Identifying all the 1960s QBs from jahsoul357's profile pic (1 Viewer)

[Doug B]

For a long time, I thought @jahsoul357 's avatar was a couple of Todd McFarlane statuettes of Hall of Fame QBs. I could make out Unitas, Bart Starr, and who I thought was Joe Montana up front. But then I kinda looked at it more closely and noticed that the resemblence to Montana was really poor. So I clicked on the image, which opened jah's profile page. Then I clicked on the image again to get a close-up view.

Not only was there a close-up view, I learned there were a whole lot more QBs in the picture. It looks like all the NFL starters circa 1964 or thereabouts:

Now ... the question I have for the house: How many can we name completely from memory? No Googling or looking up player numbers or anything like that.

OK, here's my first crack at it. I can at least ID all the teams.

Back row, left to right:
Browns - Frankie Ryan, I'm pretty sure
Steelers - Bobby Layne, I think
Cardinals - (no idea)
Bears - (no idea)
Packers - Bart Starr
Colts - Johnny Unitas
Washington - (no idea)
Rams - (no idea, whoever was before Roman Gabriel)

Front row, left to right:
Lions - (no idea)
Vikings - Fran Tarkenton
Cowboys - Don Meredith
49ers - John Brodie?
Eagles - Sonny Jurgensen
Giants - The Bald Eagle, Y.A. Tittle

 

[jahsoul357]

For a long time, I thought @jahsoul357 's avatar was a couple of Todd McFarlane statuettes of Hall of Fame QBs. I could make out Unitas, Bart Starr, and who I thought was Joe Montana up front. But then I kinda looked at it more closely and noticed that the resemblence to Montana was really poor. So I clicked on the image, which opened jah's profile page. Then I clicked on the image again to get a close-up view.

Not only was there a close-up view, I learned there were a whole lot more QBs in the picture. It looks like all the NFL starters circa 1964 or thereabouts:

Now ... the question I have for the house: How many can we name completely from memory? No Googling or looking up player numbers or anything like that.

OK, here's my first crack at it. I can at least ID all the teams.

Back row, left to right:
Browns - Frankie Ryan, I'm pretty sure
Steelers - Bobby Layne, I think
Cardinals - (no idea)
Bears - (no idea)
Packers - Bart Starr
Colts - Johnny Unitas
Washington - (no idea)
Rams - (no idea, whoever was before Roman Gabriel)

Front row, left to right:
Lions - (no idea)
Vikings - Fran Tarkenton
Cowboys - Don Meredith
49ers - John Brodie?
Eagles - Sonny Jurgensen
Giants - The Bald Eagle, Y.A. Tittle

I only knew about 4 or 5 off them. I saw thing picture on the internet and thought it was the funniest thing. My oldest son LOVES everything about football and really like to look at games and players from the 1960-1980s and we were talking about how they used to pose for pictures (think Al Bundy), so I just decided to make it the avatar pic.

 

[Fiyo]

For a long time, I thought @jahsoul357 's avatar was a couple of Todd McFarlane statuettes of Hall of Fame QBs. I could make out Unitas, Bart Starr, and who I thought was Joe Montana up front. But then I kinda looked at it more closely and noticed that the resemblence to Montana was really poor. So I clicked on the image, which opened jah's profile page. Then I clicked on the image again to get a close-up view.

Not only was there a close-up view, I learned there were a whole lot more QBs in the picture. It looks like all the NFL starters circa 1964 or thereabouts:

Now ... the question I have for the house: How many can we name completely from memory? No Googling or looking up player numbers or anything like that.

OK, here's my first crack at it. I can at least ID all the teams.

Back row, left to right:
Browns - Frankie Ryan, I'm pretty sure
Steelers - Bobby Layne, I think
Cardinals - (no idea)
Bears - (no idea)
Packers - Bart Starr
Colts - Johnny Unitas
Washington - (no idea)
Rams - (no idea, whoever was before Roman Gabriel)

Front row, left to right:
Lions - (no idea)
Vikings - Fran Tarkenton
Cowboys - Don Meredith
49ers - John Brodie?
Eagles - Sonny Jurgensen
Giants - The Bald Eagle, Y.A. Tittle

Redskins is Norm Snead ... Rams is Zeke Bratkowski, Lions is Jim Ninowski (only know that one because my dad liked the Lions). I have no idea about the Cardinals QB

 

[DaveParks1]

I'm guessing the Cardinal is Charlie Johnson, who threw 6 td passes in a game against the saints where Kilmer also threw 6 td's. A combined NFL record that lasted until the Brees/Manning duel

 

[Fiyo]

I'm guessing the Cardinal is Charlie Johnson, who threw 6 td passes in a game against the saints where Kilmer also threw 6 td's. A combined NFL record that lasted until the Brees/Manning duel

I thought about Johnson, who I remember more from later in his career ... but if I remember right his hair wasn't that dark. That's why I didn't choose him. But it could be him time-period wise

 

[SigFreudianSlip]

Thank you for doing this! I was going to after seeing his pic. Fascinating,

 

[Doug B]

Back row, left to right:
Browns - Milt Plum (Frankie Ryan would take over in 1962)
Steelers - Bobby Layne, I think (yep, Layne)
Cardinals - Sam Etcheverry
Bears - Billy Wade
Packers - Bart Starr
Colts - Johnny Unitas
Washington - Norm Snead
Rams - Zeke Bratkowski

Front row, left to right:
Lions - Jim Ninowski
Vikings - Fran Tarkenton
Cowboys - Don Meredith
49ers - John Brodie? (yep, Brodie)
Eagles - Sonny Jurgensen
Giants - The Bald Eagle, Y.A. Tittle

All right -- I gave it a day. Went and looked up who was who.

