Dec. 10, 1964 - Johnny Unitas (right), the toast of pro football in Baltimore’s title days of 1958 and 1959, was voted today the most valuable player of 1964 in the National Football League. Don Shula (left), his coach, was voted the coach of the year by an Associated Press panel.
Unitas, the rags-to-riches quarterback who was rescued from the semipros by the Colts, won by a landslide vote of the 42-man committee, including three from each league city.
Unitas climbed back to where he was in the golden years of Baltimore championships as he led the Colts to 11 straight victories this season after an opening day defeat by Minnesota. With Baltimore assured of a title game against either Cleveland or St. Louis on Dec. 27, Unitas can do no wrong.
“I appreciate the award,” said Unitas, “but I’ve had better years. Bart Starr [Packers] and Fran Tarkenton [Vikings] had outstanding seasons. They deserved something.
“I think we’ve got 40 players on this team who should have been given this award, collectively. Football still is a team sport, and it takes a team, not a person, to win.”
Like Unitas, Shula is the first to recognize that a coach is only a part of the football team spectrum.
“I’m a lucky guy,” said Shula today. “Here I’m just 34, named coach of the year — and with a division champion. That is just luck, nothing else.
“It is amazing what these players have put into it. Without them, nothing would have been possible. Above everything else is the feeling on the club. No one put himself above another. They were a bunch of guys working for one thing — win it.”
Shula said the key game of the season for the Colts was the first Green Bay game, won 21-20 by Baltimore.
“If we had lost, we would have been 0-2. We would have won some games after that, but I don’t think as many as we did. After that, we picked up momentum each week.”
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