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Sunday, September 15, 2002

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Johnny Unitas and Brooks Robinson played in a charity golf event in June 2001 at The Madison Club in Westmoreland County. Those who played that day noticed two things about Unitas: He held the club in an awkward way because his right hand was so useless from an old football injury, and he hit them crisp and straight.

That was Unitas. Somehow, he always got the job done.

Unitas was energetic and personable that day on the golf course, which is how Dan Rooney always found him, despite his reputation over the years as a bitter man denied disability for the effective loss of his hand. Unitas did not attend football functions and once angered the league muckety-mucks by lending his name to a football gambling magazine.

"We always had a pretty good relationship with him," said Rooney, the Steelers' president. "Even since he retired, I was one of the few people who talked to him in the league. He was a guy who spoke his mind, and I respected him for that."

Rooney and Unitas will forever be linked. They were 1-2 on the all-Pittsburgh Catholic football team as quarterbacks in 1949 when Rooney was a senior at North Catholic and Unitas a junior at St. Justin's. Unitas was first team. They played against each other once, in 1948. Unitas and St. Justin's beat Rooney's Trojans.

In 1955, Rooney, then fresh out of Duquesne University and selling advertisements for the program sold at his father's football games, helped convince Coach Walt Kiesling to draft Unitas from the University of Louisville in the ninth round. He was not so persuasive when it came to the final cutdown.

The rest can be found in Unitas' Hall of Fame biography. Just as in 1949, Unitas went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame first and Rooney went in second. Unitas has received credit for helping make the NFL a big-time pro sports league as its first major star in the era of television. Rooney has been given credit for helping keep the NFL that way.

Sadly, Unitas went out the way Willie Mays did. Colts general manager Joe Thomas got rid of him after the 1972 season, and Unitas played one more disastrous year in San Diego. He played in five games. His final start came in Three Rivers Stadium Oct. 7, 1973, but it was not a fond homecoming for him. He completed 2 of 9 passes for 19 yards and was intercepted twice, by Mel Blount and Mike Wagner. He was replaced by Wayne Clark in the second quarter with the Chargers trailing, 31-0. Dan Fouts started the second half for the Chargers and wound up with Unitas in the Hall of Fame.

Unitas, considered by many the greatest quarterback ever, was proof that the NFL's passer ratings aren't worth the time it takes to figure them out. His 78.2 passer rating does not even land him in the all-time top 20, which includes Dave Krieg, Randall Cunningham, Danny White, Neil O'Donnell and Brad Johnson.

What was it, then, that separated Unitas from the others?

"He won," Rooney said. "He was a winner. He got it done. He did what it took to win."

Unitas threw at least one touchdown in 47 consecutive games, which is akin to Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak. No other quarterback has more than 30, even though the rules have made it much easier to pass than when Unitas played.

Within two weeks of getting cut by the Steelers, Unitas found himself at a red light on West Liberty Avenue. Driving the car next to him was Dan Rooney, who waved to Unitas. Art Rooney Sr. was in the passenger seat and Kiesling was in the back.

"Who's that?" the Chief asked his son.

"That's John Unitas," Dan responded.

The light changed, and Unitas' car lurched forward.

"Catch him!" the Chief ordered his son.

At the next light, they pulled up next to Unitas again, and Art Rooney rolled down his window.

"John," Rooney called out, "I wish you luck. I hope you get a chance and you become a star."