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George Blanda

George Blanda football trophies, memorabilia heading to auction

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
The Oakland Raiders awarded this football to Blanda for scoring a record number of consecutive point after touchdown kicks.
The Oakland Raiders awarded this team autographed football to Blanda for scoring a record number of consecutive point after touchdown kicks. SCP Auctions image

 

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. – SCP Auctions will present the George Blanda Collection as part of its 2017 Winter Premier Auction, which takes place in January. Three AFL Championship rings, dozens of prestigious awards and several milestone game balls going back to his college football days at the University of Kentucky lead the charge.

The legendary quarterback and kicker was a true football player in every sense of the word, rising to early gridiron fame under the tutelage of the game’s biggest coaches. From Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky to George Halas of the Chicago Bears, from Bud Adams of the Houston Oilers to Al Davis and John Madden of the Oakland Raiders, each played a key role in shaping the longest playing career in history.

Selected by the Chicago Bears in the 1949 NFL Draft, Blanda emerged as the Bears’ top signal-caller in 1953 but an injury the following season effectively ended his first-string status. For the next four years he was used mostly as a kicker and just before the ’59 season, tired of only kicking, Blanda retired.

A year later, the American Football League was born, and Blanda found a new opportunity as the starting QB and kicker for the Houston Oilers, promptly leading them to the league’s first two championships. He was named AFL Player of the Year in ’61 when he threw for an unprecedented 3,330 yards and 36 touchdown passes including seven in one game.

 

Blanda's 1967 Oakland Raiders AFL Championship ring.
Blanda’s 1967 Oakland Raiders AFL Championship ring. SCP Auctions image

 

Blanda played seven seasons in Houston before joining the Oakland Raiders in 1967 (just in time for the AFL-NFL merger) where his legacy continued well into his 40s as the most dependable kicker in the league. He threw for a total of 26,920 yards and 236 touchdowns, kicked 335 field goals and 943 extra points in his traditional straight-ahead approach, and retired in 1976 at the age of 48 as the game’s all-time leading scorer with 2,002 points.

Blanda was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981 in his first year of eligibility. He died Sept. 17, 2010, at the age of 83.

“We are very excited to bring George Blanda’s football memorabilia to auction,” said SCP Auctions President David Kohler. “He was such an exciting and durable NFL player for so many years; fans just loved him.”

For more information call SCP Auctions at 949-831-3700.