Brodie played college football across the San Francisco Bay at Stanford University,[3] where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity.

In his senior season of 1956,[4] Brodie was a consensus All-American and played on the Stanford golf team,[5] which kept him out of spring football drills.

[6] Brodie nearly chose golf for his sporting career, turning professional following completion of his time on the Stanford team and playing in several tournaments on the PGA Tour.

[16] Brodie's outstanding season was rewarded when he received the 1970 NFL Most Valuable Player Award, and the 49ers had the number one offense by points, and ultimately won their first playoff game in franchise history.

[2] When Brodie retired from the NFL at the end of the 1973 season,[14] he ranked third in career passing yards, behind only Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton.

On each list, only he and one other player are not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Babe Parilli and John Hadl, respectively).

1 NFL analyst, alongside play-by-play man Curt Gowdy, and called Super Bowl XIII in January 1979.

[20] In 2006, Brodie's number 12 jersey was brought out of retirement and worn by Trent Dilfer, backup quarterback for the 49ers.

[5] One of his daughters, Erin, found fame on television in 2003 during the first season of the reality series For Love or Money.

During the 1969 season, Brodie experienced tendinitis in his throwing arm, which caused him to miss two and a half games.

[14][22][23] This public role was ultimately ended when several of Brodie's friends were expelled or harassed in a power struggle with the Church's hierarchy.