 Conerly with the New York Giants | |||||||||
| No. 42 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1921-09-19)September 19, 1921 Clarksdale, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died: | February 13, 1996(1996-02-13) (aged 74) Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Clarksdale (Clarksdale, Mississippi) | ||||||||
| College: | Ole Miss | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1945: 13th round, 127th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Charles Albert Conerly Jr. (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew York Giants from 1948 through 1961. Conerly playedcollege football for theOle Miss Rebels and was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1966. He was married to Perian Conerly, a sports columnist forThe New York Times.
Conerly attended and playedcollege football at theUniversity of Mississippi (Ole Miss). He started at Ole Miss in 1942, but left to serve as aMarine in theSouth Pacific during World War II where he fought in theBattle of Guam.[1][2]
He returned to Mississippi in 1946 and led the team to their firstSoutheastern Conference (SEC) championship in 1947. During that season, he led the nation in pass completions with 133, rushed for nine touchdowns and passed for 18 more, was a consensusAll-American selection, and was named Player of the Year by theHelms Athletic Foundation.[2] As an outstanding quarterback played the for the Rebels, Conerly earned consensus All-America recognition in 1947 when he led the Rebels to a record of 9–2, including a 13–9 win overTCU in theDelta Bowl atCrump Stadium inMemphis, Tennessee.[citation needed]
Conerly's 1947 squad had upset wins overKentucky (14–7 in Oxford),Florida (14–6 inJacksonville, Florida),LSU (20–18 inBaton Rouge), andTennessee (43–13 in Memphis). He placed fourth in theHeisman Trophy balloting and was a two-time All SEC performer. He was named Player of the Year and Back of the Year of the SEC in 1947. He set numerous school records and still ranked 12th in 2008 in career total offense with 3,076 yards. He was ranked 12th in career passing with 2,313 yards and 26 TDs.[citation needed]
Conerly also playedbaseball at Ole Miss, where he hit .467 in 1948 and was offered a professional contract.[2]
Conerly was drafted in the 13th round of the1945 NFL draft by theWashington Redskins. He played his entire career with theNew York Giants as aquarterback, where he was a two-timePro Bowl selection in 1950 and 1956 and wasNFL'sMost Valuable Player in 1959 by theNewspaper Enterprise Association.[2] Conerly was named NFL "Rookie of the Year" in 1948, a season when he set many Giants rookie franchise records that still stand. He led the Giants to threeNFL Championship games in four seasons (1956, 1958–1959), including a 47–7 victory over theChicago Bears in the1956 NFL Championship Game. During his professional career, he earned thealliterative nickname "Chucking Charlie Conerly".
As of 2017[update]'s NFL off-season, Charlie Conerly held at least 10 Giants franchise records,[citation needed] including:
| Legend | |
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| NEA NFL MVP | |
| WonNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
| 1948 | NYG | 12 | 4 | − | 162 | 299 | 54.2 | 2,175 | 7.3 | 22 | 13 | 65 | 84.0 |
| 1949 | NYG | 12 | 12 | 6−6 | 152 | 305 | 49.8 | 2,138 | 7.0 | 17 | 20 | 85 | 64.1 |
| 1950 | NYG | 11 | 8 | 6−2 | 56 | 132 | 42.4 | 1,000 | 7.6 | 8 | 7 | 43 | 67.1 |
| 1951 | NYG | 12 | 11 | 9−2 | 93 | 189 | 49.2 | 1,277 | 6.8 | 10 | 22 | 69 | 49.3 |
| 1952 | NYG | 11 | 11 | 7−4 | 82 | 169 | 48.5 | 1,090 | 6.4 | 13 | 10 | 70 | 70.4 |
| 1953 | NYG | 12 | 11 | 3−8 | 143 | 303 | 47.2 | 1,711 | 5.6 | 13 | 25 | 60 | 44.9 |
| 1954 | NYG | 10 | 10 | 6−4 | 103 | 210 | 49.0 | 1,439 | 6.9 | 17 | 11 | 68 | 76.7 |
| 1955 | NYG | 12 | 4 | 1−3 | 98 | 202 | 48.5 | 1,310 | 6.5 | 13 | 13 | 71 | 64.2 |
| 1956 | NYG | 12 | 0 | − | 90 | 174 | 51.7 | 1,143 | 6.6 | 10 | 7 | 48 | 75.0 |
| 1957 | NYG | 12 | 8 | 6–2 | 128 | 232 | 55.2 | 1,712 | 7.4 | 11 | 11 | 70 | 74.9 |
| 1958 | NYG | 10 | 6 | 4–2 | 88 | 184 | 47.8 | 1,199 | 6.5 | 10 | 9 | 44 | 66.8 |
| 1959 | NYG | 10 | 9 | 8–1 | 113 | 194 | 58.2 | 1,706 | 8.8 | 14 | 4 | 77 | 102.7 |
| 1960 | NYG | 12 | 7 | 5–1–1 | 66 | 134 | 49.3 | 954 | 7.1 | 8 | 7 | 70 | 70.9 |
| 1961 | NYG | 13 | 4 | 2–2 | 44 | 106 | 41.5 | 634 | 6.0 | 7 | 8 | 37 | 52.2 |
| Career | 161 | 105 | 63–37–1 | 1,418 | 2,833 | 50.1 | 19,488 | 6.9 | 173 | 167 | 85 | 68.2 | |
Conerly portrayed the "Marlboro Man" in commercials after playing for the Giants.[3][4] Conerly and his wife, Perian (author of the book,Backseat Quarterback) retired to his hometown ofClarksdale, Mississippi, where he spent his final days. Conerly owned shoe stores throughout theMississippi Delta. On December 13, 1959, Perian appeared on an episode ofWhat's My Line?. Her line was she wrote a football column for newspapers.
Conerly was inducted into theMississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He is also a member of the Ole Miss Team of the Century (1893–1992). Conerly is the namesake of the football award, theConerly Trophy, given annually to the top college player in the State ofMississippi. TheProfessional Football Researchers Association named Conerly to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006.[5]He is a seven-time Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist, but has yet to be elected as a member of the Hall.[6]
Conerly underwenttriple-bypass heart surgery on September 19, 1995, his birthday. He died on February 13, 1996, ofheart failure following a long illness, his wife toldThe New York Times. He was also survived by his sisters.[7]
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| National | |
