Old Fart’s thread: Your memories of Tittle

After a very memorable adventure to get to the Rose Bowl for the Giants 1st Super Bowl, we enjoy Phil Simms best day as a pro outplaying one of the all-time best, Elway.

I was too young. This is when I started paying attention.



Is there "A Football Life" episode for Tittle?

But my dad got his autograph for me at an IBM dinner he spoke at.

He told the story of how a ref asked him to throw the Alley Oop and after he let go of the ball and the ref watched the defensive lineman jumped him and punched the crap out of him since the ref wasn't looking. We tend to forget how dirty players were then, gouging at eyes and what not in the pile ups...

Not the line play, just to be clear...

Giants running the exact same play again and again until the defense stopped it. Here's a video of Tittle throwing for 505 yards and 7 td's when he was 36.
Link - ( New Window )

He was one of my dads favorite players so I remember watching games and my father pointing out what he was doing on a given play. But really I don't remember enough to do him justice, only glimpses or shadows of memories. Sadly my Giants memories begin right at the end of his career and the very beginning of the dark years. Sometimes I'm surprised I stuck with them all those years.

...fully appreciated about Y.A. Tittle is the strength of his arm. And he could pitch the ball from several different angles. He was also VERY athletic, more so than the image of him today as an old player gimping around.

My fondest memory was being at Yankee Stadium and seeing Y.A. loft these beautiful, deep sideline passes to Del Shofner.

In comment 14218264 Ira said:

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Giants running the exact same play again and again until the defense stopped it. Here's a video of Tittle throwing for 505 yards and 7 td's when he was 36. Link - ( New Window )

Thanks, that uniform looks so great at night.

Are you saying he was better than Unitas? I hope not because Unitas was an immortal in my opinion. To me, Johnny U is in the running for the greatest of all time. He’s been passed by Brady & Montana but he’s up there and Title isn’t (as much as I liked him).

Because of YAT. I grew up in a very unpopulated area and threw a football at thousands of trees that were my favorite wide receivers. I know your gone YAT but, I thank you again for the memories.

Here's a longer video, complete with interviews. He looked younger in his 60's than his 30's.
Full career - ( New Window )

he is one of the reasons why I rail at some younger posters when they state unequivocally that Eli is the best Giants quarter back ever, Simms being the other.

I remember back in the 70's before I was married. A man named Paul Stenko, a pretty good NFLer in his own right, (played under the name of Paul Stenn) took me to a Giants Eagles game at Franklin field.

Paul was was mostly known for having played with the Bears, but he had stints with the Giants and the Redskins.

Anyway some of his ex teammates were coaching with the Giants, Ken Kavanaugh is the only one I remember, he would use his life time pass to get into the locker room and get their field passes to get me on the field prior to the game.

I was on the sidelines right before kick off, thrilled to be there. All of a sudden I hear Paul yelling "Allie, Allie, (Allie Sherman) I wanted to crawl into a hole.

I was old enough to understand I should not be bothering the head coach of the Giants minutes before kickoff. Besides I never was one who felt the need to get autographs bother celebrities.

Anyway, Paul is a big man with a big personality. I suppose out of respect for Paul Allie comes over. He shakes my hand but you could tell he was very distracted and in his game set. I was very uncomfortable, and relieved when that moment passed.

As I'm making my way to behind the bench, I hear Paul once again yelling, "Y.A., Y.A."

I'm thinking, what the heck is he doing. I was mortified. Anyway Paul persists, brings me back in front of the bench and introduces me to Tittle.

He greeted me with the warmest genuine smile you can imagine and a wonderful hand shake.

He thanked me for coming to the game and being a Giants fan.

I never forgot that moment, in my discomfort and right before a game, he made me feel for those few seconds, that I was the most important person there.

BB56, enjoy these walks down memory lane, but until this morning, hadn't thought about this for a long time.

Going to Giants games in the early 1980s he would tell my sisters and I stories of going to the games at Old Yankee Stadium with my grandparents. He told them so vividly that I almost feel like I was there and that I did see tittle play myself.

Tittle's biggest day:
https://i.imgur.com/iH6Ksd0.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JJxU2TD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ANLuoOz.jpg

reply. I was going to put Tittle but I was a kid when he was a QB and figured my memory might be shaded. But he was great. And that was in the age when QB's were nailed in the backfield. A different era where QB's weren't playing flag football.

four TD passes and first place for the Giants.

https://i.imgur.com/jw5zdSt.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/FdqCXJP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HWSgXe3.jpg

when they introduced the "down and out": Take off on a fly pattern and abruptly break toward the sideline. It was unstoppable for some time.

November 20, 1961 (Wellington Mara discusses the Tittle trade in pretty good detail, along with others - Tittle featured on the cover).

https://www.si.com/vault/1961/11/20/619082/a-successful-trader-in-giants

November 18, 1963 (full feature article on Tittle, great reading!)

https://www.si.com/vault/1963/11/18/594382/y-a-tittle-is-the-best-policy

in 1962, but YA cemented it for me. Great QB and fond memories.

When I think of YA I think of Del Shofner

What a combo those two were.

Great memories.

I remember 1961 when my father told me how happy he was that we got Tittle. Charley Conerly's skills had diminished and Tittle was a shot in the arm for the team. My biggest memory of Tittle was watching him drop back in the pocket and throw long passes downfield to Del Shofner. He was not much of a scrambler, but he could sure drop back in the pocket, behind that good OL, and throw downfield.

