Norm Van Brocklin

College career Following World War II, Van Brocklin followed two former high school teammates north and enrolled at the University of Oregon in Eugene. and led the Ducks to a 16–5 record in his two seasons as a starter. In 1948, Oregon tied with California for the title of the Pacific Coast Conference, forerunner of the Pac-12. California was undefeated overall, and Oregon's only loss was at undefeated Michigan, that year's national champions, and the Ducks had seven victories in the PCC to Cal's six. Oregon did not go to the Rose Bowl, however, because Cal was voted by the other schools to represent the PCC in the game. Oregon needed only a 5–5 tie vote, as Cal had been to the game more recently, and with six Northwest schools and four in California, appeared favored to advance. Oregon had opted for a playoff game, but California declined. Among the Cal voters was the University of Washington, which elevated the intensity of the Oregon-Washington rivalry. Breaking with tradition, the PCC allowed Oregon to accept an invitation to play SMU in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. It was the first time that a Pacific Coast team played in a major bowl game other than the Rose Bowl (a policy which was continued by the Pac-8 through 1974). Both Oregon and California lost their New Year's Day bowl games. That season, Van Brocklin was honored with an All-America selection and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Coincidentally, the Heisman Trophy winner that year was SMU running back Doak Walker. Both Walker and Van Brocklin got Outstanding Player recognition for their performance in the Cotton Bowl Classic.

Van Brocklin left Oregon for the NFL with one remaining year of college eligibility. At that time, a player was not allowed to join the NFL until four years after graduating from high school. Though he had only been at the University of Oregon for three years, he was eligible due to his time in the Navy during World War II. At age 23, he completed his bachelor's degree in June 1949.

Professional playing career

Los Angeles Rams Van Brocklin was selected 37th overall in the 1949 NFL draft, taken in the fourth round by the Los Angeles Rams. Teams were not sure if he planned to play the 1949 season in college, so he fell in the draft,

In 1951, Van Brocklin and Waterfield again split quarterbacking duties and the Rams again won the West. That year, Hirsch set an NFL record with 1,495 receiving yards and tied Don Hutson's record of 17 touchdown receptions. This time, the Rams won the title rematch against Cleveland, 24–17. Waterfield (9–24, 125 yards) took most of the snaps at the L.A. Coliseum, but Van Brocklin (4–6, 128 yards) threw a game-winning 73-yard touchdown pass to Fears. After returning to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, the Rams subsequently won Super Bowl LVI in 2022.

Earlier in 1951 on opening night, Van Brocklin threw for an NFL record 554 yards on September 28, breaking Johnny Lujack's single-game record of 468 set two years earlier. Waterfield was injured so Van Brocklin played the entire game and completed 27 of 41 attempts with five touchdowns. Despite the increase in passing attacks by NFL teams in recent years, the yardage record still stands, set .

Waterfield retired after the 1952 season and Van Brocklin continued to quarterback the Rams, leading them to the title game again in 1955, hosted at the L.A. Coliseum. In that game, the visiting Browns crushed the Rams 38–14 as Van Brocklin threw six interceptions. In early January 1958, he announced his retirement from pro football after nine seasons and had plans to enter private business in Oregon at Portland.

Philadelphia Eagles Less than five months later in late May, Van Brocklin changed his mind and was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for two players (offensive lineman Buck Lansford and defensive end Jimmy Harris) and a first-round draft pick. It was disclosed he did not want to play another season for the Rams under head coach Sid Gillman's offense, but it was not a personality issue with Gillman. Throwing to his favorite receiver, Tommy McDonald, Van Brocklin led the Eagles to victory. In a game dominated by defense, he led a fourth quarter comeback, resulting in a final score of 17–13.

During his twelve-year career, Van Brocklin played on two NFL championship teams: the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles. Following the latter triumph, he retired. As it turned out, the Eagles were the only team to defeat the Packers in a playoff game during Vince Lombardi's tenure as Green Bay's head coach. Van Brocklin led the NFL in passing three times and in punting twice; he retired as the all-time punts leader at 523 and was the first person with 500 career punts. On nine occasions, he was selected to the Pro Bowl. He was a first team All-Pro for the 1960 season.

Coaching career

Minnesota Vikings

Van Brocklin cut his ties with the Eagles after his belief that the team had reneged on an agreement to name him head coach to replace the retiring Buck Shaw, as they instead wanted him to serve as a player-coach when he really wanted to go out on top as a player. On January 18, 1961, he accepted the head coaching position for the expansion Minnesota Vikings, less than a month after winning the NFL Championship game. Van Brocklin personally looked at film for over two dozen quarterbacks before picking Fran Tarkenton in the third round of the draft. In training camp, he emphasized for Tarkenton to "hum the ball", complete with making him do weight exercises and practicing throws on a line. He also allowed Tarkenton to call his own plays. Van Brocklin tapped George Shaw as the starting quarterback for the first game of the season, but he prepared Tarkenton the week before the first game by having him come over to his house to study film night after night. When the Vikings played the Chicago Bears on September 17, Van Brocklin tapped Tarkenton to replace Shaw after the first quarter. Tarkenton proceeded to throw 17-of-23 for 250 yards with four touchdowns in the 37–13 victory.

