Below there was a thread started about what Giants should be in the HOF who are not and 10 people responded before I said Charlie Conerly. I am amazed, I have started threads on this in the past, but I will have to do it again. I don't know what is more shocking, him not being in the HOF or Giants fans not being more pissed for him not being in after all this time. He was a HOF finalist 7 times in the 70's but never got in for some reason. He played his entire 14 year career for us, led us to a championship in 1956, championship games in 1958 and 1959, and was the 1959 NFL MVP. Is there any other QB who won a championship and MVP who is not in the HOF. His 22 TD passes as a rookie was a record that stood until 1998. If you compare his career to other HOF QBs of his era he stacks up pretty well. The only knock on him is the lack of passing yards, but the Giants were a run first, defensive team in those days. Did YA Tittle's great years with us overshadow him so much?
Charlie Conerly- 1 championship in 3 tries, 1959 MVP
Regular Season Record- 92-59-5
Post Season Record- 2-3
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1948 nyg | 12 | 162 299 54.2 2175 7.3 22 13 | 40 160 5 |
| 1949 nyg | 12 | 152 305 49.8 2138 7.0 17 20 | 23 42 0 |
| 1950 nyg | 11 | 56 132 42.4 1000 7.6 8 7 | 23 22 1 |
| 1951 nyg | 12 | 93 189 49.2 1277 6.8 10 22 | 17 65 1 |
| 1952 nyg | 11 | 82 169 48.5 1090 6.4 13 10 | 27 115 0 |
| 1953 nyg | 12 | 143 303 47.2 1711 5.6 13 25 | 24 91 0 |
| 1954 nyg | 10 | 103 210 49.0 1439 6.9 17 11 | 24 107 1 |
| 1955 nyg | 12 | 98 202 48.5 1310 6.5 13 13 | 12 10 0 |
| 1956 nyg | 12 | 90 174 51.7 1143 6.6 10 7 | 11 11 0 |
| 1957 nyg | 12 | 128 232 55.2 1712 7.4 11 11 | 15 24 1 |
| 1958 nyg | 10 | 88 184 47.8 1199 6.5 10 9 | 12 -17 0 |
| 1959 nyg | 10 | 113 194 58.2 1706 8.8 14 4 | 15 38 1 |
| 1960 nyg | 12 | 66 134 49.3 954 7.1 8 7 | 14 1 0 |
| 1961 nyg | 13 | 44 106 41.5 634 6.0 7 8 | 13 16 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 161 | 1418 2833 50.1 19488 6.9 173 167 | 270 685 10 |
Norm Van Brocklin- HOF- 2 championships in 4 tries
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1949 ram | 8 | 32 58 55.2 601 10.4 6 2 | 4 -1 0 |
| 1950 ram | 12 | 127 233 54.5 2061 8.8 18 14 | 15 22 1 |
| 1951 ram | 12 | 100 194 51.5 1725 8.9 13 11 | 7 2 2 |
| 1952 ram | 12 | 113 205 55.1 1736 8.5 14 17 | 7 -10 0 |
| 1953 ram | 12 | 156 286 54.5 2393 8.4 19 14 | 8 11 0 |
| 1954 ram | 12 | 139 260 53.5 2637 10.1 13 21 | 6 -10 0 |
| 1955 ram | 12 | 144 272 52.9 1890 6.9 8 15 | 11 24 0 |
| 1956 ram | 12 | 68 124 54.8 966 7.8 7 12 | 4 1 1 |
| 1957 ram | 12 | 132 265 49.8 2105 7.9 20 21 | 10 -4 4 |
| 1958 phi | 12 | 198 374 52.9 2409 6.4 15 20 | 8 5 1 |
| 1959 phi | 12 | 191 340 56.2 2617 7.7 16 14 | 11 13 2 |
| 1960 phi | 12 | 153 284 53.9 2471 8.7 24 17 | 11 -13 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 140 | 1553 2895 53.6 23611 8.2 173 178 | 102 40 11 |
