Johnny Unitas reporter Jimmy Brown wrote: “If Ragone and Stefan LeFors. Unitas finished his Coach Frank Camp is smart, he’ll career completing 247 of 502 passes for 2,912 take Unitas, enclose him in a yards and 27 touchdowns. cellophane bag and put him away The rest of Unitas’ story is well with the Cardinals’ uniforms for documented. He left Louisville when he was safekeeping over the winter. the ninth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers “They better not let anything in 1955 and was cut by them in a numbers happen to this boy,” Brown game. The Steelers had four quarterbacks; they added. “He’s the most colorful only needed three. Unitas was the odd man player to hit Louisville in a long out. time.” “Most of the time they acted like I wasn’t Teammate Gene Sartini said: there,” he said. “When I did get into an intra- “Back at that time he was just one squad scrimmage, I thought I played well. But of the guys. We lived at White I guess nobody was watching. Anyway, I was Hall. with them through five exhibition games, and We were a losing football they never put me in for a minute. Not a team who used to go out and eat minute.” cheeseburgers at the Doghouse.” Unitas took a job with a Pittsburgh tiling “He was really the only company following the cut and then he latched football player we had at the on with the Bloomfield Rams, a semi-pro team. University in those days,” said He made six dollars a game. But Unitas didn’t Hugh Kriever, who played in the linger long in the bush league. The Colts got same backfield with Unitas. wind of him and invited him for a tryout. He “He was the greatest thing made the team—signing for $7,000— and the that ever happened to Louisville,” Steelers made history for one of the biggest Kriever continued. “As bad as we blunders of all time. were— and we were so bad that Unitas was inducted into the NFL Hall of Unitas was on his back half the Fame in 1979 and his record 47-consecutive time when he was trying to get game touchdown passes is a record compared the ball away—we knew how to Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. great he was.” Sid Luckman once said: “Johnny Unitas is In his sophomore season, the greatest quarterback ever to play the Five games into Johnny Unitas’ freshman Unitas completed 77 of his 154 passes and game—better than me, better than Sammy season (Unitas was allowed to play as a threw 12 TDs. U of L went 3-8 that year. At Baugh, better than anyone.” freshman because U of L didn’t belong to the Florida State, Unitas had one of his best games, NCAA), head coach Frank Camp knew he had completing 17 of 22 passes in a 41-14 victory. something unique. U of L, though, almost fumbled away Tossed in against St. Bonaventure Johnny Unitas after his sophomore season. when U of L was trailing 19-0, Unitas After an administrative hassle which saw 15 completed 11 consecutive passes, three for players dismissed from school, leaving the TDs, in a steady rain and helped put the Cards Cardinal roster empty, Unitas thought about in front 21-19. leaving and transferring to Indiana. But the Cards couldn’t stop St. Bernie Crimmins, the Hoosier head coach, Bonaventure from kicking a last-ditch field suggested to Unitas that he would have a goal and U of L lost 22-21. better shot at pro ball in the Big Ten. Despite the loss, nothing could detract “Crimmins checked with the from Unitas’ astonishing performance. commissioner of the Big Ten to find out if I “We weren’t going anywhere without would still have two years of eligibility left him, that’s for sure,” Camp said following the after sitting out the year and the commissioner game. “And if he keeps throwing the way he said, ‘Yes’,” Unitas said. “It was something to did against St. Bonaventure, he’ll do us a lot of think about. I wouldn’t even have considered good.” it if I could have played one year, but two With Unitas leading the way, U of L went seasons of eligibility with Indiana in the Big on to win its next four games, including a 35- Ten was tempting. 28 victory over Houston. Louisville was a 19- “I wanted to play pro ball more than point underdog against the Cougars. anything else in the world, and playing for One of the greatest plays of Unitas’ career Indiana certainly wouldn’t hurt me there,” he took place in that game when the Cardinals added. “I thought about it very carefully.” were leading 28-21 and had the ball on their But Unitas decided against leaving the own eight-yard line in the fourth quarter. Cardinals when he was reminded that Indiana After two unsuccessful running plays, shunned him earlier in his career. Unitas dropped back into his own end-zone, Unitas now holds just a few records at U sidestepped two defenders and threw a pass to of L, most of them eclipsed by quarterbacks The Cardinals touch the Johnny Unitas Babe Ray who scored a 92-yard TD. John Madeya, Ed Rubbert, Browning Nagle, statue before entering the field before In the next day’s Louisville Courier-Journal, Jeff Brohm, Marty Lowe, Chris Redman, Dave every home game.

184 2005 Louisville Football