Lunchtime musical interlude: Remembering Johnny U
With the angst over the Ravens' Monday night loss to the Bengals still fresh yesterday, we allowed an important anniversary to pass without some recognition. Yesterday, was the five-year date of the passing of Johnny Unitas, who died Sept. 11, 2002 of a heart attack.
So in honor of the most significant player in Baltimore football history, we bring you this well-done tribute to Unitas and the Baltimore Colts.
Comments
God bless him, we could use a hero like Johnny U right about now.
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Those who saw him play certainly miss him.
-- Bill O.
Posted by: Dottie | September 12, 2007 4:29 PM
i met johnny u in the late 70's. It was early on a sunday morning and i was leaving my apartment in towson which was right next to Baby Doe's ,( i think it was called,) which i believe was owned by johnny . He was walking next to me and he said "hello" and acknowledged what a nice day it was ,just as if i was an old friend. I am sure it meant nothing to him but I never forgot the incident. He was a sweet man and should be a role model to todays athletes, who on the whole, need to be more humble and remember where they come from and who has come before them.
Posted by: norina | December 17, 2007 12:56 PM
I remember well the first Colts game I attended and seeing John Unitas play for the first time. The Colts were playing the Packers at Memorial Stadium and the Colts were wearing white that day. We had end zone seats, very low, not real good seats, but good enough for 11 year olds at their first NFL game. The moment I'll always remember was watching Unitas drop back to pass from deep in Colts' territory, right in front of us, and launching a bomb downfield. The arc of the pass was right in our line of sight, but we couldn't see the receiver. The crowd roared as Unitas threw the pass and the roar crescendoed as the ball neared its target, finally reaching its peak decibals as the pass was caught by John Mackey, who took a sharp right turn to avoid the defender, (thus revealing to us at the other end of the field who caught the ball), and went into the end zone. Eight years later we watched John lead the Colts to the Super Bowl with a great 27-17 win over the Raiders. Thank you, John.
Posted by: Len Knighton | June 18, 2008 8:41 AM
I grew up in the DC area and only saw Unitas play once in person in an exhibition game against the Redskins in 1967. He was 17 for 18 that night and the only pass that was incompete was dropped by Alex Hawkins. He was unbelievable to watch and although I have attended 100s of NFL games since, that night was something special
Posted by: Steve Murfin | August 27, 2008 12:25 AM