Bob Waterfield- HOF- 1 championship in 3 tries
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1945 ram | 10 | 89 171 52.0 1609 9.4 14 17 | 18 18 5 |
| 1946 ram | 11 | 127 251 50.6 1747 7.0 17 17 | 16 -60 1 |
| 1947 ram | 12 | 96 221 43.4 1210 5.5 8 18 | 3 6 1 |
| 1948 ram | 11 | 87 180 48.3 1354 7.5 14 18 | 7 12 0 |
| 1949 ram | 12 | 154 296 52.0 2168 7.3 17 24 | 5 -4 1 |
| 1950 ram | 12 | 122 213 57.3 1540 7.2 11 13 | 8 14 1 |
| 1951 ram | 11 | 88 176 50.0 1566 8.9 13 10 | 9 49 3 |
| 1952 ram | 12 | 51 109 46.8 655 6.0 3 11 | 9 -14 1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 91 | 814 1617 50.3 11849 7.3 97 128 | 75 21 13 |
Bobby Lane- HOF- 3 championships in 4 tries
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1948 chi | 11 | 16 52 30.8 232 4.5 3 2 | 13 80 1 |
| 1949 nyy | 12 | 155 299 51.8 1796 6.0 9 18 | 54 196 3 |
| 1950 det | 12 | 152 336 45.2 2323 6.9 16 18 | 56 250 4 |
| 1951 det | 12 | 152 332 45.8 2403 7.2 26 23 | 61 290 1 |
| 1952 det | 12 | 139 287 48.4 1999 7.0 19 20 | 94 411 1 |
| 1953 det | 12 | 125 273 45.8 2088 7.6 16 21 | 87 343 0 |
| 1954 det | 12 | 135 246 54.9 1818 7.4 14 12 | 30 119 2 |
| 1955 det | 12 | 143 270 53.0 1830 6.8 11 17 | 31 111 0 |
| 1956 det | 12 | 129 244 52.9 1909 7.8 9 17 | 46 169 5 |
| 1957 det | 11 | 87 179 48.6 1169 6.5 6 12 | 24 99 0 |
| 1958 det | 2 | 12 26 46.2 171 6.6 1 2 | 3 1 0 |
| 1958 pit | 10 | 133 268 49.6 2339 8.7 13 10 | 37 153 3 |
| 1959 pit | 12 | 142 297 47.8 1986 6.7 20 21 | 33 181 2 |
| 1960 pit | 12 | 103 209 49.3 1814 8.7 13 17 | 19 12 2 |
| 1961 pit | 8 | 75 149 50.3 1205 8.1 11 16 | 8 11 0 |
| 1962 pit | 13 | 116 233 49.8 1686 7.2 9 17 | 15 25 1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 175 | 1814 3700 49.0 26768 7.2 196 243 | 611 2451 25 |
George Blanda- HOF-
| Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1949 chi | 12 | 9 21 42.9 197 9.4 0 5 | 2 9 1 |
| 1950 bal | 1 | 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1950 chi | 11 | 0 1 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1951 chi | 12 | 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1952 chi | 12 | 47 131 35.9 664 5.1 8 11 | 20 104 1 |
| 1953 chi | 8 | 169 362 46.7 2164 6.0 14 23 | 24 62 0 |
| 1954 chi | 12 | 131 281 46.6 1929 6.9 15 17 | 19 41 0 |
| 1955 chi | 12 | 42 97 43.3 459 4.7 4 7 | 15 54 2 |
| 1956 chi | 12 | 37 69 53.6 439 6.4 7 4 | 6 47 0 |
| 1957 chi | 12 | 8 19 42.1 65 3.4 0 3 | 5 -5 1 |
| 1958 chi | 12 | 2 7 28.6 19 2.7 0 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1960 hou | 14 | 169 363 46.6 2413 6.6 24 22 | 16 16 4 |
| 1961 hou | 14 | 187 362 51.7 3330 9.2 36 22 | 7 12 0 |
| 1962 hou | 14 | 197 418 47.1 2810 6.7 27 42 | 3 6 0 |
| 1963 hou | 14 | 224 423 53.0 3003 7.1 24 25 | 4 1 0 |
| 1964 hou | 14 | 262 505 51.9 3287 6.5 17 27 | 4 -2 0 |
| 1965 hou | 14 | 186 442 42.1 2542 5.8 20 30 | 4 -6 0 |
| 1966 hou | 14 | 122 271 45.0 1764 6.5 17 21 | 3 1 0 |
| 1967 oak | 14 | 15 38 39.5 285 7.5 3 3 | 0 0 0 |
