Y.A. Tittle, ex-49ers quarterback and NFL Hall of Famer, dies at 90

Oct. 09--ATHERTON -- Y.A. Tittle, a pioneering 49ers star who soared to even greater heights after his lopsided trade to the New York Giants, died Sunday evening. He was 90.

The Hall of Fame quarterback played in San Francisco from 1951-60 and for three seasons was part of the "Million Dollar Backfield" that featured fellow Hall of Fame enshrinees Joe Perry, Hugh McElhenny and John Henry Johnson.

Tittle will also be remembered as the subject of one of the most indelible photographs in sports history: a shot of the helmetless quarterback on his knees and his head trickling with blood after a vicious blow.

"That photo made me more famous than anything else,'' he joked during an interview at his longtime home in Atherton in 2014.

A family spokesman said Monday that Tittle died at Stanford hospital on Sunday night around 9 p.m. Tittle spent his final hours surrounded by family members -- four generations were on hand -- and they talked and sang country songs until the peaceful end.

"The San Francisco 49ers organization and our faithful fans have lost a dear member of our family," 49ers CEO Jed York said in a statement. "Y.A. Tittle will forever hold a special place in not only 49ers history but that of the National Football League."

Tittle made seven Pro Bowls and was the first professional football player to make the cover of Sports Illustrated, gracing the 15th issue in the magazine's history, on Nov. 22, 1954.

He was voted the NFL's most valuable player by the Associated Press in 1963 when he threw 36 touchdown passes, a single-season record that stood until Dan Marino broke it in 1984.

Tittle is also credited with inventing the alley-oop pass, a play later popularized in basketball. In the football version, Tittle would lob a high-arcing pass toward the end zone and 49ers receiver R.C. Owens would out-jump defenders for an easy touchdown.

"I called it the 'Alley-Oop' because at the time there was a cartoon character from the funny pages by that name,'' Tittle later explained. "People asked me what I did with the ball. I said, 'I just alley-ooped it up there.' And the name caught on."

The play was born by accident. In a preseason game against the Chicago Cardinals, Tittle tried throwing the ball away to avoid a sack but the ball fluttered into the end zone. That's where Owens soared over a cluster of defenders to make the catch.

"Man, R.C., that was unbelievable,'' Tittle said.

"I can do it every time,'' Owens replied.

The duo would go on to connect for five touchdown passes that season, three of them last-minute game-winners of the "alley-oop" variety.

He was born Yelberton Abraham Tittle on Oct. 24, 1926, but his given name never stuck. He was known by his initials -- even as a kid growing up Marshall, Texas.

Tittle took up football at an early age because he wanted to be like his older brother, Jack, who was an all-conference player at Tulane. "My idol,'' Tittle called him later in life.

Tittle starred at LSU before becoming the only player in history to be drafted in the first round on three occasions. The first two times came in 1948, when the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference took him, as did the Detroit Lions of the NFL.

Tittle signed with the Browns but was transferred to the Baltimore Colts when the AAFL intervened in attempt to create league parity. After that incarnation of the Colts franchise folded up because of poor attendance, Tittle was dispersed via the draft one more time in 1951 -- which is when the 49ers pounced.

Tittle arrived just as the 49ers franchise transitioned from the bootlegging and ball-fakery of Frankie Albert to a modern passing game. By '54, strong-armed Tittle was at the helm of the "Million Dollar Backfield" -- a nickname built on reputation, not paychecks. (Author Dave Newhouse concluded that the quartet combined to make about $70,000 a year.)

In conversation in 2014, in what is believed to be the last extensive interview with Tittle, the quarterback reminisced about what it was like playing alongside Perry, McElhenny and Johnson. It remains the only full-house backfield in which all four members are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Joe Perry was lightning fast. And he jumped off-sides most of the time, which made him even faster,'' Tittle joked. "McElhenny was fast, but he was a run-around guy. John Henry was tough. He'd cuss out (defenders) and spit on 'em. And I'd say, 'John Henry, quit cussing these guys out because they're taking it out on me!'"

The 49ers traded Tittle to the Giants in 1961 to make room for promising young passer John Brodie. The only player San Francisco got in exchange was Lou Cordileone, a guard/linebacker, who lasted one season with the team.

Tittle went on to play four seasons with the New York Giants (1961-64). Throughout his 15-year NFL career, he went to seven Pro Bowls and was twice named the Newspaper Enterprise Association NFL MVP (1961 & 1963).

Tittle is one of two players in NFL history to throw for 500-or-more yards and seven-or-more touchdowns in a single game (Drew Brees is the other). Following his playing career, Tittle re-joined the 49ers in 1965 as an offensive consultant, a role he kept from 1965-69.

Tittle ranks among the best quarterbacks never to win to a championship. In fact, he is the only Hall of Famer never to win a playoff game as a starter.

His heartbreaks include the 1957 NFC division playoff game. The 49ers led 24-7 at halftime and looked poised to face the Cleveland Browns in the championship game. But Tittle threw three interceptions after halftime as the Detroit Lions roared back to win 31-27.

"I'm still trying to forget that game,'' he said, decades later. "But I was the one calling the plays, and I take full responsibility for booting it away."

Tittle's career came to a close in 1964, not long after the savage blow that yielded the iconic photograph. The 38-year-old quarterback was hit by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end John Baker on Sept. 20 that season.

Tittle wound up with a cracked sternum and a concussion. Photographer Morris Berman clicked a shot of the injured gridiron warrior for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette -- which chose not to run it. The photo gained fame only after Berman entered it in contests.

It eventually became one of only three photos hanging in the lobby of the National Press Photographers Association headquarters in Durham, North Carolina. The other two images: the flag-raising at Iwo Jima and the fiery Hindenberg explosion.

Reflecting on Berman's photo for Smithsonian Magazine in 2007, Tittle said: "That was the end of my dance. A whole lifetime was over."

Tittle went on to a prosperous life, thanks to an insurance business he began during his playing days. It became his own company, Y.A Tittle Insurance & Financial Services.

He also remained a popular public speaker for years after his playing days. His daughter, Dianne de Laet, said that Tittle remained forever accessible despite his fame.

"For so many years, Dad has been on a first-name basis with the world. He's never 'Mr. Tittle' it's, 'Hey, Y.A.!' she said in 2014. "There's a feeling that he's a part of their lives, and they're a part of his life, and it's been that way for a very, very long time. ... I've just been amazed at the way memories gather, people really do celebrate the moments that dad gave them."

Tittle is survived by his brother, Don Tittle; children Dianne de Laet, John Tittle and Pat Tittle: seven grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

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