1960 Profile: Charlie Conerly

Quarterback

No. 42
Mississippi

CHUCKIN' CHARLIE TURNS AUTHOR

"Quarterback Charlie Conerly is now a man of letters.

The Giants' great veteran has written a book called 'The Foward Pass,' which will be published in September.

Although Charlie's literary talents may come as a surprise to some, his ability to throw a football leaves no doubt as to the authenticity of the points he makes in his new book.

E.P. Dutton and Co. will publish the book. Collaborating with Conerly in preparing 'The Forward Pass' was Tom Meany."

-Giant Touchdown, June 1960

OL' MAN RIVER CONERLY KEEPS ON ROLLIN' ALONG

"Like Ol' Man River, the Giants' Charlie Conerly 'just keeps on rollin' along.'

Now starting his 13th year of professional football, the leathery passing star finds himself within reach of a couple of longevity records.

If Chuck can last three more seasons- and the 39-year-old youngster believes he can- he will tie Mel Hein's club record of 15 playing seasons. And, if Conerly goes a year beyond that, he will equal the National Football League endurance standard of 16 years, set by the incomparable Sammy Baugh.

As it is, the Giants' veteran quarterback will overhaul several NFL iron men at the 13-year mark during the 1960 season.

In this category are George Trafton of the Chicago Bears, Alex Wojciechowicz of the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, Bulldog Turner of the Bears and Frank Kilroy and Vic Sears of the Eagles.

Of the 12 years he has spent in the pro ranks, 1959 was the most satisfying to Conerly. He won his first NFL passing championship, a title that narrowly had eluded him in past years, and also led the Giants to their second straight Eastern Division title.

When Charlie was sidelined with a sprained ankle midway through the season, the Giants floundered. They lost their scoring punch and seemed about to drop out of the title race. But Conerly returned just in time to provide the inspirational lift the club needed. His passing touched off a four-game winning streak that saw the Giants roll up 147 points in a brilliant display of offensive power.

Chuck's 1959 record showed 113 completions in 194 attempts for 1,706 yards, 14 touchdowns and a per throw average of 8.79 yards.

In the all-time pro passing list, the Giants' quarterback ranks third to Baugh and Bobby Layne in completions with 1,308; third to Baugh and Layne and attempts with 2,593, and third to the same pair in touchdown passes with 158.

During Conerly's reign, the Giants have won 86 games and lost 55, and have won three Eastern championships and one world title. In addition, they tied the Cleveland Browns for another crown in 1950."

-Giant Touchdown, June 1960

"NFL players voted him 'most valuable' in '199. Charley led all passers for the first time in 12 seasons, averaging 8.8 yards with each attempt. He threw for 14 tallies and had the lowest intercepted average among all pitchers.
He has now thrown 158 career touchdowns and gained 17,900 yards. Charley holds the one-game mark of 36 completions (1948) made as a single-wing tailback. Only Sammy Baugh has thrown more touchdown passes.
Charley runs a cotton farm in Clarksdale, Mississippi."

