Charles Albert Conerly Jr. (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

from 1948 through 1961. Conerly played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Ole Miss Rebels The Ole Miss Rebels are the 18 men's and women's College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that are funded by and represent the University of Mississippi, located in Oxford, Mississippi, Oxford. The first was the Ole ...

and was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

in 1966. He was married to Perian Conerly, a sports columnist for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''.

College career

Conerly attended and played

at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (Epithet, byname Ole Miss) is a Public university, public research university in University, near Oxford, Mississippi, United States, with a University of Mississippi Medical Center, medical center in Jackson, Miss ...

(Ole Miss). He started at Ole Miss in 1942, but left to serve as a Marine in the

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

during World War II where he fought in the Battle of Guam.

Bowden Bowden may refer to: Places Australia * Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland * Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide * Bowden railway station Canada * Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta England * Bowd ...

(2008), p. 112. He returned to Mississippi in 1946 and led the team to their first

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC) championship in 1947. During that season, he led the nation in pass completions with 133, rushed for nine touchdowns and passed for 18 more, was a consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

selection, and was named Player of the Year by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

. As an outstanding quarterback played the for the Rebels, Conerly earned consensus All-America recognition in 1947 when he led the Rebels to a record of 9–2, including a 13–9 win over

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

in the Delta Bowl at

Crump Stadium Crump Stadium is a sports stadium in Memphis, Tennessee, built in 1934 and significantly downsized in 2006. It was built as a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project with a capacity of 7,500. In 1939 it was enlarged to hold 25,000 spectators ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. Conerly's 1947 squad had upset wins over

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(14–7 in Oxford),

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

(14–6 in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

(20–18 in

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), and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

(43–13 in Memphis). He placed fourth in the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

balloting and was a two-time All SEC performer. He was named Player of the Year and Back of the Year of the SEC in 1947. He set numerous school records and still ranked 12th in 2008 in career total offense with 3,076 yards. He was ranked 12th in career passing with 2,313 yards and 26 TDs. Conerly also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at Ole Miss, where he hit .467 in 1948 and was offered a professional contract.

Professional career

Conerly was drafted in the 13th round of the 1945 NFL draft by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. He played his entire career with the

as a

, where he was a two-time

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

selection in 1950 and 1956 and was NFL's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

in 1959 by the

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. Conerly was named NFL "Rookie of the Year" in 1948, a season when he set many Giants rookie franchise records that still stand. He led the Giants to three

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

games in four seasons (1956, 1958–1959), including a 47–7 victory over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the

1956 NFL Championship Game The 1956 NFL Championship Game was the league's 24th championship game, played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx in New York City on December 30. The New York Giants (8–3–1) won the Eastern Conference title and hosted the Chicago Bears (9– ...

. During his professional career, he earned the

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nickname "Chucking Charlie Conerly".

Giants franchise records

's NFL off-season, Charlie Conerly held at least 10 Giants franchise records, including: * Most completions (rookie season): 162 (1948) * Most pass attempts (rookie season): 299 (1948) * Most passing yards (rookie season): 2,175 (1948) * Most passing touchdowns (rookie season): 22 (1948) * Most intercepted (game): 5 (1951-10-14 CRD and 1953-12-13 DET; tied with Jeff Rutledge and

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning family, he is the youngest ...

) * Highest passer rating (rookie season): 84.0 (1948) * Most yards/pass attempt (season): 8.79 (1959) * Most yards/pass attempt (playoff career): 8.53 * Most yards/pass attempt (playoff season): 10.48 (1958) * Most passing yards/game (rookie season): 181.3 (1948) * Most passing touchdowns by a quarterback vs. The Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders

NFL career statistics

Later life and honors

Conerly portrayed the "

Marlboro Man The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by advertising executive ...

" in commercials after playing for the Giants. Conerly and his wife, Perian (author of the book, ''Backseat Quarterback'') retired to his hometown of

Clarksdale, Mississippi Clarksdale is a city in and the county seat of Coahoma County, Mississippi, Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. It is located along the Sunflower River. Clarksdale is named after John Clark, a settler who founded the city in the mid-19t ...

, where he spent his final days. Conerly owned shoe stores throughout the

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

. On December 13, 1959, Perian appeared on an episode of ''

What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a Panel show, panel game show that originally ran in the United States, between 1950 and 1967, on CBS, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent American revivals. The game uses celebrity panelists ...

''. Her line was she wrote a football column for newspapers. Conerly was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and the Ole Miss Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987. He is also a member of the Ole Miss Team of the Century (1893–1992). Conerly is the namesake of the football award, the Conerly Trophy, given annually to the top college player in the State of

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. The

Professional Football Researchers Association The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional American football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by w ...

named Conerly to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006. He is a seven-time Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist, but has yet to be elected as a member of the Hall.

Illness and death

Conerly underwent triple-bypass heart surgery on September 19, 1995, his birthday. He died on February 13, 1996, of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

following a long illness, his wife told ''

''. He was also survived by his sisters.

References

Sources

* ''The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL'' (2008; )

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conerly, Charlie 1921 births 1996 deaths All-American college football players American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II College Football Hall of Fame inductees Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players New York Giants players Ole Miss Rebels baseball players Ole Miss Rebels football players NFL players with retired numbers Players of American football from Clarksdale, Mississippi United States Marines