George Blanda, 1927 - 2010

Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010 by Travis Cody in
7


Raider Nation mourns the passing of another Raider great.  George Blanda died on Monday after a short illness.  He was 83.

We share Mr Blanda with the Bears (1949, 1950-58), the Colts (1950), and the Oilers (1960-1967).  But the final nine years of his career were as a Raider (1967-1975), and that's really all I remember.

Mr Blanda was The Grand Old Man, playing 26 seasons in the NFL until finally retiring at the age of 49.  As a quarterback and kicker, he held the all time scoring record at 2,002 points until it was surpassed by Morten Andersen and Gary Anderson.  He also held the all time interception record of 277, a dubious distinction he finally relinquished to Brett Favre.  He still holds the following NFL records:
  • Passing TD's in a game (7, tied with 4 others)
  • Most seasons played (26)
  • One of two players to play in 4 different decades (Jeff Feagles has also done it)
  • Most PATs made (943) and attempted (959)
  • Most interceptions thrown in a single season (42)
  • Oldest person to play in an NFL game (48 yrs, 109 days)
  • First player ever to score 2,000 points
  • Oldest QB to start a title game
Mr Blanda played in 4 American Football League All Star games, was an All-AFL selection 5 times, and was a 2-time All Pro.  He won the AFL MVP award in 1963 and is a member of the AFL All Time team.  He led the AFL in passing yards twice and in passing TD's once.  He is a 3-time AFL Champion.  (The AFL was in competition with the NFL from 1960-1969, after which the leagues merged.)


Mr Blanda was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame in 1981.




The Grand Old Man
George Frederick Blanda, 17 September 1927 - 27 September 2010

7 comments:

  1. Jeni says:
    30 September, 2010 05:43

    Thanks for posting this and the information about his prowess too, Trav. He was always one of my favorite players -a great player for sure but so much perseverance! Like the energizer bunny, ya know!

  1. Julia Phillips Smith says:
    30 September, 2010 06:17

    Nice to read about such a long as well as an illustrious career - in a sport like football, not easy to do.

  1. Charles Gramlich says:
    30 September, 2010 07:53

    That's too bad. I remember Blanda playing actually. What a talent he was.

  1. Vinny "Bond" Marini says:
    30 September, 2010 10:29

    I was waiting for your post on Mr. Blanda...he was on touch SOB and a talent for more years than most.

    Well done Sir

  1. Durward Discussion says:
    30 September, 2010 11:28

    Jennifer is kicking it on Dancing with the stars and now daddy is going back to broadway

    http://www.broadway.com/shows/anything-goes/buzz/153744/joel-grey-will-join-sutton-foster-in-broadway-revival-of-anything-goes/

  1. Anonymous says:
    01 October, 2010 11:43

    Respectable post, Trav! My heart stood still for a moment when I heard the news of his passing on Monday. I knew you'd do a proper job of it.

  1. Desert Songbird says:
    06 October, 2010 14:16

    Blanda played sooooo long, and it seems as if he JUST retired. Now he's gone. He was so versatile.

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