TITTLE, Y.A.

born Oct. 24, 1926, Marshall, Texas, U.S. byname of Yelberton Abraham Tittle, Jr. American professional-football quarterback. Tittle started playing football at an early age and was all-state halfback at Marshall (Texas) High School. He became a quarterback at Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge; 194447), and teams that he led won 23 games, lost 11, and tied 2; his yardage for completed passes was 2,576. Tittle became a professional with the Baltimore Colts in 1948 (of the National Football League from 1950), and when the Colts disbanded he went with the NFL San Francisco 49ers in 1951. He was traded to the NFL New York Giants in 1961 and became their first-string quarterback, leading them to three divisional championships (196163). In a 1962 game against the Washington Redskins, he threw a record-tying seven touchdown passes, and he led the league in touchdown passes (1955, 196263), the 36 thrown in the last year tying him for an all-time record that persisted into the 1980s. After retirement in 1964, he became an insurance broker in Palo Alto, Calif. He was elected to the football Hall of Fame in 1971.