Sonny Jurgensen is already in Pro Football’s Hall Of Fame. He is arguably one of the most recognizable player’s in D.C. history. On Sunday, Sonny will watch his number 9 raised to the rafters, never to be worn by anyone in Washington again. The 88-year old Jurgensen will join Sammy Baugh (33), Bobby Mitchell (49) and Sean Taylor (21) as just the fourth player to have his jersey retired by Washington.
The team has had a long-standing tradition of not handing out the numbers of their heralded – regardless of if they are retired – so nobody has worn Sonny’s number 9 since he retired in 1974 anyway.
But on Sunday, it will become official.
As one of the greatest passers in NFL history, he certainly deserves the recognition. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, Jurgensen played 18 NFL seasons and logged 32,224 yards and 255 touchdowns.
He had one of the sweetest arms the game has ever seen.Some say that nobody ever threw the ball better. He even led the NFL in passing in his final season – at 40 years old.
Even the great Vince Lombardi thought it were so:
“He may be the best the league has ever seen. He is the best I have seen.”
He was even known to throw balls from behind his back in practice. Not only that, he could throw a dart until well into his 70’s. A parlor trick that Dan Snyder was all too happy to roll out to his buddies.
To add even more to Sonny’s mystique, he’s also often considered part of the greatest trade in Washington history. The Redskins dealt quartback Norm Snead to Philadelphia in exchange for Jurgensen. Snead played for the Eagles for seven years, and posted a pedestrian 28-50-3 record – though he wasn’t to blame for their lack of success. Sonny on the other hand, went to four of his five Pro Bowls with Washington. While his 52-51-5 record with the Redskins may not have been stellar, they did make it to the Super Bowl in 1972.
Broadcast Legend
After his football playing days, Jurgensen joined the broadcast booth. The Sonny, Sam (Huff) and Frank (Herzog) trifecta graced the airwaves for decades. Herzog was (unfortunately) replaced by Larry Michael in the early 2000’s, but Sonny and Sam donned the microphone for more than four decades.
New generations of Washington fans got to learn the brilliance of Sonny.
His keen football intellect was always on full display.
Retirement
These days Jurgensen makes his home in Naples, Florida.
As such, he doesn’t always get to see the Redskins Commanders play.
He’s already seen enough to last a lifetime anyway.
His family will attend the ceremony on Sunday.
Spoil The Broth?
After such a long tenure in Washington, Sonny probably deserved better than to be recognized in the last game of the season. With the game meaning nothing to Washington and plenty to Dallas, there will likely be a swath of Cowboys fans in attendance on Sunday.
Will they spoil the homecoming?
Sonny won’t likely be phased if the Cowboys fans at Fed Ex throw a few boos in his direction.
The gunslinger always had enough swag to shrug off such things.
Hopefully the franchise does a better job than they did on the Sean Taylor jersey retirement.
He deserves better.
He derserves the honor.
Congratulations Christian Adolph “Sonny” Jurgensen.
And thank you for 50 years of service to the Washington fans and faithful.
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