Begin on BBI to accomplish this. I can’t believe we can’t accomplish this with the local press’s attention etc. let’s try to do this for a WW II hero and outstanding Giant/NFL qb.
Played in three championships games and won the '56 championships.
Not sure of the QB's of the time and how he compared but looking at some of his accomplishments he seems to have a strong case.
Unfortunately, as with Namath, unless you saw them play (other than on film or youtube clips), it’s quite hard for “analyzers” to grasp their true worth..
- NFL Rookie of the Year in 1948
- Three-time All Pro quarterback
- NFL MVP
- Led team to NFL championship game 3 times, winning 1
- Played in the greatest NFL game of all-time vs Baltimore Colts in 1958), generally credited with bringing pro football to the forefront in American sport. Note: Conerly had already been voted the game’s MVP before Johnny Unitas led that famed comeback and overtime Baltimore victory.
- World War II hero. He was the original Marlboro Man, and he was to New York football in 1950s what Joe DiMaggio was to New York baseball.
this one is easy...
His stats were solid for his time. He would have more yards if he
didn't come off the bench for a few years. He had a better completion percentage than Bobby Layne, Jim Finks, and George Blanda. He had a better TD to interception ratio than any other QB of his era except Otto Graham. His 22 TD passes in 1948 was a rookie record that stood until 1998. He has more career TD passes than Bart Starr, Roger Staubach, and even Troy Aikman. He is one of two QBs in NFL history who has won a championship and an MVP who is not in the HOF. The other is Phil Simms, they both won the now defunct Newspaper Enterprise MVP. This award dates back to before the AP MVP. The 1986 Simms is a little suspect, because LT was obviously the MVP. In 1959 Unitas lead the league in yards and TDs, but Conerly lead the league in QB rating, interception percentage, yards per attempt, and yards per completion. He was close to leading the league in completion percentage and was far ahead of Unitas. He was also great in the big game:
I was at the HOF a few years ago, they told me to write a letter. I did and posted about it on BBI during the 100th anniversary season when they were letting in more old timers. It didn't work, what a shame!
There are a number of outstanding Giants I beleive are HOF worthy
Jimmy Patton tops the list.
A case can also be made of Al Nesser and Jack McBride.
Conerly could also get in. His career arc is unusual, as he was often not the clear-cut starter for different periods of time. In 1950 & 1951 Travis Tidwell took many starts as he was more proficient in the T-Formation and Conerly lead the game where the A-Formation would be featured.
Fun fact: Don Heinrich started every single game during the 1956 season when the Giants won the NFL title. Conerly would appear somewhere during the course of most games spanning 1956-1959, but there were a handful of instances where Heinrich went all the way.
Conerly won the NFL MVP in 1959, but two years later Y.A. Title was traded for and ultimately assumed the QB position full time.
Despite rarely enjoying the starting QB status comfortably, I beleive had the Giants managed to win that championship against the Colts in 1958 Conerly probably would have made it into the HOF a long time ago.
True Blue Larry: Hard to really evaluate Conerly’s contribution to the
Sport and to the Giants. He was the QB for the league’s top franchise and the one that got all the visibility and most of the publicity and advertising $$. Definitely outstanding on the field but strangely managed by Jim Lee Howell/Lombardi. Kind of like Howell was saying “you aren’t smart enough to see what’s happening while you are playing. You need to watch from the sidelines to get a feel for what’s happening.” I don’t think that was Lombardi’s choice since he didn’t do that at Green Bay.
I wonder what Conerly thought about the way he was handled. Did it help him or hurt him?
He's is not close to the elite of the same time frame. Y.A. Title, Otto Graham, Norm Van Brocklin, Waterfield, Bobby Layne and Unitas.
Those teams were loaded on both sides, the reason they dont win more is the substantial diff. Between Unitas and Charlie
RE: True Blue Larry: Hard to really evaluate Conerly’s contribution to the
Sport and to the Giants. He was the QB for the league’s top franchise and the one that got all the visibility and most of the publicity and advertising $$. Definitely outstanding on the field but strangely managed by Jim Lee Howell/Lombardi. Kind of like Howell was saying “you aren’t smart enough to see what’s happening while you are playing. You need to watch from the sidelines to get a feel for what’s happening.” I don’t think that was Lombardi’s choice since he didn’t do that at Green Bay.