Dubbed "Stormin' Norman" for his fiery temper towards players and even officials (which once saw him throw a pocketful of change at an official), Van Brocklin compiled a record of 29–51–4 in six seasons. The tenure was highlighted by his contentious relationship with quarterback Fran Tarkenton. Van Brocklin was displeased with Tarkenton's penchant for scrambling, preferring that he stay in the pocket. The feud culminated with Tarkenton's demand for a trade While the Vikings attempted to dissuade Tarkenton from being traded with the departure of Van Brocklin, Tarkenton stayed firm with his desire for a trade in the belief of not wanting to be thought of as having Van Brocklin's departure tied to him. Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants shortly after Van Brocklin's departure. He was reacquired by Van Brocklin's successor, Bud Grant, five years later in 1972. One thing Van Brocklin was known for was his disdain for soccer-style kickers (now the standard in the NFL). In one game, soccer-style kicker Garo Yepremian beat Van Brocklin's team and after the game, a reporter asked how he felt about losing the game on a last-second field goal, and he replied, "They ought to change the god-damned immigration laws in this country". However, Van Brocklin did end up having a soccer-style kicker in Nick Mike-Mayer in his final two seasons as coach of the Falcons, in 1973 and 1974.

During his first year off the field in over two decades, Van Brocklin served as a commentator on NFL broadcasts in 1967 for CBS.

Atlanta Falcons In 1968, Van Brocklin took over as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons on October 1, replacing Norb Hecker, who had started the season with three defeats, extending the team losing streak to ten games. Over the next seven seasons, Van Brocklin had mixed results, putting together a 37–49–3 mark. He led the team to its first winning season in 1971 with a 7–6–1 record, then challenged for a playoff spot in 1973 with a 9–5 mark. His 1973 Falcons handed the Fran Tarkenton-led, 9–0 Minnesota Vikings its first defeat, on Monday Night Football. However, after winning just two of his first eight games in 1974, he was fired.

Career statistics Playing career Legend AP NFL MVP NFL champion Led the league Bold Career high

Year Team Games Passing Punting GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Lng Rtg Punts Yds Avg Lng Blk LA 8 0 — 32 58 55.2 601 10.4 6 2 51 111.4 2 91 45.5 46 0 LA 12 6 5–1 127 233 54.5 2,061 8.8 18 14 58 85.1 11 466 42.4 51 0 LA 12 2 1–1 100 194 51.5 1,725 8.9 13 11 81 80.8 48 1,992 41.5 62 1 LA 12 6 6–0 113 205 55.1 1,736 8.5 14 17 84 71.5 29 1,250 43.1 66 0 LA 12 12 8–3–1 156 286 54.5 2,393 8.4 19 14 70 84.1 60 2,529 42.2 57 0 LA 12 11 6–4–1 139 260 53.5 2,637 10.1 13 21 80 71.9 44 1,874 42.6 61 0 LA 12 12 8–3–1 144 272 52.9 1,890 6.9 8 15 74 62.0 60 2,676 44.6 61 0 LA 12 4 2–2 68 124 54.8 966 7.8 7 12 58 59.5 48 2,070 43.1 72 0 LA 12 12 6–6 132 265 49.8 2,105 7.9 20 21 70 68.8 54 2,392 44.3 71 0 PHI 12 12 2–9–1 198 374 52.9 2,409 6.4 15 20 91 64.1 54 2,225 41.2 58 1 PHI 12 12 7–5 191 340 56.2 2,617 7.7 16 14 71 79.5 53 2,263 42.7 59 1 PHI 12 12 10–2 153 284 53.9 2,471 8.7 24 17 64 86.5 60 2,585 43.1 70 0 Career 140 101 61–36–4 1,553 2,895 53.6 23,611 8.2 173 178 91 75.1 523 22,413 42.9 72 3

Head coaching record

Career highlights Awards and honors NFL 2× NFL champion (1951, 1960) NFL Most Valuable Player (1960) 2× First-team All-Pro (1955, 1960) 2× Second-team All-Pro (1952, 1954) 9× Pro Bowl (1950–1955, 1958–1960) NFL passing yards leader (1954) NFL completion percentage leader (1952) NFL passer rating leader (1950) No. 83 on The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players NFL 1950s All-Decade Team Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame St. Louis Football Ring of Fame

College First-team All-American (1948) 2× First-team All-PCC (1947, 1948)

Records First player in NFL history to throw for over 500 yards: 554 on September 28, 1951 Most passing yards in a single game: 554 on September 28, 1951

Final years Following his dismissal, Van Brocklin returned to his pecan farm in Social Circle, Georgia, east of Atlanta. His only connections to football during this era were as a running backs coach for Georgia Tech under head coach Pepper Rodgers in 1979, who was fired that December. It was his only stint as an assistant coach. Rodgers's successor Bill Curry brought in a new staff in 1980 and Van Brocklin then was a college football analyst on "Superstation" WTBS in Atlanta.

Personal life and death Van Brocklin and his wife Gloria married in 1947 and had three children together. Shortly before the family's departure from Minnesota in 1966, they adopted three children. After it was removed, he told the press, "It was a brain transplant. They gave me a sportswriter's brain, to make sure I got one that hadn't been used." He died of a heart attack in 1983 at age 57,

Van Brocklin was posthumously elected to the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992.