The Realm of John Brodie

A 1956 Sports Illustrated issue described him as a born gambler who loved to play games like cards and poker before football practice. Former teammate, Gene Washington, described him as a complicated man who is a good winner but a bad loser. Could read defenses and make all the throws, corner to corner. His one weakness is throwing interceptions in a costly manner. However, that was part of his charm, willing to risk all when in position to play safe. Off the field, he forced the 49ers in 1966 to pay him a reported 1 million dollars when he planned to jump to the AFL, Houston Oilers, for a sum of 750, 000 dollars.

I think of former NFL great, John Brodie, as the artist QB. A natural athlete, he won a tennis tournament as a child and in high school, he got to the finals of a San Francisco city tournament in golf. Never a serious student, it was said that in order to get into Stanford, Brodie took his English teacher to the senior prom. At Stanford, he was rumored to have cheated on a cinema class test. On the football field, he earned genius status which earned him All-American status in 1956 and a first round pick from the San Francisco 49ers in 1957.

The first few years, he was a backup to Y.A. Tittle before getting the job full-time in mid-1960. When he retired in 1973, he threw over 30,000 yards in his career behind John Unitas and Fran Tarkenton. Currently, his passing yards are third on the team behind Joe Montana and Steve Young, both Hall of Famers. He threw 214 Touchdowns in 201 games, completing 2,469 passes but threw 224 interceptions. Never been to a Super Bowl in his 17 year career. For many years, Brodie played on bad 49ers teams that didn't have a great defense line. With new coach Dick Nolan revamping the offensive line as well the defense, Brodie had great years in the late 60's. In 1970, he was voted MVP and took his Niners to the NFC championship game. However by 1971, the injuries took its toll on his talent and he retired two years later.

After pro-football, Brodie then became a golfer in the Seniors Tour (now Champions Tour) for twenty four years and a football broadcaster for NBC. In 2000, Brodie suffered a stroke that nearly ended his life. Doctors said that recovery would be nil. However, doctors said the same thing about his 1963 car accident which damaged his elbow and jeopardized his career until his faith in Scientology restored his arm, he claims. As a result, Brodie had his best season in 1965 where he threw for 30 TD's and over 3, 000 yards in 13 games. Brodie and his family went to a clinic in Texas that used an experimental, "investigative" approach to stroke recovery that mainstream doctors disapproved of. Now, he is now making great strides in regaining his speech and walking abilities through this method.

With his wife, recovering.

Brodie's #12 jersey is retired by the 49ers. He was mentor to later QB's like Chris Chandler who married his daughter and to others like Trent Dilfer who wore his number when he played with the 49ers (with permission from Brodie). Trent is an advocate for him to be in the Hall of Fame and that wearing his number would bring attention to Brodie's career. I am, too. A complex man who used football "as art instead of an emotional outlet" (Jim Murray, Sports Illustrated, Nov. 5, 1956)--i.e., throwing passes from corner to corner and reading defenses. Though he threw more interceptions than touchdowns, Brodie's willingness to risk all than to play safe show that a true winner is always willing to lose.