Giants By The Numbers: 42 Is For ...

I am too young to have ever seen him play. But, all you need to look at is his record, championship games played and won, and touchdowns. In an era when the forward pass still took a back seat to the running game, 173 touchdown passes is alot. That is still good enough for second all time on the Giants (Simms-199). Plus, he was the original Marlboro Man. Nuff said.

I did see him play many times and no Giant quarterback since, not Lee Grosscup or Don Heinrich,not Tittle, not Tom Kennedy ( joke), not Jersey Joe, not Fran Tarkenton or Phil Simms or even Eli was better than Conerly was on his best days.

He was also a punter for the Giants before Chandler, held the ball the the FGs, and in his first couple of years was a running QB.

Actually was the best bad weather quarterback I ever saw- back when no one wore gloves and long underwear.

It’s been said by more than one NFL writer that he is the best NFL player not in the Hall ( as Jimmy Patton, also Ole Miss is the best defensive back not in the Hall).

Wonderful player- we’ll not see his like again, I’m afraid.

People forget that after Tittle replaced him in the 2nd game of the ‘61 season ( and that was his last year, not 1962), he came in and replaced Tittle twice to win games for the Giants when Tittle was either ineffective or hurt. (Didn’t work in the championship game, though).

The man was a medal winning Marine in the Pacific in WW2. What the Hell do you think he thought about all those “tough” defensive players?

One recollection I have is a Gallo quote in the Daily News “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about” – (I believe from Oscar Wilde….)
To me this underscored the situation Charlie dealt with when YA came to town.
Charlie was “the man” – before YA.
He never complained about the trade – or losing his job….
And (as Grange77 points out) Chuck had the chance(s) to prove himself when YA didn’t have it – and did his job – no fanfare – no headlines – just did his job – well.
Not to disparage YA but underscore the toughness of the “Marlboro Man”…..
He was a tough SOB
and his team mates loved him, based on all the books I’ve read since then

the respect held for him by his team mates: It was not unusual to see one of them after a play seek him out. It wasn as obvious as Vladis Seeking approval from Magic. but the body language looked as if his team mates were seeking approval from C. I saw the same thing with YA. I haven’t seen it with any Jints QB since.

Yes, play calling was a big part of playng QB, which is one of the reasons it’s so difficult to make comparisons among QBs then and QBs now. In fact, some QBs in those days were adamant about ignoring calls from the sideline. (Johnny Unitas)
And yes, when you see those brief exchanges between QBs and team mates on the field during a game virtually all of them can probably be accurately categorized as you portray them.. It was and is quite common even today.
I’m talking about something different, a special quality to some of the exchanges between Conerly and his team mates. Since what I’m describing (attempting to describe) is not somethingthat anyone else has picked up on as far as I know, WOD it could be no more than secondary elaboration, or false memory, etc.)

I do believe that many younger guys who never saw him play underestimate Charley’s game (natural and understandable.)

but read about him in three books on the Giants of that era in the past year. The man seemed to be a tough competitor who did not let things really get to him, even when the New York crowd would find (any) reason to boo him. Also, dude was a marine who fought at Iwo Jima and elsewhere… he is a tough nut and it makes me wish I could have seen him play.

for # 42. A combat veteran who played tailback for Ole Miss before and after his service; college player of the year in 1947.
Actually, he retired after the 1961 season. There was a story at the time that during training camp that year he raced back to the dorm to beat the curfew, collapsed in a chair, and said something like, “I’m 40 years old. Why am I still running to beat bed checks?”
A bit of trivia : the Conerly Trophy is given each year to the best college football player in the state of Mississippi. The winner in 2001 and 2003? Eli Manning.

He played some that year as well. When YA arrived, the tight knit Giants treated him as an interloper until YA showed tham he could lead them to the Promised Land. It was only after the first few in season games that YA took over the QB reins exclusively.