Jurgensen played through numerous injuries and even won over the notoriously tough Vince Lombardi, who coached Washington to its first winning season in more than a decade in 1969. Lombardi said of Jurgensen, “He is the best I have seen.”
But Lombardi died the following year, and Jurgensen never really hit it off with defense-minded successor George Allen. Washington acquired Billy Kilmer, generating the great “Sonny vs. Billy” debates that lasted until Jurgensen retired after the 1974 season.
“Few players could rival Sonny Jurgensen’s genuine love of the game that continued long after his playing days,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said. “Watching Sonny throw a football was like watching a master craftsman create a work of art.”
Jurgensen finished his career with 2,433 completions for 32,224 yards and a 57.1 completion percentage. He threw 255 touchdown passes, 189 interceptions and had a career rating of 82.6. He made the Pro Bowl five times, led the NFL in passing yards five times, and will always be in the record books for an untoppable 99-yard touchdown pass to Gerry Allen in 1968.
Washingtonians too young to remember Jurgensen as a player came to adore him for his astute observations as part of the radio broadcast trio of “Sonny, Sam and Frank.” Jurgensen, Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff and play-by-play man Frank Herzog would fuss and laugh while both rooting for and criticizing the burgundy and gold.
Jurgensen also became an unofficial confidant-at-large around the organization. He took Gus Frerotte under his wing when the young quarterback was battling Heath Shuler for the starting job in the mid-1990s. He became a member of Daniel Snyder’s inner circle after Snyder bought the team in 1999, arriving in the owner’s helicopter and getting a special sideline seat to watch practices.
Still, Jurgensen wouldn’t hesitate to question decisions and performances he didn’t like, especially when it came to quarterbacks. He often pined for the days when QBs were allowed to call their own plays.
Born Christian Adolph Jurgensen III in Wilmington, North Carolina on Aug, 23, 1934, Jurgensen was a two-way star at Duke and was drafted in the fourth round by the Eagles in 1957. He sat behind Norm Van Brocklin until 1961, when he took over the starting job and threw for 3,723 yards, 32 touchdown and 24 interceptions — all league highs.
Three years later he found himself on the way to Washington on April 1, 1964.
“Someone came in and said, ‘You were traded to the Redskins,’ ” Jurgensen said in a 2007 interview. “I said ‘No, it’s April Fool’s Day, you’re kidding.’ He said, ‘No, I’m not kidding. I just heard it on the radio.’
“So I was shocked.”