At Monmouth U in the early 70's.
there was this old man on the sidelines having a catch only he was tossing the ball 50 yards. I said " who the hell is that" it was YA

My uncle and his buddies had the season package. They sometimes invited my Dad but I only was invited once. I was a teenager. also saw one game against the Browns with Conerly at QB. Stood for 6 hours that day. SRO.

Y.A. was a gunslinger. He may not have been as good as Unitas but he was better than anyone else.

In comment 14218433 ChicagoMarty said:

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When I think of YA I think of Del Shofner What a combo those two were. Great memories.

Couldn't agree more! :-)

was 1960..actually to sports....I remember the Yankees losing to the Pirates that year.....I was a big Mickey Mantle fan in Red Sox territory......and then I discovered the Giants...

The next year, Tittle joined the team, and I was hooked.....

One of my first memories of him was, he took his helmet off, and he looked soooooooo ooooooold! How could this be? and that wasBut he looked totally different with it on.....man did he throw a nice ball......

It's amazing that no Giant qb has topped Tittle's 36 TD passes(in 14 games)....

He played with the 49ers and had a tall end named R.C. Owens. Together they developed a play called the allie-oop. Tittle would pitch it high and Owens would go up, get it, and bring it down. It was an essentially unstoppable scoring play.

Near or at the end of his career, a fading Owens had a very brief stint with the GIANTS after Y.A. came to New York. It was really a cameo appearance like some other NFL greats of the day including Hugh McElheney. They ran the allie-oop a couple of times for the GIANTS.

In comment 14218539 Red Dog said:

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He played with the 49ers and had a tall end named R.C. Owens. Together they developed a play called the allie-oop. Tittle would pitch it high and Owens would go up, get it, and bring it down. It was an essentially unstoppable scoring play. Near or at the end of his career, a fading Owens had a very brief stint with the GIANTS after Y.A. came to New York. It was really a cameo appearance like some other NFL greats of the day including Hugh McElheney. They ran the allie-oop a couple of times for the GIANTS.

Iirc, didn’t they also have Owens (with the Niners) stand at the goal posts during opponents’ FG Attempts to swat the ball away as it approached the uprights? Obviously, they banned it later on

of what the NFL game would become. He was one of the most deadly accurate passers, and from different arm angles, I can recall. And he moved around well and could actually run a bit. Sadly, between 63 and 64,he and the Giants seemed to get old in a hurry. In my man cave, I have a picture of Y.A. at his last home game, dejected and alone on the Giants bench. Also recommend this book by his daughter (Dianne Tittle DeLaet): "Giants and Heroes, a Daughter's Memory of Y.A. Tittle.

In comment 14218279 Samiam said:

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Are you saying he was better than Unitas? I hope not because Unitas was an immortal in my opinion. To me, Johnny U is in the running for the greatest of all time. He’s been passed by Brady & Montana but he’s up there and Title isn’t (as much as I liked him).

No, I’m saying for those FEW YEARS he was an offensive force like I had never seen

It was 1961 I believe. At half-time the Giants used a spread play and Y.A. threw a TD to Erich Barnes. It later came out that the Giants ball boy had come up with the play.

A thrill to watch (and listen to Marty Glickman broadcasting his exploits when there was no TV.) I took his book, "I Pass" out at the library. Still my favorite Giant--though Eli is giving him a run for my money. Great accomplishments, great player. Alas, only three great years with us.

Yes, I had forgotten that but I think you are dead on with that recollection.

In comment 14218698 scouser said:

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It was 1961 I believe. At half-time the Giants used a spread play and Y.A. threw a TD to Erich Barnes. It later came out that the Giants ball boy had come up with the play.

His name was Pete Previte and he was the clubhouse guy for the Giants (and I think the Yanks as well)..Oldtimers remember with fondness the “Pete Previte” play

At the same time. here are just a few:

Tittle and Conerly
Simms, Hostetler, Rutledge
Packers - Starr and Bratkowski
Raiders - Lamonica and Blanda
Colts - Unitas, Couzzo, Tom Matte (HB who became QB after Couzzo and Unitas were hurt. He wore the plays on his arm.
Colts - Unitas, Morrall

Teams already had their fastest players on the field. When the Giants Added Barnes and Patton to the starters, the defense couldn’t counter.

In comment 14218770 Red Dog said:

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Yes, I had forgotten that but I think you are dead on with that recollection.

Yep, and he blocked at least one, that I know of. (I remember the photograph of it in the newspaper.)

In my lifetime, no one executed a better screen pass than YAT, imo

Three of the best years to watch the Giants, but they ended in heartbreak. They were a team you absolutely loved. They were by far the best team the NFL had back then. The most marketable team by far. Stars on both sides of the ball, legitimate chance of winning the title all three seasons, the best passing game in the league, and best greatest play by play and color commentator the game has ever had in Marty Glickman and Al DeRogatis. Listening to the radio play by play was fantastic with those two.

Giants had great coordinators, but after Lombardi left a little known guy from Brooklyn college and eagles became OC. Allie Sherman gets little credit from being offensive genius and developer of passing game that really helped YAT. Sherman gets little credit for his offensive coaching and passing game development.

In comment 14219608 plato said:

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Giants had great coordinators, but after Lombardi left a little known guy from Brooklyn college and eagles became OC. Allie Sherman gets little credit from being offensive genius and developer of passing game that really helped YAT. Sherman gets little credit for his offensive coaching and passing game development.

Not sure what your point was. I wasn’t referring at all to Conerly and Unitas as opponents. All I said was that Tittle was the best offensive machine I had seen up to that point in my football life. An up and coming Unitas was emerging as the best. Nothing to do with Conerly at all

He and Del were some pair, augmented by Gifford, Rote, Morrison and a good running game.