The son of one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history shares what that football career looked like from his perspective. Today John C. Unitas Jr. is a successful businessman and the president of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Educational Foundation, Inc., which awards scholarships to deserving student-athletes.
“Everybody, it seems, has a story about bumping into Dad after he retired. Bragging in Baltimore about an encounter with Dad is like saying crab cakes are the Mid-Atlantic epicurean religion. No matter who bumped into Dad and no matter the circumstances, the stories follow a basic plot line: Dad gave time and attention to his fan, his demeanor both gracious and humble, listening, nodding, and agreeing, his grayish eyes locked into the face of his fan. Most of the time, it was a fan telling him about a game that he’d played in. He told me on many occasions that the fan had the wrong game or score or was mixing up two different games, but he never corrected them. The fans weren’t usually interested in hearing Dad’s perspective, either.”