Football’s Mad Men: Who is your essential mid-century quarterback?
By Andrew Tolentino | Football Editor
Despite hype and promise, the forthcoming issue of Beckett Football will not feature top rookie prospect Andrew Luck on the front cover. Instead, we’re turning back the pages of time and hobby history to reflect on an era of style, circumstance, and stardom.
Oh, and we’re also giddy over the late-March return of AMC‘s mid-century-themed “Mad Men” so we’re celebrating … but with a collector purpose.
If you have a minute to spare, please respond to a few questions, polls and watch Broadway Joe tie it all together with a TV spot after the jump. We’ll run a selection of the best answers in the next issue of Beckett Football.
In addition to significantly-lasting revolutions in modern architecture, design and fashion, the 1950s and ’60s gave rise to a number of now legendary (and highly collectable) football stars. Think Johnny Unitas. Think Joe Namath. Specifically, think about the iconic quarterbacks who actually etched their names in sports history during fictional Don Draper‘s heyday.
We’ve assembled a cast of essential quarterbacks from this era based on vintage appeal and other collecting factors, but we’re curious to find out who your favorite quarterbacks from this time period are and why they mean so much to the hobby.
- Who is your favorite quarterback from the late 1950s-1960s and why?
- Which mid-century quarterback is most like Mad Men’s Don Draper?
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Loading ...This definitely isn’t the first time that Namath has been mentioned in the same breath as “Mad Men.'” In an episode from September 2010, seasoned Draper rejected the idea of a Joe Willie Samsonite commercial by dismissively saying “I don’t like Joe Namath. He hasn’t even played in a professional game yet.” A retrospective nod to the naive past, this scene (or something like it) would eventually become a reality when Namath’s star power earned him several commercial gigs like this Brut ad from the 1970s.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiQT6mdMnH0[/youtube]
Otto Graham! The most prolific Championship game QB of all time!
He just doesnt get enough love!
How could it be anyone other than Johnny Unitas? The argument could still be made, fifty years later, that he was the best quarterback who ever played. And given the make-up of today’s current NFL rule structure and offensive tendencies, that’s quite a statement.
Mad Men = Mad Bomber..Daryle Lamonica..he started 88 games and won 66 of them
cotton davidson and tom flores go raiders!!!!!
Bart Starr: 5 championships in 7 years, the Ice Bowl sneak, and the most gentlemanly man I have ever met in my enitre life. I think Willie Daivs bestowed the greatest honor one man can pay another when he told his son that if he ever found that the younger Davis couldn’t look to Willie as an example for whatever reason, he should look to Bart Starr.