George Blanda dies at age 83

These cards are my oldest and newest cards of George Blanda, Topps 1969 and Topps 2009.  George Blanda passed away on Monday at the age of 83.  His was a quarterback and a kicker during his football career, which spanned 26 seasons, No one played longer or scored more points than Blanda.

He began his career in 1949 with the Chicago Bears and ended it with the Oakland Raiders at the age of 48, just before the 1976 season.

Blanda was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1981,

As a quarterback, Blanda had 1,911 completions out of 4,007 passes for 26,920 yards, 236 touchdowns.  In one game, he threw seven touchdown passes, a feat only four other quarterbacks have equaled.

Blanda was the original “long range field goal kicker”, knocking in 50+ yard field goals, which was unusual for his time. He kicked 335 field goals and 943 extra points, which is more than anyone else in football history.

I keep my 1969 Blanda with my Joe Namath, Gale Sayers, Johnny Unitas and Dick Butkus cards and looking back at Blanda’s numbers, it is clear why he belongs there.  I doubt we will ever see anyone play 25 seasons or until the age of 48 again, and certainly not with the kind of diversity to be able to take on the positions of Quarterback and Kicker.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

I usually rummage through my old cards whenever a new season starts and it’s finally here.  No more pre-season games, watching guys trying to make the team.  Now it counts.  And incase I forget that, I'll have Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long to remind me, repeatedly, how much it counts. 

They do this because they are no longer football players.  No… they are “analysts.”  Go ahead, look it up.  They get paid to “analyze” which, in their case, means laugh a lot and point out the obvious.   And sure, there is a whole crop of recent retirees who have traded their jerseys and pads for suits and microphones, but even the old timers gave it a try.   Like Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath who stuck around for a bit, but eventually quit. 

But there are those who stuck it out like Dan Dierdorf and Bob Griese and are still behind the microphone to this day.  

Some even went into acting like Merlin Olsen (Little House on the Prairie), Alex Karras (Blazing Saddles, Webster), Dick Butkus (Any Given Sunday, Hang Time)  and John Matuszak (Goonies).

All of this makes me think about what will happen to Kurt Warner?  Will he be in the next Will Ferrel movie?

And what about Greg Jennings and Derrick Mason?  Will they become "analysts" in 2020?

Will Darrelle Revis become the perfect replacement for Drew Carey on "The Price is Right?"

Its a lot to think about, but I don't have the time for that because Football is on and now it counts.