Dan Marino makes Fantasy Football List of Great Players, Ditka still not invited – Part II

You can read the first part of our Fantasy Football Hall of Fame here.

Dan Marino makes Fantasy Football Hall of Fame, Ditka not invited – Part I

In the first part we discussed Michael Fabiano of NFL.com and his idea of a Fantasy Football Hall of Fame. We then reviewed his first two picks being Dan Marino and Fran Tarkenton.

Remember, just like the regular Hall of Fame, a player must be retired for 5 or more years.

Number 3 is none other than John Elway quarterback of the Denver Broncos

A two-time Super Bowl champion with the Broncos, Elway is currently third all-time with 51,475 passing yards and ranks fourth with an impressive 300 passing touchdowns. He also completed 4,123 passes in his impressive career, which is third all-time behind Brett Favre and Marino. Elway threw for 3,000-plus yards in all but four of his 16 NFL seasons and his skills as a runner made him an even more attractive starter in the world of fantasy football. source

Oddly enough, even with all of John’s success, what sticks in your intrepid author’s mind the most is John’s refusal to play for the team that drafted him.

In the 1983 NFL Draft, Elway was selected as the 1st overall pick by the then Baltimore Colts. Elway had, by then, played two summers of minor league baseball for the New York Yankees organization. Additionally, Elway had publicly stated that he refused to join the Colts organization, feeling the team could not allow him to be successful. He demanded a trade. Eventually, Colts owner Robert Irsay gave in. The Colts traded him to the Denver Broncos for QB Mark Herrmann, rights to OL Chris Hinton and a first-round pick (OG Ron Solt) in the 1985 NFL Draft on May 2, 1983. source

This shocked the football world and some even worried about the whole concept of the draft system. Would it survive? As we all know now, the draft survived and is now one of the most popular sporting events that does not include a championship game or even a game!

Unlike our first two Hall of Fantasy Football Famers, John does have 2 Super Bowl rings and will forever be immortalized for the Drive!

In the 1986 season, Elway led the Broncos to Super Bowl XXI, after defeating the Cleveland Browns on a famous possession at the end of the game that became known as “The Drive”. (In a span of 5 minutes and 2 seconds, Elway led his team 98 yards to tie the game with 37 seconds left in regulation. The Broncos went on to win the game in overtime.) source

Number 4 is George Blanda, quarterback for Chicago, Baltimore, Houston, Oakland

Imagine a quarterback who was capable of putting up solid passing numbers and kick field goals and extra points for your fantasy team. That was the case with Blanda, who finished his career with 26,920 passing yards, 245 total touchdowns, 335 field goals and 943 extra points. While he did post almost 2,000 of his 3,941 fantasy points as a kicker, Blanda would have been a stats machine for owners. source

Ahh, you younger guys are probably saying who? Well, let your intrepid author tell you, there was never anyone that played at such a high level for so long. Get this; George played his last game when he was 48 years old. That is no misprint, forty-freakin-eight.

In his 21st season, George went on a role that was unbelievable for any player in any year. This was in 1970 and the late afternoon game often featured either the Rams (of Los Angeles) or the Oakland Raiders with Daryle Lamonica.

Against the Steelers, Blanda threw for two touchdowns in relief of an injured Daryle Lamonica. One week later, his 48-yard field goal with three seconds remaining salvaged a 17-17 tie with the Kansas City Chiefs. Repeating the thrilling finish on November 8, Blanda once again came off the bench to throw for a pass to tie the Cleveland Browns with 1:34 remaining, then kicked a 53-yard field goal as time expired for the 23-20 win. In the team’s next game, Blanda replaced Lamonica in the fourth quarter and connected with Fred Biletnikoff on a touchdown pass with 2:28 left in the game to defeat the Denver Broncos, 24-19. The incredible streak concluded one week later when Blanda’s 16-yard field goal in the closing seconds defeated the San Diego Chargers, 20-17.

In the AFC title game against the Baltimore Colts, Blanda again relieved an injured Lamonica and had a superb performance, completing 17 of 32 passes for 217 yards and 2 touchdowns while also kicking a 48-yard field goal and two extra points, keeping the Raiders in the game until the final quarter, when he was intercepted twice. Aged 43, he became the oldest quarterback ever to play in a championship game source

Yeah, George Blanda was awesome.

This series of Fantasy Football Hall of Fame will continue in a couple of days.

NFL Football Fan Question When was the last time you saw a quarterback as the kicker?