First problem was that I guessed the year wrong -- it wasn't 1964. These were the 1961 starting QBs (Mostly -- some were just half-season guys).

Second problem was that I had some of the timelines wrong -- Frankie Ryan wasn't on the Browns in 1961. Brodie was A LOT older than I thought when he was playing for the early 70s 49er teams.

Anyway -- with everyone's help and some research, I was able to fill in all the names above.

...

In case anyone was wondering "Who is Sam Etcheverry?" He was the best QB in the CFL throughout the 1950s. After six passing titles with the Montreal Alouettes, Etcheverry asked to be released from his contract rather than be traded to Hamilton. He ended up a part-time starter of the the Cardinals for the 1961-62 seasons.

 

[Fiyo]

All right -- I gave it a day. Went and looked up who was who.

First problem was that I guessed the year wrong -- it wasn't 1964. These were the 1961 starting QBs (Mostly -- some were just half-season guys).

Second problem was that I had some of the timelines wrong -- Frankie Ryan wasn't on the Browns in 1961. Brodie was A LOT older than I thought when he was playing for the early 70s 49er teams.

Anyway -- with everyone's help and some research, I was able to fill in all the names above.

...

In case anyone was wondering "Who is Sam Etcheverry?" He was the best QB in the CFL throughout the 1950s. After six passing titles with the Montreal Alouettes, Etcheverry asked to be released from his contract rather than be traded to Hamilton. He ended up a part-time starter of the the Cardinals for the 1961-62 seasons.

Now I know why I didn’t get him — first time I’ve heard of him

 

[Doug B]

Now I know why I didn’t get him — first time I’ve heard of him

Yeah, Charley Johnson took over the Cardinals QB job in 1962 and held on until Jim Hart was drafted in 1967. Etcheverry is not prominently remembered.

 

[Doug B]

Billy Wade is another one you'd think would have more of a profile after leading the Bears to a title in 1963. I guess the Packers dynasty cast a long shadow over the NFL of that time.

Wade (and Sid Gillman!) guested on an episode of The Donna Reed Show in 1959 when he was with the L.A. Rams.

 

[Fiyo]

Yeah, Charley Johnson took over the Cardinals QB job in 1962 and held on until Jim Hart was drafted in 1967. Etcheverry is not prominently remembered.

I’m 59 and only have snippets of football memories pre-Saints. But I learned to read and write very young. By the end of first grade I had read through every primer (through fourth grade readers that Paul B. Habans had — and I’ve made career as a writer). … I read a lot of football books as a youngster, so I knew all about players like YA Title (especially because of LSU), Sam Hough, etc. even though I don’t remember watching him play. My dad was a Packers fan — that was the team I first remember being a fan of before the Saints.

 

[Fiyo]

Billy Wade is another one you'd think would have more of a profile after leading the Bears to a title in 1963. I guess the Packers dynasty cast a long shadow over the NFL of that time.

Wade (and Sid Gillman!) guested on an episode of The Donna Reed Show in 1959 when he was with the L.A. Rams.

I remember Gillman, and Johnny U was another I remember liking early on along with Earl Morrall and John Hadl

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

I have actually been doing research on the NFL in the mid-1960s. I believe this photo was taken in 1961. Minnesota did not start play until 1961. Plum played for Detroit in 1962. I had to spend a few minutes on the Internet--I cheated--to identify every quarterback. Here goes:

Top row

Milt Plum
Bobby Layne
Sam Etcheverry
Bill Wade
Bart Starr
John Unitas
Norm Snead
Zeke Bratkowski

Bottom row

Jim Ninowski
Fran Tarkenton
Don Meredith
John Brodie
Sonny Jurgensen
Y. A. Tittle

There are 14 quarterbacks depicted. My guess--I have not checked--is that seven are in the Hall of Fame. Before checking, I had not heard of Sam Etcheverry (Charley Johnson was the St. Louis quarterback in the early 1960s) and Jim Ninowski.

PS I just looked. Six are in Canton--Layne, Starr, Unitas, Tarkenton, Jurgensen and Tittle. I missed on Brodie.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

And here's a trivia question for you. Try guessing without going to the Internet. When Green Bay and Baltimore played each other in the years 1963 through 1965, how many playing would be voted into the Hall of Fame (not to mention head coaches Vince Lombardi and Don Shula on the sideline)?

If you want to guess, don't look at the next post.

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

16.

Green Bay had 11--Bart Starr, Paul Horning, Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Jerry Kramer, Willie Davis, Henry Jordan, Dave Robinson, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderly and Willie Wood. (12 if you count Jim Ringo who played in 1963.)

Baltimore had 5--all on offense--John Unitas, Jim Parker, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore and John Mackey.