TUESDAY TIDBITS: "Craggy-Faced, Savvy Pro Football Leader"

By TJ Troup 

Charley Conerly. Art Credit: Merv Corning

How many of us have heard that the NFL is controlled by young talented quarterbacks? Yes, there are some veterans in the position who have retained their skills and can lead a team to victory, but so much is written about the youngsters and their passing and running skills. 

That will take me (us)back in time to detail a man who not only achieved success at quarterback in his rookie season.....he also achieved success in his final season at age 40. The title of today's saga comes from Lew Freedman's book on the history of the New York football Giants, and the subject is Charley Conerly. This past week have dug deep and refreshed myself on him, and of course, have spent many hours watching film—thank you Steve Sabol. 

When the Giants plummeted in 1947 there was no doubt what coach Steve Owen and the Mara family needed to address first. A tailback who could pitch the pigskin and a trade was engineered with Washington to get Conerly. Since the Giants shared the Polo Grounds with the baseball Giants they began the season on the road with a victory over Boston. Have the complete game film of New York at Washington in week two and Conerly is the left halfback (tailback) in the Giants' A-formation. 

He is not polished, and though he demonstrates that he has a strong enough arm to pass; the Giants are blown out by the 'Skins. Adding to the learning curve for Conerly is that he rotates in at the position with a free agent named Emlen Tunnell. Yes, folks my boy Emlen began his career on offense, and though he is an exceptional athlete he is by no means a difference-maker on offense. 

The two rookies with very different backgrounds become friends, and much like Piccolo and Sayers they actually spent time together away from the field. Emlen would take Charley into the Harlem nightclubs to hear jazz. Why has this story never been developed further? 

Now back to football. 

Seven weeks into the year and the Giants are 2-5 and though Conerly has had his moments both running and passing, he is a work in progress. The overall personnel of New York also needs an overhaul, and as such the fateful question arises:  Are the Giants ever going to be a league power again. 

Watching film of the Rams 52-37 victory over the Giants Conerly can be seen on the kick-off return team as a fullback and even returns a couple kick-offs in this game. Conerly looks sharp on the delivery of his passes but is inconsistent, and there is a lack of speed at the end position for the Giants. 

Since the Rams are an explosive passing team the Giant secondary aligns in a 5-2-4 at times and Emlen Tunnell after being benched earlier in the campaign records the first two interceptions of his career. New York journeys to Wisconsin and destroys the Packers 49-3, and Tunnell intercepts three times, returns one for a touchdown, and nails Indian Jack Jacobs with a hit that knocks him over the Packer bench. 

Oh, this saga is about Conerly, apologies for the digression. 

So how did Conerly do against Green Bay you ask? He completes 20 of 29 for 291 yards with three going for touchdowns. Charley at one point in the game completes 10 in a row (how many passers had ever done that before?) and his confidence is soaring with game experience. The Giants now have a 4-6 record with a victory over Boston in late November and head to the Steel City to take on Pittsburgh. 

Conerly fires a bullet to end Ray Poole vs Eagles, 1948

Charley Conerly will set a record in this game that stood for many years and never received the aclaim it deserved—Chuckin' Charley completes 36 passes! He gains 363 yards with his completions and New York moves the chains 31 times. 

Sure wish I had film of this game to give all of you a more complete breakdown, yet research tells us he completed passes to eight different receivers (none gained over 100 yards)and his longest completion was for 28 yards. Much like Sammy Baugh he utilized everyone, and was becoming adapt at the intermediate routes, and flipping passes to his backs. 

A young Conerly gets a first down with his feet vs Eagles in 1948

Joe Sulaitis is the blocking back for the Giants in the A-formation and he caught 7 for 44 yards. Though New York is on the short end of a 38-28 score, the rookie has finally arrived. The Giants also are defeated by Baugh and the 'Skins the last week of the season, but Conerly also plays well in this game. Even with his slow start during his rookie season Conerly finishes third in the league with a passer rating of 84.0. The last four games of the year he completed 94 of 149 for 1,106 yards with 10 touchdowns, and only two interceptions. 

Yes, folks, he is now Chuckin' Charley Conerly. 

Two-platoon football is the biggest change/adjustment for the '49 season, and Allie Sherman is brought in to teach Conerly how to be a T-formation quarterback. Being an excellent athlete and doggedly determined to succeed he is beginning to master the faking needed, the footwork on his passing delivery. Conerly is not as efficient in '49 as he was in 1948 as he finishes 4th in the passer rating with a mark of 64.1, but the team improves slightly to 6-6. 