| 1968 oak | 14 | 30 49 61.2 522 10.7 6 2 | 0 0 0 |
| 1969 oak | 14 | 6 13 46.2 73 5.6 2 1 | 1 0 0 |
| 1970 oak | 14 | 29 55 52.7 461 8.4 6 5 | 2 4 0 |
| 1971 oak | 14 | 32 58 55.2 378 6.5 4 6 | 0 0 0 |
| 1972 oak | 14 | 5 15 33.3 77 5.1 1 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1973 oak | 14 | 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1974 oak | 14 | 1 4 25.0 28 7.0 1 0 | 0 0 0 |
| 1975 oak | 14 | 1 3 33.3 11 3.7 0 1 | 0 0 0 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 340 | 1911 4007 47.7 26920 6.7 236 277 | 135 344 9 |
Y.A. Tittle- HOF
Passing | Rushing |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| Year TM | G | Comp Att PCT YD Y/A TD INT | Att Yards TD |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| 1950 bal | 12 | 161 315 51.1 1884 6.0 8 19 | 20 77 2 |
| 1951 sfo | 12 | 63 114 55.3 808 7.1 8 9 | 13 18 1 |
| 1952 sfo | 12 | 106 208 51.0 1407 6.8 11 12 | 11 -11 0 |
| 1953 sfo | 11 | 149 259 57.5 2121 8.2 20 16 | 14 41 6 |
| 1954 sfo | 12 | 170 295 57.6 2205 7.5 9 9 | 28 68 4 |
| 1955 sfo | 12 | 147 287 51.2 2185 7.6 17 28 | 23 114 0 |
| 1956 sfo | 10 | 124 218 56.9 1641 7.5 7 12 | 24 67 4 |
| 1957 sfo | 12 | 176 279 63.1 2157 7.7 13 15 | 40 220 6 |
| 1958 sfo | 11 | 120 208 57.7 1467 7.1 9 15 | 22 35 2 |
| 1959 sfo | 11 | 102 199 51.3 1331 6.7 10 15 | 11 24 0 |
| 1960 sfo | 9 | 69 127 54.3 694 5.5 4 3 | 10 61 0 |
| 1961 nyg | 13 | 163 285 57.2 2272 8.0 17 12 | 25 85 3 |
| 1962 nyg | 14 | 200 375 53.3 3224 8.6 33 20 | 17 108 2 |
| 1963 nyg | 13 | 221 367 60.2 3145 8.6 36 14 | 18 99 2 |
| 1964 nyg | 14 | 147 281 52.3 1798 6.4 10 22 | 15 -7 1 |
+----------+-----+---------------------------------------+-----------------+
| TOTAL | 178 | 2118 3817 55.5 28339 7.4 212 221 | 291 999 33 |
Otto Graham- HOF- 3 championships in 6 tries
PASSING RUSHING
Year AGE Team LG GP ATT CMP PCT YDS YPA TD INT SKD SKY RAT RAT+ ATT YDS AVG TD LNG
1946 24 CLE
AAFC
13 174 95 54.6 1834 10.54 17 5 0 0 112.1 202 30 -125 -4.2 1 0
1947 25 CLE
AAFC
14 269 163 60.6 2753 10.23 25 11 0 0 109.2 169 19 72 3.8 1 0
1948 26 CLE
AAFC
14 333 173 52.0 2713 8.15 25 15 0 0 85.6 133 23 146 6.3 6 0
1949 27 CLE
AAFC
12 285 161 56.5 2785 9.77 19 10 0 0 97.5 167 27 107 4.0 3 0
1950 28 CLE
NFL
12 253 137 54.2 1943 7.68 14 20 0 291 64.7 122 55 145 2.6 6 20
1951 29 CLE
NFL
12 265 147 55.5 2205 8.32 17 16 0 371 79.2 142 35 29 0.8 3 12
1952 30 CLE
NFL
12 364 181 49.7 2816 7.74 20 24 0 242 66.6 120 42 130 3.1 4 21
1953 31 CLE
NFL
12 258 167 64.7 2722 10.55 11 9 0 245 99.7 186 43 143 3.3 6 21
1954 32 CLE
NFL
12 240 142 59.2 2092 8.72 11 17 0 197 73.5 119 63 114 1.8 8 14
1955 33 CLE
NFL
12 185 98 53.0 1721 9.30 15 8 0 241 94.0 165 68 121 1.8 6 36
4 AAFC Season Totals 53 1061 592 55.8 10085 9.51 86 41 0 0 99.1 99 200 2.0 11 0
6 NFL Season Totals 72 1565 872 55.7 13499 8.63 88 94 0 1587 78.2 306 682 2.2 33 0
125 2,626 1,464 55.8 23,584 174 135 405 882 2.2
Link - ( New Window )
(2) He didn't win a championship .
