Welcome to another entry of the What If? Fantasy Football edition. This is where I look back at a season long before fantasy football became prominent among us in our society as figure how the fantasy numbers would look if the fantasy game existed then. Today, we look back at the 1963 season for Hall of Fame and New York Giants star quarterback Y.A. Tittle. I'm using the default scoring systems for Sporting News and Yahoo! to calculate the point totals.
Here's the point scale for SN(default configuration):
60 points for every touchdown
2 points for every rushing, receiving, and punt return yard gained
1 point for every kickoff return yard gained
2 points for every reception
1 point for every passing yard
-10 points for every kickoff return attempt
-45 points for lost fumble and interception
-2 points for incomplete pass
Here's the point scale for Yahoo!(default configuration):
6 points for every rushing, receiving, and return touchdown
4 points for passing touchdown
1 point for every 10 rushing and receiving yards
1 point for every 25 passing yards
2 points for every two-point conversion
-1 point for every interception
-2 points for every fumble
No points are given for receptions or return yardage in the default configuration.
Here are the stats for Y.A. Tittle in 1963 and fantasy points for the SN games:
Passing yards: 3145 = 3145 points
Passing touchdowns: 36 = 2160 points
Incomplete passes: 146 = -292 points
Interceptions: 14 = -630 points
Rushing yards: 99 = 198 points
Rushing touchdowns: 2 = 120 points
Receptions: 74 = 148 points
Receiving yards: 0 = 0 points
Receiving touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Fumbles Lost: 1 = -45 points
Total points: 5434 points
Total points per game: 418.00
Note: Teams only played 13 games in 1963.
Here are the stats for Y.A. Tittle in 1963 and fantasy points for the Yahoo! game:
Passing yards: 3145 = 125 points
Passing touchdowns: 36 = 144 points
Interceptions: 14 = -14 points
Rushing yards: 99 = 9 points
Rushing touchdowns: 2 = 12 points
Receiving yards: 0 = 0 points
Receiving touchdowns: 0 = 0 points
Fumbles Lost: 1 = -2 points
Total points: 274 points
Total points per game: 21.08
Note: Tittle played in 13 games in 1963.
Statistical source: pro-football-reference
It was during his 16th season in the NFL that would find Y.A. Tittle putting up his best numbers. The 37-year old quarterback had led the Giants to a great season and No. 1 offense in the league which finished with 448 points - 79 points more than Green Bay who finished second.
The Giants finished the regular season with an 11-3 mark, and Tittle played in all but one game compiling an 11-2 mark(the one missed game was a 31-0 loss at the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2).
Based on him throwing 33 touchdowns and for over 3,000 yards the previous season while leading the Giants to the NFL Championship Game, there's little doubt he would have been the top quarterback chosen in fantasy drafts despite the age. His numbers wouldn't have disappointed fantasy owners either.
Tittle led the league with 36 passing touchdowns, 60.2 completion percentage, 8.6 yards per attempt, and 104.8 rating.
He threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals in a 38-21 win. Two weeks later, he nearly had an identical performance against the San Francisco 49ers at home throwing for 284 yards and four touchdowns as the Giants won 48-14. He finished the regular season by throwing for 308 yards and three touchdowns against the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 33-17 win.
As the regular season champions in the East Division, the Giants earned the right to play the West Division Champion Chicago Bears for the NFL Championship. The Bears had the top defense in the league, and Tittle threw five interceptions as Chicago won the NFL Championship 14-10.
The following season would turn out to be the last for Tittle as the Giants franchise would not make another playoff appearance until 1981.
Tittle played the majority of his career with the 49ers, and compiled a 78-52-5 record as a quarterback in his 17 seasons in the league. Though he threw more interceptions than touchdowns(248 interceptions and 242 touchdowns), he was a seven-time Pro Bowl player while earning induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
If anyone wants to suggest a past player, then you can do so in the comments section. The only thing I ask is that the player and year be before 1990 because fantasy football wasn't as prominent then.
Photo courtesy of SI Vault.
Past What If? posts:
Walter Payton's 1977 season
Gale Sayers' 1965 season
Eric Dickerson's 1983 season
Jim Brown's 1963 season
Dan Marino's 1984 season
Jerry Rice's 1987 season
O.J. Simpson's 1975 season
Johnny Unitas' 1959 season
Sid Luckman's 1943 season
Sammy Baugh's 1947 season
Beattie Feathers' 1934 season
Charley Hennigan's 1961 season
Timmy Brown's 1963 season
Rolland Lawrence's 1977 season
Dan Fouts' 1981 season
Earl Campbell's 1980 season
Bronko Nagurski's 1934 season
Randall Cunningham's 1990 season
10/13/2009 09:47:00 PM
David Funk
2 comments:
You can't compare him to the modern era, but his numbers were amazing for back then. Good choice.
Lester, I agree even though I think he was much better in his late 30s than earlier in his career when he threw all those interceptions for somewhat mediocre 49ers teams. He was also 0-4 in the playoffs, but that was in a time where Lombardi's Packers ruled for the most part towards the latter part of his career. Still, he's a HOFer for a reason.
Thanks for the comment buddy! :)
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