Conerly does though have a game that year that stands out when he torches the contending Chicago Bears 35-28 at the Polo Grounds as running back Choo Choo Roberts has a game for the ages as a receiver out of the backfield. Duke Mara continues to build the roster and give Steve Owen enough talent to contend with the new kids on the block. Who might that be you ask? Why none other than the well-coached champions entering from the AAFC the Cleveland Browns. 

The Browns will have a sparkling 10-2 record in 1950 and you guessed it—the two loses are to the Giants. Conerly again finishes fourth in the passer rating system in 1950 with a mark of 67.1 and he sure has his moments, but the Giants of 1950 are known for their powerful ground attack and a stingy defense. Conerly might have shared the quarterback position with Travis Tidwell in '50, but Conerly is adept enough to still block when he is tailback in the A-formation, and then quickly adapt to the footwork, and faking needed when Steve Owen has the Giants in the T-formation. 

The season ends on a sour note with the loss to Cleveland in the playoffs, and Conerly struggles on the frigid day on the icy field. Charley was able to complete a pass to McChesney for a touchdown that would have given New York the lead, but Mote was offside. The Giants continue to play strong football in 1951, but talented rookie Kyle Rote had injury problems, and so did Mr. Conerly. Charley would never complain and was a game rooster who played through injury when he could but he was not near as efficient as a passer and finishes tenth in the passer rating category with a mark of 49.3. The fans are also voicing their opinion of Conerly, and it is sure not a positive one. 

The Giants led the league in '51 in the defensive passer rating category with a mark of 33.9. New York has a defensive lineman in Arnie Weinmeister who is as dominant as Ford & Willis are in Cleveland. The lockdown secondary and Cannady at linebacker keep New York in every game. 

Cleveland scores only 24 points in the two Browns victories over the Giants—thus all fingers are pointed at the offense and Conerly. Tonka Truck fullback Eddie Price lugs the leather all year and moves the chains, but the passing attack is just not where it needs to be. Drafting multi-talented Frank Gifford in '52, and having Rote at least partially healthy, brings optimism for '52, but after eleven weeks the Giants are 6-5. Conerly is injured again, and the 63-7 loss to Pittsburgh is of course the low point in the season. Watching Conerly masterfully deliver victory over the Browns in December 37-34 on film just enhances his reputation. 

Legendary announcer Marty Glick delivers a candid and accurate summation of Conerly and the '52 Giants in the highlight film of that season. Charley strong performance to end '52 enables him to finish 3rd in the league in the passer rating category with a mark of 70.4. The cliche "all the wheels fell off the cart" aptly describes the '53 Giants. Conerly again fights through injuries and finishes a woeful 9th in the passer rating system with a mark of 44.9. 

The once powerful rushing attack cannot move the chains, and the defense has suddenly become porous. Conerly after six seasons, and being older than his bio lists, decides it is time to farm in Mississippi. Steve Owen is forced out, and Jim Lee Howell is assigned the task of convincing Conerly to return. Howell not only succeeds, but he has a new offensive coordinator in West Point assistant coach Vincent T. Lombardi. 

Though Lombardi and Conerly have very different backgrounds, and their personalities would seem to clash—they don't. They work very well together, and the Giants improve in '54 and Conerly finishes fifth in the passer rating category with a mark of 76.7. 

Lots of play-action passing, power sweeps, fullback slants, yes the Lombardi playbook. Conerly also hits the century mark as he now has 100 touchdown passes in his career. 

Bet you can name the other men who had at least 100 in their careers at this point in time? Come on guys, give me the list. 

 Five weeks into 1955 the Giants are 1-4, and though it is a story for another day, the "run to daylight" concept is built. Though Conerly does not have a strong season, the team wins down the stretch to finish with a winning record. 

Yankee Stadium is just not like any other ballpark in America, and as the Giants become a power again, the fans respond. Landry is now a full-time defensive coach, and again Duke Mara has strengthened the roster. Lombardi attempts some "out of the box" thinking by having Don Heinrich start the game and probe the opponents' defense. 

Lombardi maps out what he sees with Charley and he enters the game ready to attack the flaws the opponent's defense. Does this work you ask? Hell yes! 