I wonder what Conerly thought about the way he was handled. Did it help him or hurt him?
I don't think sitting and watching helped him at all, he even said so himself, watching the game from field level the sideline offers the worst possible sightline. YEars later Frank Gifford and Pat Summerall both said that philosophy was strange and that they would've preferred Conerly started.
Having watched CC in real time, I simply accepted the explanation that he benefited from watching the D schemes from the sidelines before replacing Heinrich late in the first Qtr or after it expired (usually)..As has been pointed out, I learned later on that it was meaningless to CC.
Frank Gifford had a lot to say about the stupidity of keeping your
best qb on the bench for a 1/4 of every game so he could see how theopponent was playing the giants ‘o”. It was stupid, Gifford hated the head coach who was pretty useless and kind of unneeded with lomboardi running the ‘o’. Conerly as a result had stats that reflected only 3/4 of game time.And then the Giants D was certainly dominant also holding down the need for scoring lots of points through the air.
Conerly belongs,in the HOF.Namath belongs in the dog house. I cannot be believe that all the press in NY cannot right this wrong. But then again ....
Agree Steve, I was just using the rationale of those who never saw him play..
Not sure of the QB's of the time and how he compared but looking at some of his accomplishments he seems to have a strong case.
Not sure of the QB's of the time and how he compared but looking at some of his accomplishments he seems to have a strong case.
Unfortunately, as with Namath, unless you saw them play (other than on film or youtube clips), it’s quite hard for “analyzers” to grasp their true worth..
- Three-time All Pro quarterback
- NFL MVP
- Led team to NFL championship game 3 times, winning 1
- Played in the greatest NFL game of all-time vs Baltimore Colts in 1958), generally credited with bringing pro football to the forefront in American sport. Note: Conerly had already been voted the game’s MVP before Johnny Unitas led that famed comeback and overtime Baltimore victory.
- World War II hero. He was the original Marlboro Man, and he was to New York football in 1950s what Joe DiMaggio was to New York baseball.
this one is easy...
1956- 7/10, 195, 2-0
1958- 10/14, 187, 1-0
1959- 17/37, 226, 1-2 (not as good)
I was at the HOF a few years ago, they told me to write a letter. I did and posted about it on BBI during the 100th anniversary season when they were letting in more old timers. It didn't work, what a shame!
A case can also be made of Al Nesser and Jack McBride.
Conerly could also get in. His career arc is unusual, as he was often not the clear-cut starter for different periods of time. In 1950 & 1951 Travis Tidwell took many starts as he was more proficient in the T-Formation and Conerly lead the game where the A-Formation would be featured.
Fun fact: Don Heinrich started every single game during the 1956 season when the Giants won the NFL title. Conerly would appear somewhere during the course of most games spanning 1956-1959, but there were a handful of instances where Heinrich went all the way.
Conerly won the NFL MVP in 1959, but two years later Y.A. Title was traded for and ultimately assumed the QB position full time.
Despite rarely enjoying the starting QB status comfortably, I beleive had the Giants managed to win that championship against the Colts in 1958 Conerly probably would have made it into the HOF a long time ago.
I wonder what Conerly thought about the way he was handled. Did it help him or hurt him?
Those teams were loaded on both sides, the reason they dont win more is the substantial diff. Between Unitas and Charlie
I wonder what Conerly thought about the way he was handled. Did it help him or hurt him?
I don't think sitting and watching helped him at all, he even said so himself, watching the game from field level the sideline offers the worst possible sightline. YEars later Frank Gifford and Pat Summerall both said that philosophy was strange and that they would've preferred Conerly started.
Conerly belongs,in the HOF.Namath belongs in the dog house. I cannot be believe that all the press in NY cannot right this wrong. But then again ....
They didn't even play at the same time!
They didn't even play at the same time!
Iirc, Steve’s the only BBIer who was able to see Namath LIVE, that doesn’t see his true worth-that he was way beyond the stat sheet..