and "the Golden Arm", Unitas was considered the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback and is regarded as one of the greatest NFL players of all time.

[3] During his professional career from 1956 to 1973, Unitas set many NFL records and was named Most Valuable Player three times in 1959, 1964, and 1967, in addition to receiving 10 Pro Bowl and five first-team All-Pro honors.

Unitas is one of only six players to be named to the NFL's 50th, 75th and 100th Anniversary All-Time Teams, one of the others being his Baltimore Colts teammate Gino Marchetti.

[5][6][7] When Unitas was five years old, his father died of cardiovascular[citation needed] renal disease complicated by pneumonia, leaving the young boy and his siblings to be raised by their mother.

His first start was in the fifth game of the 1951 season against St. Bonaventure (quarterbacked by future NFL player and coach Ted Marchibroda),[11] where Unitas completed 11 consecutive passes and three touchdowns to give the Cardinals a 21–19 lead.

Unitas not only played safety or linebacker on defense and quarterback on offense, but also returned kicks and punts on special teams.

As described by Bob Wilson of the Knoxville News-Sentinel, "'Battered and bruised, Unitas was helped off the field later in the final period as the [Tennessee] spectators saluted his gifted and courageous play with an ovation that resounded across Loudon Lake."

At season's end, Unitas received the Jim Thorpe Trophy as the NFL's Most Valuable Player by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).

The Colts won the NFL championship under his leadership on December 28, 1958, by defeating the New York Giants 23–17 in sudden death overtime on a touchdown by fullback Alan Ameche.

[28] With the Colts fresh off back-to-back championships, Unitas was lauded by rookie head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, who said of the 26-year-old signal caller: "Without him, they're just ordinary.

After three middle-of-the-pack seasons, Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom fired Weeb Ewbank and replaced him with Don Shula, who at the time was the youngest head coach in NFL history (33 years of age when he was hired).

However, the season ended on a disappointing note for the Colts, as they were upset by the Cleveland Browns in the 1964 NFL Championship Game, losing 27–0.

In winning his third MVP award from the AP and UPI in 1967 (and his second from the NEA), Unitas had a league-high 58.5 completion percentage and passed for 3,428 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Although he was injured through most of the season, Unitas came off the bench to play in Super Bowl III, the famous game where Joe Namath guaranteed a New York Jets win despite conventional wisdom.

[39] In 1970, the NFL and AFL had merged into one league, and the Colts moved to the new American Football Conference, along with the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[47] Unitas was traded from the Colts to the San Diego Chargers on January 20, 1973, in a transaction that originally had future considerations returning to Baltimore.

The deal's only obstacle was the personal services contract he had signed with the Colts in 1970 which would have kept him employed within the organization on an annual salary of $30,000 over ten years once his career as an active player ended.

The pact had been signed when the ballclub was owned by Carroll Rosenbloom who subsequently acquired the Los Angeles Rams on July 13, 1972, in a franchise swap with Robert Irsay.

[52] The streak stood for 52 years before being broken by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees in a game against the San Diego Chargers on October 7, 2012.

[59] Unitas played his entire career in what is sometimes called the "dead ball" era, before the 1978 NFL rule changes made to favor passing offense.

[60] The top four hall of fame quarterback ratings from the dead ball era are Sonny Jurgenson (82.62), Len Dawson (82.56), Bart Starr (80.47), and Unitas (78.2).

[62] In describing Unitas in 2002 after his death, Sports Illustrated writer Paul Zimmerman observed of this earlier era, "The NFL hadn't liberalized the passing rules.

He scooped up mud from the field and gave it to offensive lineman Alex Sandusky (or Dick Szymanski in other tellings) who shoved it into Unitas' nostrils.

'"[69] After his playing days were finished, Unitas settled in Baltimore where he raised his family while also pursuing a career in broadcasting, doing color commentary for NFL games on CBS in the 1970s.

A total of 39 Colts players from that 1975 team attended said reunion in Indianapolis, including Bert Jones and Lydell Mitchell.

Unitas asked the Pro Football Hall of Fame on numerous occasions (including on Roy Firestone's film Up Close) to remove his display unless it was listed as belonging to the Baltimore Colts.

[59] Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame middle linebacker Ray Nitschke said of Unitas, "'What a tough guy and what a leader.

[84] Toward the end of his life, Unitas brought media attention to the many permanent physical disabilities that he and his fellow players suffered during their careers before heavy padding and other safety features became popular.

[81][4] Shortly after his death, an opinion column noted that it was "a sad commentary on a league that Unitas helped bring into the television age.

[90] On September 11, 2002, Unitas died from a heart attack while exercising at the Kernan Physical Therapy Center (now The University of Maryland Rehabilitation & Orthopaedic Institute) in Baltimore.