earned his Master’s degree in 1963, then earned his Doctor’s degree in
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1971. If you think that’s impressive, he was also in the army while doing both of those things. He was in the United States army reserve and was called to active duty in 1967 through 1968. He avoided the Vietnam War because of knee operations and the fact that he was taking college classes. He was a Lieutenant at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was also placed at the Langley Research Center in Virginia to work with NASA. He was flying back and forth, playing games on weekends, and leaving the team on Sunday nights. Charley Johnson has had a very fascinating and productive life.
He is in the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame. He was won 59 games in his Career and lost 57 games, while having 8 ties. He has thrown for 24,410 yards. That ranks 73rd for the most passing yards ever. That’s ahead of Hall of Famer, Roger Staubach. He has also thrown for 170 passing touchdowns. That ranks 61st for the most touchdowns ever thrown. That is ahead of Hall of Famers, Sid Luckman, Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and Troy Aikman. He now lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He became the NMSU Chemical Engineering professor, but retired in 2012.
Charley Johnson has had a wonderful career and an interesting life. Topics to prove so include his early life, his college football career, his NFL career, his army career, and his education. He is very inspirational as a person. He encourages people to follow their dreams. He has said the quote, “They say don't believe your own hype, but if you don't why would anyone else? To be great you have to believe you can do great things.” He proves that anyone can do great things, and can do multiple great things at the same
time.
In 1992, Lewis, armed with a full scholarship, enrolled at the University of Miami, at the time home to one of the country's best football programs. He quickly became a vital piece in a vaunted Hurricanes' defense. Overall, he ranks fifth all time in school history in tackles, and at the end of his junior year was runner-up for the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker.
Roger played baseball in the American Legion program during the summers, since the North Dakota high schools with the cold weather did not have a program. He led his American Legion team to the state championship. With his excellent speed, Roger was a standout in football as well. In one game against Devil's Lake his senior year, he scored four touchdowns on kickoff returns to set a national high school record.
For as long as I can remember I have been a Notre Dame football fan. My father is to credit for getting me into it. He brought us to South Bend a couple of time for some games and I was just amazed by the campus and the history of the football program, so it was no surprise that I chose this particular book. Shake Down The Thunder: The Creation of Notre Dame Football was written by a man named Murray Sperber who was a sports writer interested on why fans were so into college football. Because of his interest Sperber decided to go around the country to certain college campuses to do research on this. He started with the University of Notre Dame because he was aware of the history and the passion of their football program, he was also aware of the appreciation Notre Dame had from their fans. This book deals with they history of Notre Dame football including the nation championships, the players, the coaches, and the program itself. It explains exactly what happened thought out its history, the reality behind the myths so to speak. Notre Dame was very kind to Murray Sperber in that he was given many privileges that other authors of books regarding Notre Dame football were deprived of. These privileges allowed Sperber to do research on Notre Dame from a different point of view and in his research he found documents that jumpstarted his interest to actually write this fantastic book.
Although Radio was a young African American man with disabilities he never gave up on his dream. His dream was to be a part of the football team, to be included, and to be treated as equal as the rest of the football players. Radio gave his all every time he was included in the team on and off the field despite the obstacles in his way from the team members and his disabilities he never gave up.
He broke the color barrier in the NFL (Britannica). Which can allow thousands of talented African Americans to be able to share their talent with others. Now that the protests are going on, Kenny’s name will most likely be mentioned. However, most people don’t know who he is. Kenny’s legacy will be remembered by the NFL and the fans. He is honored at the African American museum in Washington D.C for his outstanding work he had done for the people then and the people now. Most importantly, it will be remembered by the African Americans that are able to play now because of his
Brett Favre grew up idolizing a pair of Southern quarterbacks, the Saints' Archie Manning and the Cowboys' Staubach. He grew up in Kiln, Mississippi and went to high school in there. His high school, Hancock North Central, honored him this past May by re-naming the field, 'Brett Favre Field,' and unveiling a life-sized statue of the quarterback at the stadium's entrance. The school previously had retired his jersey, Number 10, in 1993. He stayed in the south to go to college where he went to Southern Miss. He became the starter at Southern Miss in his third game of his freshman season. Favre majored in special education. He led his Southern Mississippi team to 29 victories, including two bowl victories, during his four varsity seasons, 1987-90, and climaxed his collegiate career by earning a MVP award in the East-West Shrine game featuring the nation's best seniors. Favre set school records for passing yards (8,193), pass attempts (1,234), completions (656), completion percentage (53.2), touchdowns (55), and with only 35 interceptions. His production included five 300-yard passing games and five 3-TD performances, while his 7,695 regular-season passing yards ranked him among the top 30 of all-time NCAA passers. His 1.57 interception ratio in 1988 was the lowest among the 50 top-ranked passers in the nation, and his 2.9 interception rate for his four-year career also ranks as one of the best in NCAA history. Also he was the MVP of the All-American Bowl at the conclusion of his senior year. All those records and stats and that was only in college!!!