(3) The Giants were trying at times to replace him...they drafted Travis Tidwell in the first round (didn't work), gave up a lot to acquire Arnie Galiffa ( didn't work), alternated Conerly with Don Heinrich (a arrangement they both despised), acquired George Shaw and drafted Lee Grosscup in the first round as heirs (didn't work), gave Frank Gifford a QB tryout (didn't last).
(4) The Giant receivers were pedestrian TE types Bob Schnelker and Ken McAfee...if Kyle Rote didn't have leg issues, if the Giants kept and developed Don Maynard, Bobby Joe Conrad, and Buddy Dial the Giants passing attack might have evolved differently.
The word TE wasn't used until the 60's.
(5) The backfield, Gifford, Webster, Triplett, at times Rote was the thing that was most heralded.
(6) When you don't win a championship there are only it seems so many HOF slots voters will give you...Gifford, Brown, Tunnell, Huff have their slots
(7) Blanda is in there for his longevity meaning late career heroics and his kicking, QB alone would never have made it.
Still I agree Conerly belongs in...
Sigh
Then again, maybe he's being punished for helping to advertise those poisonous "cancer sticks".
Giants Among Men - How Robustelli, Huff, Gifford, and the Giants Made New York a Football Town and Changed the NFL - ( New Window )
After the 1953 season Conerly was nearly run out of NY...
I think his coolness and competency were taken for granted but an asset to the Giants...but not the best assets to have with the media.
Layne was much more of a free spirit...that along with his passing stats goes a long way...
Again Conerly belongs...just looking for reasons others might say he doesn't
Jim Lee Howell and Vince Lomdardi brought New York into the modern era in 1954. Their version of the T-Formation was run heavy, and Frank Gifford was the star throwing option passes to Kyle Rote and Bob Schnelker. the practice of starting Don Heinrich so Conerly could read the defense for a quarter or half did not help Conerly's public perception.
Conerly enjoyed a rennaisance year in 1959 and won the NFL MVP, but he was already 38 years old and fairly beat up. Had the Giants defeated the colts in one of those two championship games he would've made it a long time ago.
The other side of the coin is that he was drafted by the Redskins when his college class graduated and would have been Baugh's backup until the late 40's anyway
Either way he lost out on an opportunity to put up some numbers because he lost several years early on...
Both of us thought Heinrich was an inferior QB and could not understand why the hell they just didn't go with Conerly from the start of every game.
Considering who is in the HOF now, I would say that Conerly, Patton, Younce, and Young probably all belong there. Or alternatively, some of the players already in now don't belong in there.
It's harder to measure the contributions of a Center, but Ray Weitecha is definitely worthy of consideration, too. Phil Simms is marginal, but he's definitely more deserving than some already inducted.
Bavaro was a great GIANT at his peak, but wasn't an impact player long enough. Also can't see Spider Lockhart or Tiki either. Excellent players but not quite all-timers.
I remember Conerly with great fondness as that's when I began
to watch foorball with my football loving Dad ... He thought and I guess my thoughts as a son was that this system worked well ... Conerly called his own plays and even in some ways was an offensive co-ordinator (he's even credited with running plays the coaches never knew about)... no film ... so a quarter of watching was enough for him to formulate a game plan ... Although he's my second favorite Ole Miss Giants QB (Glynn Griffing IS NOT my first favorite) ... I also feel he has HOF credentials ... a shorter career and some other great QBs is probably what kept him out of it ...
Quote:
Starting Heinrich so Conerly could "see the defense" before coming in was just stupid. He invariably ended up coming in after the offense did nothing for a quarter or a half. It's one of the things that Gifford really pounds on in "The Glory Game"
I remember Conerly with great fondness as that's when I began
to watch foorball with my football loving Dad ... He thought and I guess my thoughts as a son was that this system worked well ... Conerly called his own plays and even in some ways was an offensive co-ordinator (he's even credited with running plays the coaches never knew about)... no film ... so a quarter of watching was enough for him to formulate a game plan ... Although he's my second favorite Ole Miss Giants QB (Glynn Griffing IS NOT my first favorite) ... I also feel he has HOF credentials ... a shorter career and some other great QBs is probably what kept him out of it ...
Let me just add another remembrance of Conerly ... I even found a link below to the story ...
Tittle was stinking up the place in this important away game against the Eagles ... all 40 years of Conerly came into the game and threw 3 TD passes to rally the Giants ...
I think we were fishing that day as I recall Marty Glickman's radio voice announcing his heroics and Al DeRogatis almost in awe...
http://fs64sports.blogspot.com/2009/12/1961-giants-edge-eagles-28-24-in.html