It's not UT related, but still. . . I remember being a kid watching him go out there in his 40s and win games. The Link
I always had a sideways sort of love for the Raiders, their colors, their odd assortment of personalities. Blanda was a favorite. Seeing him out their with hair the color of his helmet, throwing TDs and kicking. It was great. I remember looking at his football cards and marveling that he had started in the 1940s. They don't make 'em like that very often. All respect and good night Mr. Blanda.
I was a JUNIOR OILER when I used to sit in the end zone of Jeppesen Stadium watching George Blanda. My first HERO. Rest In Peace, buddy...
It was called the Junior Quarterbacks Club in 1960, '61, '62. Cost $4 and included admission to all home games and an autograph session with the team after practice (they handed out packages of 8x10s of selected stars, not including Blanda, I think). I got Blanda's autograph twice because I couldn't read it the first time. Second time was the same. He wasn't real outgoing with the kids, but it was right after practice, so they were all ready to hit the "clubhouse." (I doubt if their facilities were any better than a high school locker room. The practice field wasn't nice either). He was a heck of a player.
I remember watching the raiders play the cowboys and madden threw him in at qb as the Raiders were going to score. This was either the last game of the season or one of the last. Either way the cowboys were totally out of the playoffs after an 8 year run. So in comes Blanda. He throws a TD. I was a cowboy fan back then and I was not happy about it all. The announcers loved it. I was angry. Here was this old guy (he was probably younger than i am now, actually) throwing some meaningless td against my cowboys. Hell, I didn't even know then that he had been a qb. I knew him only as a kicker. Now that I'm older, I can finally appreciate that TD, madden's call and stabler's magnanimity. It was blanda's last TD. This was 1974. RIP.
My father tried out for the first Oilers team back in the summer of 1960. Dad didn't make the cut but he stayed in Houston and my brothers and I grew up rooting for the Oilers. Dad said Blanda was gruff to the point of being mean but that some of the guys didn't take him seriously because he had kind of a wussy voice. Houston fans used to boo him because he threw twice as many interceptions as TDs. Bud Adams offered Blanda an assistant coaching position with the team but never formalized it and George was trucked off to Oakland where he played against them in the '67 AFL title game. Without a passing game of any kind to worry about, the Raiders played up tight on Houston all afternoon and routed them. I am 49 -- the age George Blanda was when he left the game. It boggles my mind he played so long in an age when the QB did not have the kind of protection current pro signal callers have.
RIP Waxing sentimental remembering radio call of Blanda handing off to Charlie Tolar in those early AFL days. Seems so damn quaint.