Tom Landry was born in Mission, Texas (Moritz 270). Landry really excelled in football at the high school level, attaining the prestigious honors of being selected as an “all-regional fullback” (Moritz 270). As most high school football stars do, Landry went on and “enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin” (cemetery.state). Although Landry seemed to do as every other great high school star had done, his college experience had a twist to it. “After a semester at the University of Texas, he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and, as a co-pilot of a B-17 bomber in World War II, eventually flew thirty missions over German occupied Europe and survived one crash landing” (Whittingham 83). After his experience in the military, “he returned to the University of Texas and resumed his football career” (Whittingham 84). Landry’s success in football seemed to pick up where it had left off, as “he made the All-Southwest Conference second team” (Moritz 270) as a junior, and “was cocaptain of the University of Texas team” (Moritz 270) his senior year. Landry’s success in college football was clear, and showed...
...orts. He set firsts for some things and re-iterated others. He is still a very large contributing influence in the football world today. He is currently a NFL analyzer. He is very smart and knowledgeable. But he didn't get to where he is now without struggle. Power and fame almost ruined him. Yet he was able to bounce back and use his experience to learn from and shape his future and create a positive outcome. He made it positive not only for himself but for others as well. He set his goals and was determined. One thing
...voted an All-American and served as co-captain in both the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.” (http://www.hickoksports.com/biograph/huffsam.shtml) After attending West Virginia University for four years and being a key member on their football team, Huff’s talent took him further than the college level of football. His athletic ability made it possibly for him to have a shot in the National Football League. Huff was drafted in the third round of the 1956 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Huff continued his professional football career with the New York Giants until 1964 when the Washington Redskins offered him almost twice as much pay as the New York Giants did. Huff then retired in 1968.
And was inducted to the hall of fame on July 9, 2000. In 2006 he was named most clutch quarterback to ever play. In 2011 Joe started building a luxury hotel, a sports bar, and a high end restaurant in front of the 49ers future stadium. Both of joe's kids have grown up to become a successful doctor and lawyer. He also built a 500 acer estate in Calistoga, California, Where he is currently living today. (“Joe Montana” 6).
One reason why Charlie is an interesting character is because he is a football genius. I swear he knows the tendencies, stats, and just about everything about every single player active or retired. He even knows more than most team owners, including Joe Warren, the owner of his favorite team the Los Angeles Bulldogs. Mr. Warren is also one of Charlie’s best friends. Charlie is the king of fantasy football. He seemingly always knows when a player might have a breakout year or a big season. Many of Charlie’s opponents are intrigued when he picks up Tom Pinkett, an old back-up quarterback. Joe Warren, also looking for a veteran quarterback for his Bulldogs, signs Tom to a contract. Tom ends up having a great start
Gene Stallings, who was one of Bryant's players at the time, said, "We left in two buses and came back in one, and that one was half full." Bryant put his team through hell at Junction because he wanted to build character and have his players realize that things were going to be done his way. They finished the season 1-9, Bear's only losing record as a head coach! The foundation had been placed and in 1956, the Aggies won the Southwest Conference championship. In 1957, halfback John David Crow received the Heisman Trophy, the only player coached by Bryant to receive the award. After a few years in 1958 Bear Bryant joined Alabama, but this time...he was head coach. Bear once said “What are you doing here? Tell me why you are here. If you are not here to win a national championship, you’re in the wrong place. You boys are special. I don’t want my players to be like other students. I want special people. You can learn a lot on the football field that isn’t taught in the home, the church, or the classroom. There are going to be days when you think you’ve got no more to give and then you’re going to give plenty more. You are going to have pride and class. You are going to be very special. You are going to win the national championship for Alabama.” Bear knew how to give moving pre game speeches. It makes you think abut how much he cared for his football player. Bear dedicated his life to football, but he
Frederick “Fritz” Pollard, the first African American to ever play in the Rose Bowl and the first African American to ever coach an NFL team, changed the history of football and America while enduring different racial criticism. Pollard faced many difficulties throughout his childhood and adulthood. Pollard was not like the typical “black star” of the 1890-1910 time period. Pollard was raised in a nice home, instead of the “ghetto”, and was able to acquire higher education than that of the average African-American child of his time period. Pollard was racially criticized throughout his amateur and professional life. One incident being the time Pollard got into an argument with a child on whether or not he was a football player, “There I was,
On March 24, 1976, Peyton was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Archie and Olivia Manning. He was the second of three boys. Cooper and Eli are his siblings. Peyton developed his skills from watching his dad play for the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings. In 1991, Peyton became the starting quarterback for Isidore Newman High in New Orleans where he felt comfortable playing with Cooper, the top receiver. After being recruited by several different colleges, Peyton chose the Tennessee Volunteers. Under Peyton’s leadership, the volunteers steadily climbed to a high national ranking. Also while playing for Tennessee Peyton set forty-two conference, school, and NCAA records. Although he was finished in three years and was expected to turn pro, he chose to stay with Tennessee one more year. In his last year with the Volunteers he led them to the National Championship in the Orange Bowl. The following year Peyton, the number one overall NFL draft pick, became the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts.
What truly is amazing is the person Tim Tebow represents off the field. He is a devout Christian who works to spread his religion and give hope to those in need. Tebow has been involved with controversy that started in his days in high school, due to a law in Florida that allowed him to pick his high school. Tebow is possibly the only player to be under national scrutiny from his high school playing days through his career in the NFL both on and off the field. Most of this controversy is because of his faith and how he displayed it on field. The best way to describe him is to say that he is a polarizing person and player in the sense that people either love or hate him. Tim Tebow is, indeed, a great person and role model on the playing field as well as off of it.