View source for Charlie Conerly

{{Short description|American football player (1921–1996)}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name        = Charlie Conerly
| image       = Charlie conerly giants.jpg
| caption     = Conerly with the New York Giants
| number      = 42
| position    = [[Quarterback]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1921|9|19|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]], U.S.
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1996|2|13|1921|9|19|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Memphis, Tennessee]], U.S.
| height_ft   = 6
| height_in   = 1
| weight_lb   = 185
| high_school = [[Clarksdale High School|Clarksdale]] <br> (Clarksdale, Mississippi)
| college     = [[Ole Miss Rebels football|Ole Miss]]
| draftyear   = 1945
| draftround  = 13
| draftpick   = 127
| pastteams   = * [[New York Giants]] ({{NFL Year|1948|1961}})
| highlights  = * [[NFL champion]] ([[1956 NFL Championship Game|1956]])
* [[NFL Most Valuable Player|NFL MVP]] – [[Jim Thorpe Trophy|NEA]] ({{nfly|1959}})
* Second-team All-Pro ([[1959 All-Pro Team|1959]])
* 2× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1951 Pro Bowl|1950]], [[1957 Pro Bowl|1956]])
* [[List of NFL season passer rating leaders|NFL passer rating leader]] (1959)
* [[New York Giants Ring of Honor]]
* [[New York Giants#Retired numbers|New York Giants No. 42]] retired
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1947 College Football All-America Team|1947]])
* [[Southeastern Conference football individual awards#Player of the Year|SEC Player of the Year]] (1947)
* 2× First-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1946 All-SEC football team|1946]], [[1947 All-SEC football team|1947]])
| statlabel1  = [[Touchdown|TD]]–[[Interception|INT]]
| statvalue1  = 173–167
| statlabel2  = Passing yards
| statvalue2  = 19,488
| statlabel3  = [[Passer rating]]
| statvalue3  = 68.2
| pfr         = ConeCh00
| CollegeHOF  = 1688
}}

'''Charles Albert Conerly Jr.''' (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[quarterback]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[New York Giants]] from 1948 through 1961. Conerly played [[college football]] for the [[Ole Miss Rebels football|Ole Miss Rebels]] and was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1966. He was married to Perian Conerly, a sports columnist for ''[[The New York Times]]''.

==College career==
[[File:1947 Ole Miss football media guide.jpg|thumb|left|150px|1947 Ole Miss media guide featuring Charlie Conerly (left) and coach [[Johnny Vaught]] (right).]]
Conerly attended and played [[college football]] at the [[Ole Miss Rebels football|University of Mississippi]] (Ole Miss). He started at Ole Miss in 1942, but left to serve as a [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] in the [[South West Pacific theatre of World War II|South Pacific]] during World War II where he fought in the [[Battle of Guam (1944)|Battle of Guam]].<ref name=Bowden_p112>[[#Bowden|Bowden]] (2008), p. 112.</ref><ref name=collegefootballhof>{{College Football HoF|id=1688|name=Charlie Conerly|accessdate=August 12, 2008}}</ref>

He returned to Mississippi in 1946 and led the team to their first [[Southeastern Conference]] (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 [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] selection, and was named Player of the Year by the [[Helms Athletic Foundation]].<ref name=collegefootballhof/> 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 Horned Frogs football|TCU]] in the [[Delta Bowl]] at [[Crump Stadium]] in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Conerly's 1947 squad had upset wins over [[Kentucky Wildcats football|Kentucky]] (14–7 in Oxford), [[Florida Gators football|Florida]] (14–6 in [[Jacksonville, Florida]]), [[LSU Tigers football|LSU]] (20–18 in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]]), and [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] (43–13 in Memphis). He placed fourth in the [[Heisman Trophy]] 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.{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

Conerly also played [[baseball]] at Ole Miss, where he hit .467 in 1948 and was offered a professional contract.<ref name=collegefootballhof/>

==Professional career==
Conerly was drafted in the 13th round of the [[1945 NFL draft]] by the [[Washington Redskins]]. He played his entire career with the [[New York Giants]] as a [[quarterback]], where he was a two-time [[Pro Bowl]] selection in 1950 and 1956 and was [[National Football League|NFL's]] [[Most Valuable Player]] in 1959 by the [[Newspaper Enterprise Association]].<ref name=collegefootballhof />  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]] games in four seasons (1956, 1958–1959), including a 47–7 victory over the [[Chicago Bears]] in the [[1956 NFL Championship Game]]. During his professional career, he earned the [[alliterative]] nickname "'''Chucking Charlie Conerly'''".

