Sonny Jurgensen. (Dick Darcey/The Washington Post)

But Jurgensen had a mind as sharp as any suit cut along Saville Row. That was part of another persona — the cigar-chomping raconteur who used his head not only to read opposing defenses but also to find ways to indulge his love of a good time. One enduring story holds that Jurgensen used to bundle a wooden Indian under his covers to meet training camp bed checks while he slipped off to tip a few with his many friends in town.

"His lifestyle . . . Sonny was cool," said Huff. "Back then it was cool for a quarterback to drink a lot, and Sonny did his share."

"He was at the tail end of that era when quarterbacks did whatever they wanted to — they were the kings who didn't have to do what everyone else did," added Bobby Mitchell. "He'd hang out and make the younger players buy him drinks . . . That was just the start of it. I wasn't out there — I'd just hear things from some of the guys — but they were wild stories."

Jurgensen's flair on the field had surfaced as early as 1962 with Philadelphia. The season before, he had thrown for a then-NFL-record 3,723 yards, completing 57 percent of his passes, with 32 touchdowns — all on a salary of $14,000. When Jurgensen asked for a raise during training camp, the Eagles balked. Nonplussed, Jurgensen gathered backup quarterback King Hill and left.

"It may have been one of the NFL's first holdouts . . . but I couldn't get the general manager's attention.

Other Pages in Chapter 2: 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Names, Numbers Trivia Quiz Index

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