A strong o-line that does not allow Conerly to be sacked, while opening holes for a revitalized run game. Conerly finishes second in the passer rating category with a mark of 75.0, and New York is back in the title game for the first time in over a decade. 

The tie game against the Bears earlier in '56 left a bitter taste for the Giants team, and as you can imagine Landry will not let Harlon Hill run past his secondary again, while Lombardi blueprints a masterful game plan to expose the Shaughnessy defense. My father a man of few words (unlike his oldest son) would never detail the game to me—only state emphatically 47-7. 

Conerly pitches his passes to perfection to Gifford and Webster for long gains and Charley Conerly is now a champion. The Giants of '57 and the first half of '58 just do not always play like champions, and Conerly is now viewed as an elder statesman and not a top quarterback. Ah, but like fine wine Chuckin' Charley is not done yet. The strong New York defense keeps the Giants in every game as they claw their way into a tie with Cleveland. 

The playoff game against the Browns is as must-see as the fabled game against the Colts. New York is on the Cleveland 18-yard line; Gifford on a misdirection play bursts into the Cleveland secondary, and then laterals to his close friend Charley Conerly and the ancient warrior takes the lateral and manages to score. 

Now in his 11th year and having blocked, punted, returned kick-offs, ran, and passed he is now taking laterals to score the only touchdown of the game. Much has been written and rightfully so about the '58 title game, and though it is Unitas and the Colts' time to shine, Charley Conerly has a fine game also. 

The 1959 New York Giant highlight film is sure fun to watch, and the key players are of course the defense or as Conerly describes them "as reliable as an old hound dog", Pat Summerall and his field goal kicking, and Chuckin' Charley. During the year he overcomes injury again and leads the league in the passer rating system with a mark of 102.7—that is not a misprint. 

Film study shows he is delivering his passes with more velocity than in previous years, his touch passes are on the money. He has retained the ability to throw the most important route in being able to deliver a strike on the square in, and he throws just 4 interceptions. 

In his last three games of the year he completed 35 of 56 for 556 yards with 8 touchdowns, and nary an interception. New York leads the woeful Redskins 38-0 at half-time on Charley Conerly day, and he is getting all kinds of gifts. His wife Perian is on the TV show "What's My Line" in December, and has written a book called the "Backseat Quarterback". 

What more could a man ask for? Wait there is more? 

Yes, folks Conerly's season of '59 he was voted the league MVP by NEA, which was a vote of the players themselves. How was he able to steal that award from Johnny Hightops who just threw 32 touchdown passes and led his defending champion Colts back to the title game. They should have been co-MVPs—and actually were with Unitas taking home the AP Player of the Year Award. 

Since Johnny is the man to be measured against by the late '50s and has by far the best fundamentals in the game, let's take a moment and if you watch both men they are masters, I repeat MASTERS in their passing delivery; shoulder rotation, footwork, and hand pronation. 

Art credit: Robert Riger

They are matched again in the title game, and as strong a season as New York, and Conerly had no one was going to beat the Colts. Lipscomb and Marchetti rushed the passer, the best zone coverage secondary in the league, and a passing offense of Moore, Mutscheller and Berry latching onto Johnny Hightops passes. Jim Lee Howell retires, and again the Giants are in transition. 

Conerly finished fifth in the passer rating category in 1960 with a mark of 70.9, but he will return in '61 for his 14th season. Duke Mara again pulls off masterful trades, and though he is also a veteran of many campaigns Y.A. Tittle and Conerly treat each other with respect and shine at the quarterback position. 

Charley begins the year as the starter, but this will become Tittle's team, and it is ironic that after all the years where Conerly had to deal with young passers coming off the bench, now he comes off the bench in his final season. Twice he delivers when needed the most, as he does against the Rams and more importantly the Eagles in December. 

Chuckin' Charley one last time as he completes 6 of 13 for an impressive 153 yards and three touchdowns (two to Shofner). The season ends in Green Bay with a loss to the powerful Packers, and Lombardi. Has Charley Conerly been overlooked for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Seven times he was a finalist from 1971 through 1980. 

How many of the voters have seen him play in person?  Or even film for that matter? He may be remembered for being the Marlboro man as much as he is remembered for being a quarterback for the Giants? Being known for evaluating what stats really mean, this is a passer who threw 173 touchdown passes in his career. 

Look at where he was ranked then, and the names of the men also on the list. Today is Charley Conerly's birthday. Let's celebrate this truly "Craggy-faced, savvy pro football leader".