Johnny Unitas Leadership Lessons: Vision + Preparation = Opportunity
In the early fifties a young man graduated from the University of Louisville with a brilliant passing record in football, but because Louisville wasn’t necessarily known for it’s power on the gridiron as much as it’s basketball excellence, this young man wasn’t deemed as NFL material.
He was drafted in the ninth round by the Pittsburgh Steelers but was cut before he even got a chance to throw a pass in a preseason game.
He went home and took an automobile tire, hung it from a limb of a tree, suspended it in action with a boy pulling it back and forth to stimulate movement, and learned to thread that moving tire with a football at ten yards, fifteen yards, twenty yards, thirty yards, forty yards. He went out every afternoon and on weekends for hours at a time throwing passes at that swinging tire. He even hired boys in the neighborhood to go out for passes. He kept throwing… throwing… and throwing… working incessantly on his accuracy.
That young man paid the price of a purpose that demanded his best. He had a VISION to play professional football. Opportunity always knocks for those who persistently prepare.
Eventually, he was called on to play semipro football with the Bloomfield (Pennsylvania) Rams for $6 per game. Later, the Baltimore Colts decided to take a chance on the kid with the crewcut and coach Weeb Ewbank signed him to a $7,000 contract.
Then when an injury sidelined Colts starting quarterback George Shaw in the 1956 season, Johnny Unitas got his chance and never looked back!
He led the Colts to three NFL championships, including one Super Bowl, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. He was also named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player three times.
At the time of his retirement, he held records for the most pass attempts (5,186), most completions (2,830), most total yards (40,239), most touchdowns (290), most 300-yard games (26), and most consecutive games throwing touchdown passes (47). He also had three seasons of 3000+ passing yards.
But without a doubt, it’s for his heroic performance in the 1958 NFL title game, often referred to as the “Greatest Game Ever Played,” that he is best remembered.
His tying and winning drives were textbook-perfect examples of what it takes to win under pressure. Late in the game, with the Colts trailing the New York Giants 17-14, Unitas completed seven straight passes.
That set up the game’s tying field goal with just seven seconds left. He followed that All-Pro performance with a perfectly executed 80-yard touchdown drive in overtime to win.
How is it that one young man, having been dismissed and written off, later became Mr. Quarterback? He paid the price. He drove himself to prepare and when his preparation met opportunity, greatness was birthed.
Preparation pays off!