-1960 Pro Football Handbook

BEST COTTON-PICKIN' PASSER OF ALL
"If Jim Lee Howell hadn't had dirt under his fingernails and forensic on his tongue, Charlie Conerly of the Giants, currently the top passer and most valuable player in the National Football League, might have quit the show five years ago. In the winter of 1954-55 Charles went back to his cotton and stock farm at Alligator, Mississippi. In February he sent word to the Giants that he was definitely through and they would be wise to get themselves another quarterback.
For two years Conerly had taken unholy abuse from the New York fans. They had erected signs in the grandstand proclaiming such sentiments as 'Good-bye, Charlie' and 'Get a  Quarterback.' They booed him and hooted him when his passes fell in open ground.
'It wasn't only on the field,' says Charlie. 'Whenever Perian (Mrs. Conerly, accent on the 'an') and I stepped out in the evening they made loud remarks about me.' When his ultimatum reached the Giants they thought he meant it, so they called Jim Lee Howell, Arkansas rice farmer who had just succeeded to the job of Giant head coach. They suggested he hurry to Alligator, Miss.
Two mornings later Big Jim drew up at the Conerly steading. He said 'Good morning' to Maw and Paw Conerly, to Perian and Charlie.
'Let's look around the farm, Charlie,' he said.
The two of them inspected cotton boils in the barn; viewed the breeding heifers and the gilt (young lady pigs) and looked at a coming stand of lespedeza. Big Jim, who had been a state senator in Arkansas, was particularly impressed by the lespedeza.
Not a word was spoken about football until after dinner, which consisted of side-meat, grits and frost-nipped collards with potlikker. Then Jim loosened his belt a hole and said:
'Charlie, I hear this kind of round-about that you're disappointed with the football up in New York.'
'That's right, Jim. I told them I am going to quit. Would you have a little more grits and potlikker?'
'No thanks, son ... now, Charlie, do you think I would have taken this coaching job if I thought you were going to quit? You are the one man on the team I can't get along without. If you don't come back I'm going to resign and raise rice in Arkansas.'
Our reporter, which was a mocking bird in a live oak tree, reports that there were some more exchanges but that Jim Lee ultimately prevailed. He must have, must he, for Charlie came back. The story is that Perian, who writes a sports column for the Clarksdale, Miss. paper, finally swung over to Jim's side.
It was a fine decision on Charlie's part for he has been on the upgrade ever since, and now, starting his 13th year as a football pro, he no longer talks about retirement.
'It wouldn't surprise me,' says J.V. Mara, president of the Giants, 'if Charlie stays around four more years and equals the record of Sammy Baugh.'
Charlie's complexion is leather but it is due more to the scorching Mississippi sun than the game of football. His manner is laconic and his chief spoken effect is gained through understatement. When his weapon was shot out of his hand landing with the Marines on the island of Guam, he said:
'It was a little hot.'
When New York fans, no doubt in recompense for previous boorish behavior, doused him with $25,000 worth of presents, including two cars, on Conerly Day last fall, he said:
'Pretty Nice.'
On that occasion Charlie threw three touchdowns against the Washington Redskins in the first half and didn't play anymore. The Washington papers, of course, revived that oldie: 'Washington Reject Murders Redskins.' Charlie never put on a Washington suit; never stepped inside Griffith Stadium except as a visiting player, but technically he once belonged to the Redskins and the Washington press has never forgotten it.
He went one year to the University of Mississippi, then joined the Marines and fought in the Pacific Islands. After the war he returned to Ole Miss and started to make spectacular passing records as a single wing tailback. The Giants started to notice Charlie via the NCAA statistics. In 1947 they were desperate for a quarterback. Frank Filchock had been declared ineligible after getting mixed up in a scandal. They finished the year with Paul Governali of Columbia, who didn't want to make a career of pro football.
George Preston Marshall at that time was pretty complacent. He still had Sammy Baugh. He said to Mara:
'I have a good quarterback in college and we might talk trade.'
Mara, with his head full of Charlie's passing statistics, found it difficult to preserve that je ne sais quoi so useful in a trade. Fate, however, threw a golden apple into his hands. Marshall won the bonus choice and at once picked Harry Gilmer of Alabama, a much publicized passer.
'You can have Conerly,' Marshall said to the Giants.
The deal was completed when the New Yorkers sent to Washington Howard Livingston, a halfback from Fullerton Junior College who had been with them five years, and Pete Stout, a fullback from Texas Christian.
We don't like to say this out loud because the Giants are bound to object, but we found that the club had virtually no running attack in 1959. Charlie was out of three games, and in none of them did the Giants get a touchdown though they won two on a combination of defense and field goals.
Now about this battering Charlie is supposed to take. Doc Sweeney, the club physician, goes into paroxysms about it. But I don't think he takes much. He gets pinned less often than most quarterbacks. The linemen protect 'the old gentleman' devotedly and Charlie is adept at throwing the ball out of bounds close enough to someone so he can't get called for intentional grounding.
It also seems that opposing linemen, liking him and realizing that he isn't a running threat, don't comb him over as hard as they do some of the brothers.
We'll give Charlie four more years before he retires to Alligator."

Stanley Woodard, 1960 Dell Sports Magazine Pro Football

"Only Sammy Baugh and Bobby Layne have thrown more NFL touchdown passes than Charlie Conerly (42). The 39-year-old quarterback had fired 158 payoff shots going into this season and had gained more than ten miles on his 1,308 completions. For 13 rousing seasons, the Ole Miss All-American has been the Giants' best bet in the clutch."

-1960 New York Giants Official Program (Yankee Stadium)