Y.A. TITTLE
Quarterback
No. 14
LSU
"There are few, if any, NFL passers who can hit as consistently in a third down situation as Y.A. Tittle, the skin-headed sharpshooter who moved the Giant air works in 1961. It wasn't all easy for Y.A., who was forced to adjust to the New York offensive system and the strange personnel. His career completion percentage tops all other quarterbacks and in '61 he was No.2 with a 57.2 figure."
-Don Schiffer, 1962 Pro Football Handbook
"'Yat' Tittle has been in the NFL for well over a decade as the star quarterback for both the Baltimore Colts and the San Francisco Forty-Niners. He was traded to the New York Giants before the 1961 season and led his new club to the Eastern Conference crown.
In the following article, written exclusively for ALL-PRO FOOTBALL, he comments on a topic he is expert in- running backs. Not that he is one himself, he quickly admits, but as the man who thousands of times has sent runners on their way, he certainly qualifies to speak on the subject."
-Murray Olderman, All-Pro 1962 Football
"The idea came to me one day last season while I was looking over the rushing statistics issued by the league office. The three top ground gainers were Jimmy Brown of the Cleveland Browns, Jimmy Taylor of the Green Bay Packers and J.D. Smith of the San Francisco Forty-Niners.
Normally, I'm not too concerned with these figures because my interests, as they have for the last 14 years, lean more to the column that says 'passes completed.' Believe me, I am no runner myself and far from being the last word on the subject. Like Norm Van Brocklin says, a quarterback should only run out of sheer fright.
But it did occur to me that the three top yardage gainers in the NFL did not have running styles commonly associated with the image of a picture ball carrier. Most kids breaking into football are taught to run with high knee action, making it more difficult for tacklers to bring them down.
Yet Jimmy Brown runs with his long body leaning, not really bent over, not straight up, looking like he's shuffling his way along. Until somebody tries to tackle him. You know what Kyle Rote of the Giants heard last year as our defensive platoon came off the field after putting up with Mr. Brown for a few plays. 'I touched him, I touched him,' yelled one of the defensive backs, all excited, like he'd just returned a pass 100 yards for a score.
J.D., who broke in as a running back with the Forty-Niners when I was their quarterback, runs something like Brown does. Taylor is a little different. He scoots along the ground because, for one thing, he's a little shorter than the others; when somebody puts a hand on him, he sort of explodes.
But your biggest asset, common in all three, seems to be balance. Each of them is tough to knock off his feet. It takes a good shot to drag any one of them down, and even that doesn't always do it because the Giants hit Taylor every which way when we played Green Bay in early December and he still ran for 186 yards.
The thought occurred to me that maybe with the high knee action, which looks spectacular from up in the stands, one leg is always high in the air when the runner is hit, and consequently it is more difficult for him to maintain his balance.
As a kid at Louisiana State, I briefly got a chance to see one of the greatest runners in history, Steve Van Buren, and later when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles I saw him a few times in action. I never remember him taking his feet off the ground to any extent.
With the Forty-Niners I was privileged to play in the same backfield with Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny. Very few quarterbacks have ever had the good luck to be able to call on a pair that could do so much with a ball tucked under an arm. There have been greater individual runners, but I don't think anyone has ever had two like them on the same team.
Perry, you know, goes into this season as the leading ground-gainer in league history, and that doesn't count the two early years he spent with the Forty-Niners in the old All-America Conference. He was sent to the Baltimore Colts last year and, at the age of 35, was their leading rusher.
Mac, to my mind, is the best all-around back I've ever seen. There are guys today who are magicians carrying the ball, like Jon Arnett of the Rams. But I'm still partial to McElhenny.
Mac was the only one to come up during my career who had tremendous speed, bounce and unbelievable shiftiness to complement a considerable amount of power. In his heyday, he was the greatest, and if anyone thinks he's lost it, he should see the pictures of The King, as they used to call him in San Francisco, running for the Minnesota Vikings against his old teammates, the Forty-Niners. On an old-fashioned Statue of Liberty play, seven defenders actually had a clear shot at him as he weaved 32 yards for a touchdown.
It was interesting to me, though, that even with Mac's great talent for eluding tacklers he was only mediocre as a faker while running pass patterns. One year the Forty-Niners played him exclusively as a flanker- without too much success. Carrying the ball, Mac let the tackler move first before he committed himself. It was natural instinct that provided the moves to shake him loose. As a receiver, however, he had to pre-plan his cuts and pass routes and consequently was not as elusive.
This reinforces my belief that great running backs are born- with the necessary speed and balance explaining most of their success.
There are some things you can't teach a guy. No one had to show Alex Webster of the Giants how to change direction on a dime, one little maneuver that has transformed him from a back of just average speed into one of the toughest, most elusive runners in the game. And when someone comes along as marvelously equipped as Jimmy Brown, with both quickness and muscle, you just sit back and count the damage.
From my vantage point, handing the ball off and high-tailing it out of there as fast as these old legs will permit, I've seen some great ones in action. None of it has rubbed off, though. My running style is patterned after my little daughter's."
Y.A. Tittle, All-Pro 1962 Football
"Acquired from the 49ers before the season began, Y.A. was sixth in passing in 1961."
-1962 Topps No. 102
RALPH GUGLIELMI
Quarterback
No. 9
Notre Dame
"The No. 2 passer to little LeBaron. A healthy right arm should furnish new spark this season. Guglielmi can be spotted as a defensive back.
A No. 1 draft pick in '55, he's one of Notre Dame's all-time greats. He was born in Columbus, Ohio, where he sells insurance."
-Pro Football Handbook 1959
"Guglielmi starts the 1960 campaign certain of a regular signal-calling spot. The club's No. 1 pick in 1955, he lost two years (1956-57) in military service. He tossed four touchdown passes, gaining 617 yards, and also carried for 97 yards. A sore arm hindered his progress in '58.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, Guglielmi set the all-time Notre Dame record for yards gained passing. He also sparkled on defense as a collegian.
Guglielmi sells insurance between seasons."
-1960 Pro Football Handbook
"There were many grandstanders who failed to be enchanted by the 1960 quarterbacking and play-calling of Ralph Guglielmi. 'Goog' reserved his better jobs for foreign fields and carved his best season with 125 completions for 1,574 yards. Ralph rifled nine tallies and hung up a husky 56.1 completion average. He also showed excellent roll-out ability, carrying 79 times, an NFL high for quarterbacks. Despite the impressive credentials of Norm Snead, he must be considered the Redskins' No. 1 quarterback.
Ralph was born in Columbus, Ohio."
-1961 Pro Football Handbook
"Redskin hopes are pinned on the quarterbacking of this former Notre Dame All-American (1954).
He's had a spotted pro career, first operating in the shadow of Eddie LeBaron, missing all of two seasons in military service and then returning in 1958 to find LeBaron still the boss.
In 1960, he got his first full shot at the job; he looked great. And now with sole responsibility, handsome and articulate Ralph has the chance to develop into the top echelons of pro leadership."
-1961 Fleer No. 108
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