Former quarterback Sonny Jurgensen has passed at 91. In his prime, he was part of the Washington Redskins resurgence in the 1970s with Vince Lombardi and especially George Allen. The year the Redskins played in their first Super Bowl, he previously tore his achilles tendon and did not play. Could he have made a difference in the Super Bowl against the undefeated Dolphins in 1973? Maybe not, but in my heart, how could he not?! I remember the rematch with Miami the following year in the regular season when he rallied the team to beat them 20-17. I'll never forget the thrill!
In his later, playing years he called most of his own plays almost as if it were a sandlot game. He was old school and perhaps the best pure passer of all time. He played 18 NFL seasons with Philadelphia and then The Redskins and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 after setting many passing records and making five Pro Bowls setting the alltime passer rating in the Dead Ball era.
He went on to become a beloved sports reporter and commentator at WRC TV and had a knack for prescient analysis during Redskin games at WMAL radio as part of a glorious broadcasting team with Sam Huff and Frank Herzog. I went to my first Redskin game in the middle 1980s and the Redskins beat The Forty Niners. Sonny noted the crowd was subdued and asked on air if anyone was awake? I was listening on a small radio in the stadium and waved my arms, and Sonny responded "There is one!" Now it could have been anyone in that sold out stadium, but I'd like to think he saw me.
What memories. What a quarterback. Thank you Sonny.
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