The gaudiest names on the gridiron often are quarterbacks. In the 1990s, such glamour boys as Joe Montana and Steve Young, Dan Marino and John Elway and Bret Favre have earned the bulk of National Football League fame. However, none of these superstar signal callers have anything on Johnny Unitas, otherwise known as "Mr. Quarterback," "The Golden Arm," and simply "Johnny U.," who played for the Baltimore Colts between 1956 and 1972. In his prime, Unitas was the league's most renowned, respected, and feared quarterback. As noted in his enshrinee data at the Football Hall of Fame, he was a "legendary hero," and an "exceptional field leader [who] thrived on pressure."

Johnny U.'s career is defined by a combination of luck, persistence, and hard work. He was born John Constantine Unitas in Pittsburgh, and began his quarterbacking career as a sophomore at St. Justin's High...