Unitas

No. 1 then ... When Unitas retired after the 1973 season, he topped the quarterback charts. Attempts Totals 1. UNITAS ............................ 5,186 2. John Brodie....................... 4,491 3. Fran Tarkenton ................. 4,449 Completions Totals 1. UNITAS ........................... 2,830 2. John Brodie ..................... 2,469 3. Fran Tarkenton ................ 2,459 Yards Totals 1. UNITAS ......................... 40,239 2. Fran Tarkenton ............. 33,248 3. John Brodie .....

Art Donovan remembers the first time he was introduced to the Baltimore football fans in 1950."Nobody knew who I was back then," said the Hall of Fame tackle. 'They saw some big, fat guy walk on the field and they said, 'Who the hell is this guy?' "The greeting was quite different last night when Donovan and his former Colts teammates and fellow Hall of Famers Lenny Moore and Johnny Unitas drew the wild cheers of more than 40,000 fans on becoming the first inductees into the Baltimore CFLs' "Ring of Honor.

Nothing has ever been easy for John Unitas, who gave himself to pro football as few men ever have, totally and without condition, while achieving extraordinary Hall of Fame results. He deserves a better break -- more completions, not interceptions -- in business life but this hasn't happened.That he has filed for chapter 11 proceedings, in bankruptcy court, is disturbing for him and also his friends, who realize how hard he has worked, including the hours and personal monies he invested in an effort with a circuit board manufacturing company.

When Mike Antonoro, the ESPN senior producer in charge of the "SportsCentury" project, was told that the ranking of Colts legend Johnny Unitas as the 32nd-greatest athlete of the 20th century might strike Baltimoreans as too low, he could only muster a weary chuckle of resignation."

All his vital signs were good, and a comfortable John Unitas was talking to wife Sandra and daughter Janice in a room at Kernan Hospital. He had dinner and reported no discomfort with the new artificial right knee the surgeon had given him the day before. Suddenly, there was trouble breathing and a feeling of heavy pressure across the chest.Doctors and nurses surrounded their well-known patient. They used all the normal medical procedures in trying to alleviate what they recognized as a heart problem, but the hoped-for reaction wasn't occurring.

Unitas expert Terry Musolf Musolf grew up in Green Bay Packers country and still makes his home in Madison, Wis., but he is the authority on Unitas' legacy. His research and record-keeping has corrected statistical errors that had been perpetuated by the Colts and the NFL. His hobby began in 1957, when he was 11 and became mesmerized by a Colts-Packers game on his uncle's television. "I've always been fascinated my mathematics, and I began to chart games, still do," Musolf said. "I subscribed to The News American for six months a year from 1961 to '83, got it in the mail three days late.

That Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank coached and won the two most celebrated pro football games of the last 50 years sets him apart. It's a distinction that is his alone to cherish and treasure for perpetuity.The Baltimore Colts and Ewbank beat the New York Giants, 23-17, in the first overtime the NFL ever knew in winning the 1958 championship. Then, after being fired in Baltimore, he rebounded in New York and took the Jets to a 16-7 victory over a Colts team that was a 16 1/2 -point favorite in the Jan. 12, 1969, Super Bowl.

Baltimore sports fans raided their closets, sock drawers and shoe boxes yesterday to dig up their mementos of John Unitas - then rushed to sports stores and the Internet to snap up some more. The Gallery of Sports Art at Camden Yards sold out of Unitas helmets, footballs and photos within an hour of opening yesterday. The Dugoutzone in Ellicott City raised prices on Unitas items by $30 to $40 - and no one seemed to mind. And the number of Unitas offerings on eBay, the Internet auction site, almost doubled in a matter of hours.

Across the country, fans, teammates and relatives of John Unitas scrambled to prepare tributes to the Hall of Fame quarterback who died unexpectedly Wednesday. Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, plans to celebrate a funeral Mass at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore. Former teammates and other National Football League greats began making arrangements to attend what could practically become a Hall of Fame reunion. In Indianapolis, current Colts quarterback Peyton Manning requested permission from the league to wear a pair of black hightop shoes during the Colts-Dolphins game in Indianapolis, in tribute to his predecessor.

The funeral for John Unitas is tomorrow, but the wake began yesterday, when the past and future of Baltimore football merged at Ravens Stadium. The afternoon ended with a sparse crowd and a somber locker room as quarterback Chris Redman and a young Ravens team were manhandled 25-0 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game was an emotional letdown from the solemn pre-game tribute to Unitas, the great Colts quarterback who died Wednesday of a heart attack at age 69. Cardinal William H. Keeler, archbishop of Baltimore, will preside at a funeral Mass for Unitas tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Charles Street.