by Meg A Wright

Created on: September 12, 2008

Not only does George Blanda hold the record for being the oldest player to ever play in the NFL, but he also holds other records with the most memorable being the player with the longest career in the NFL.

Very fitting and honorable that George Fredrick Blanda was a Youngwood Pennsylvania native, born September 17, 1927 and is still alive to this day. His father is said to have worked in the coal mines, but other than that, little is said about this man's heritage and history.

George began his career at the University of Kentucky, in 1945, where he was felt honored to meet Bear Bryant who later went on to fame at Texas A&M and Alabama. At Kentucky, Blanda was both a kicker and a quarterback, very common during this era of football. During the last two years at the university, Blanda was promoted to starting quarterback and ended his career at Kentucky with 120 completions out of 242 attempts, totaling 1,451 yards, with 12 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

In 1949, Blanda was immediately signed to the Chicago Bears squad and implemented as quarterback and placekicker, much as he had been doing in his college career. However, at the Bear he also was used as a linebacker when needed, during which he once intercepted a ball, returning it for 13 yards. At the beginning of 1953, Blanda earned the spot of starting quarterback, however he relinquished it the following year due to some injuries. After this he was only used as a kicker. Because of this and other happenings, the tension between Blanda and George Halas, the Bears owner, grew. At one point, Blanda even remarked, "he was too cheap to even buy me a kicking shoe."

Blanda decided to retire at the end of the 1958 season as he felt his position as a kicker was not justifying of his skills as he thought possible. However, once the American Football League was formed in 1960, Blanda signed with the Houston Oilers as their kicker/quarterback. Although many thought and commented on him as being a "NFL reject", Blanda led the Oilers to two league titles, the first in AFL history, and won Player of the Year honors in 1961. It was during 1961 he set records that stood for two decades including most touchdown passes in a single season (36) that was broken by Marino and Manning decades later.

The glorious career seemed over when the Oilers released him in 1967, but the Oakland Raiders (also of the AFL) snapped him up, impressed with both his kicking and passing abilities. His reliability was just what they needed. He led the

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