===Giants franchise records===
{{As of|2017}}'s NFL off-season, Charlie Conerly held at least 10 Giants franchise records,{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} 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]])
* 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. [[Washington Commanders|The Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders]]

===NFL career statistics===
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"
! colspan="2"| Legend
|-
| style="background:#ffff00; width:3em;"|
| [[Jim Thorpe Trophy|NEA NFL MVP]]
|-
| style="background:#ffe6bd; width:3em;"|
| Won [[NFL championship]]
|-
| style="background:#cfecec; width:3em;"|
| Led the league
|-
| '''Bold'''
| Career high
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team
! colspan="3"| Games
! colspan="9"| Passing
|-
! GP !! GS !! Record !! Cmp !! Att !! Pct !! Yds !! Avg !! TD !! Int !! Lng !! Rtg 
|-
! [[1948 NFL season|1948]] !! [[1948 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 4 || − || '''162''' || 299 || 54.2 || '''2,175''' || 7.3 || '''22''' || 13 || 65 || 84.0
|-
! [[1949 NFL season|1949]] !! [[1949 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 12 || 6−6 || 152 || '''305''' || 49.8 || 2,138 || 7.0 || 17 || 20 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''85''' || 64.1 
|-
! [[1950 NFL season|1950]] !! [[1950 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 11 || 8 || 6−2 || 56 || 132 || 42.4 || 1,000 || 7.6 || 8 || 7 || 43 || 67.1
|-
! [[1951 NFL season|1951]] !! [[1951 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 11 || 9−2 || 93 || 189 || 49.2 || 1,277 || 6.8 || 10 || 22 || 69 || 49.3
|-
! [[1952 NFL season|1952]] !! [[1952 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 11 || 11 || 7−4 || 82 || 169 || 48.5 || 1,090 || 6.4 || 13 || 10 || 70 || 70.4
|-
! [[1953 NFL season|1953]] !! [[1953 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 11 || 3−8 || 143 || 303 || 47.2 || 1,711 || 5.6 || 13 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''25''' || 60 || 44.9
|-
! [[1954 NFL season|1954]] !! [[1954 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 10 || 10 || 6−4 || 103 || 210 || 49.0 || 1,439 || 6.9 || 17 || 11 || 68 || 76.7
|-
! [[1955 NFL season|1955]] !! [[1955 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 4 || 1−3 || 98 || 202 || 48.5 || 1,310 || 6.5 || 13 || 13 || 71 || 64.2
|-
! [[1956 NFL season|1956]] !! style="background:#ffe6bd;"|[[1956 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 0 || − || 90 || 174 || 51.7 || 1,143 || 6.6 || 10 || 7 || 48 || 75.0
|-
! [[1957 NFL season|1957]] !! [[1957 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 8 || 6–2 || 128 || 232 || 55.2 || 1,712 || 7.4 || 11 || 11 || 70 || 74.9 
|-
! [[1958 NFL season|1958]] !! [[1958 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 10 || 6 || 4–2 || 88 || 184 || 47.8 || 1,199 || 6.5 || 10 || 9 || 44 || 66.8
|-
! style="background:#ffff00;"|[[1959 NFL season|1959]] !! [[1959 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 10 || 9 || '''8–1''' || 113 || 194 || '''58.2''' || 1,706 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''8.8''' || 14 || 4 || 77 || style="background:#cfecec;"|'''102.7'''
|-
! [[1960 NFL season|1960]] !! [[1960 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| 12 || 7 || 5–1–1 || 66 || 134 || 49.3 || 954 || 7.1 || 8 || 7 || 70 || 70.9
|-
! [[1961 NFL season|1961]] !! [[1961 New York Giants season|NYG]]
| '''13''' || 4 || 2–2 || 44 || 106 || 41.5 || 634 || 6.0 || 7 || 8 || 37 || 52.2
|-
! colspan="2"| Career !! 161 !! <u>105</u> !! 63–37–1 !! 1,418 !! 2,833 !! 50.1 !! 19,488 !! 6.9 !! 173 !! 167 !! 85 !! 68.2
|}

==Later life and honors==
Conerly portrayed the "[[Marlboro Man]]" in commercials after playing for the Giants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/search?q=charley+conerly+marlboro+man&hl=en#biv=i%7C0;d%7Cl65ep03AwnpHsM:|title=charley conerly marlboro man – Google Search|website=www.google.com|access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1798&dat=19770511&id=YAIdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OY4EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6759,1933249|title=Sarasota Journal – Google News Archive Search|website=news.google.com|access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref>  Conerly and his wife, Perian (author of the book, ''Backseat Quarterback'') retired to his hometown of [[Clarksdale, Mississippi]], where he spent his final days. Conerly owned shoe stores throughout the [[Mississippi Delta]]. On December 13, 1959, Perian appeared on an episode of ''[[What's My Line?]]''. 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]]. The [[Professional Football Researchers Association]] named Conerly to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2006.htm |title=Hall of Very Good Class of 2006 |access-date=November 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118214852/http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2006.htm |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He is a seven-time Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist, but has yet to be elected as a member of the Hall.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.profootballhof.com/heroes-of-the-game/hall-of-famers-yearly-finalists/|title=Hall of Famers: Yearly Finalists|access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref>

==Illness and death==
Conerly underwent [[triple-bypass heart surgery]] on September 19, 1995, his birthday. He died on February 13, 1996, of [[heart failure]] following a long illness, his wife told ''[[The New York Times]]''. He was also survived by his sisters.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Dave |date=1996-02-14 |title=Charlie Conerly, 74, Is Dead; Giants' Quarterback in 50's |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/14/sports/charlie-conerly-74-is-dead-giants-quarterback-in-50-s.html |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
* [[List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders]]
* [[History of the New York Giants (1925–78)]]
* [[Ole Miss Rebels]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
* ''The Best Game Ever: Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL'' (2008; {{ISBN|0-87113-988-X}})

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Footballstats |nfl=CON145348 |espn= |cbs= |yahoo= |si= |pfr=C/ConeCh00 |rotoworld=}}
* {{Find a Grave|15873383}}

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{{Giants Ring of Honor}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

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