There was a time when cigarette ads were everywhere. One of the most memorable, most iconic was the Marlboro Man. That rugged cowboy was everywhere. One of the first to play that part was former New York Giants quarterback Charlie Conerly. He didn't get the gig because he was a former football player. Nowhere on the add did it say: Charlie Conerly, former New York Giants quarterback. He got the gig because he was the Marlboro Man. He had the look of a man that had seen some things, been some places.
Charlie Conerly always wanted to play football for the New York Giants. As a boy in Clarksdale, Mississippi he dreamed of it. Conerly was a natural athlete and it took him to the University of Mississippi in 1941. College was interrupted when Conerly joined the Marines and headed to Guam and Iwo Jima during World War II. He returned to Ole Miss and graduated in 1948. The Washington Redskins drafted Conerly but ended up trading his rights to the New York Giants. The dream of little Charlie Conerly came true. As a 27-year old rookie Conerly was impressive in winning Rookie of the Year in 1948. The Giants were experiencing some down years at the time and Conerly was getting destroyed. By 1952, he had enough. He retired and returned to his farm near Clarksdale. In 1953, Jim Lee Howell replaced the legendary Steve Owen as head coach of the Giants. Howell had three priorities:
1) Hire Army assistant coach Vince Lombardi to coach the offense
2) Convince defensive back Tom Landry to serve as player-defensive coach
3) Get Charlie Conerly back to New York
When Howell was able to accomplish all three the New York Giants were back on track. By 1956, they were NFL Champions. Conerly led a potent offense with playmakers Frank Gifford, Kyle Rote, Alex Webster and Bob Schnelker. For some reason, Howell and Lombardi would have quarterback Don Heinrich play the first series of each game. Supposedly, the coaches thought that Conerly could get a better feel for the game and the opposing defense from the sideline. Conerly disagreed but never complained. It wasn't in his nature to complain. The Giants were regularly winning so it was actually difficult to complain about much. Everything was beautiful in New York and the Giants were kings. They even rivaled the Yankees. Their great run of success took them to the incredible 1958 Championship Game against the Baltimore Colts. Conerly was actually voted the MVP by the writers before the end of regulation. When Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas went heroic in overtime the writers changed their votes. Conerly cared little about the Corvette that went to the MVP. The same couldn't be said for his wife, Perian. She had nightmares about Unitas driving HER Corvette. Instead, Conerly responded with a fantastic 1959 season winning season MVP honors. He again led the Giants to the championship game and again lost to the Colts. The years of beatings started taking their toll as Conerly split time with George Shaw in 1960. By 1961, newly acquired Y.A. Tittle replaced Conerly for good. He retired at the end of the year. He was 40 years old.
The Giants of the '50s were an unusually close team. Nearly all of them lived in the same building near Yankee Stadium. Its difficult to imagine a similar arrangement in today's NFL. Despite saying little, Charlie Conerly was the leader. In an era when quarterbacks called their own plays, he ran an open huddle. He listened to his teammates. One of the most incredible aspects of Conerly's career was his relationship with Vince Lombardi. You can't find two more different personalities but they grew very close. A relationship of respect. Lombardi said that he had never coached a more courageous football player. The Giant players, coaches and fans knew that they had a special football player in Charlie Conerly. In 1959 the Giants held a Charlie Conerly Day. He was given:
-a trailer
-enough cotton seed for the year's crop
-one ton of fertilizer
Perian was given a new Corvette. Conerly lived the life of the quiet, confident Marlboro Man. Despite his dream of playing football for the New York Giants his life was always going to be that quiet one on a farm in Mississippi.
No comments:
Post a Comment