Y. A. Tittle
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Position(s): Quarterback	Jersey #(s): 14
Born: October 24, 1926 (1926-10-24) (age 82) Marshall, Texas
Career information
Year(s): 1948–1964
NFL Draft: 1948 / Round: 1 / Pick: 6
College: Louisiana State
Professional teams
Baltimore Colts (AAFC) (1948-1949) Baltimore Colts (1950) San Francisco 49ers (1951-1960) New York Giants (1961-1964)
Career stats
TD-INT	242-221
Yards	28,339
QB Rating	73.6
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
7x Pro Bowl selection (1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963) 3x All-Pro selection (1957, 1962, 1963) 1x AP MVP (1963) 2x UPI NFL MVP (1957, 1962) 2x NEA NFL MVP (1961, 1963) New York Giants #14 retired
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Yelberton Abraham Tittle (born October 24, 1926 in Marshall, Texas), better known as Y. A. Tittle, is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League and All-America Football Conference who played for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and the New York Giants. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

College career

Tittle played college football at Louisiana State University and in his most prolific college season, he passed for 780 yards, leading the Fighting Tigers to a 9-1 record and a #8 ranking in the final AP poll. LSU then tied Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. Tittle lettered for the Tigers from 1944-47 and LSU compiled a record of 23-11-3 during that time span.

In a famous game against Ole Miss in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge on November 1, 1947, Tittle broke through the middle of the Rebel line and appeared to be on his way to a possible winning touchdown for LSU. Ole Miss tacklers, however, crushed Tittle's belt on his football pants while he was crashing through the line. As Tittle ran down the field, he continued to grab at his pants because of the broken belt. He was unsuccessful in his efforts, however, and when his pants fell to his knees, the Rebel defense caught up to him and tackled him short of the goal line. Ole Miss eventually won the game 20-18.

Tittle is a member of the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.

Professional career

Tittle began his career with the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1948, who eventually joined the NFL in 1950. The Colts became defunct after that season, and Tittle joined the San Francisco 49ers. He played there for ten seasons, through 1960, often struggling for playing time. In 1951 and 1952, Frankie Albert also played quarterback extensively, and then from 1957 through 1960, John Brodie took time on the field away from Tittle.

In 1961, the 49ers traded Tittle to the New York Giants for guard Lou Cordileone. Tittle went on to lead the Giants to three straight Eastern Division titles, part of a team that featured such great players as Del Shofner, Aaron Thomas, Joe Walton, Frank Gifford, Alex Webster, Dick Lynch, Jimmy Patton, Roosevelt Brown, Andy Robustelli, Sam Huff, Erich Barnes and Joe Morrison. Tittle threw seven touchdown passes on October 28, 1962, in a game against the Washington Redskins that the Giants won 49-34. In 1963, he set what was then an NFL record by throwing 36 touchdown passes.

The following year, Tittle's final season, the Giants were nowhere close to contention, falling to a 2-10-2 record. Tittle's performance fell from 36 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 1963 to 10 touchdowns and 22 interceptions in 1964. He retired after the season.

Legacy

The only thing missing from Tittle's impressive résumé was an NFL championship. The Giants lost the title game every year from 1961 to 1963. The 1963 game was especially disappointing, as Tittle hurt his leg as the Giants lost to the Chicago Bears 14-10.

In a career lasting 17 years, Tittle passed for 33,070 yards, and 242 touchdowns, and twice received the NFL Most Valuable Player Award. In 1971, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tittle currently owns Y. A. Tittle Insurance & Financial Services [1].

Distinction

Y.A. Tittle was the first and one of only six quarterbacks in NFL history to have achieved consecutive 30-touchdown passing seasons. The others are Steve Bartkowski, Brett Favre, Dan Fouts, Dan Marino and Jeff Garcia. Tittle's 36 touchdown passes in the 1963 season would remain an NFL record until Marino threw 48 touchdown passes in 1984.

Notes

Y.A. played an opposing head coach in the movie Any Given Sunday.

Career statistics

NFL Regular season

• 3,817 passes attempted
• 2,118 passes completed
• 28,339 passing yards
• 253 passing touchdowns
• 208 passes intercepted
• 81.4 quarterback rating

AAFC Regular season

• 578 passes attempted
• 309 passes completed
• 4,731 passing yards
• 30 passing touchdowns
• 25 passes intercepted
• 81.1 quarterback rating

See also

• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
• History of the New York Giants (1925-1978)

External links

• Tittle's entry on pro-football-reference.com
• Tittle's entry on the Pro Football Hall of Fame site
• Famous Y.A. Tittle Photo
• Gallery of Y.A. Tittle football cards