Catching up with Y.A. Tittle

Jim Baumbach

12:14 PM EST, January 18, 2008

Yelberton Abraham Tittle, famously known as Y.A., enjoys a laid-back, simple life. He's 81 years old, resides just off the San Francisco Bay and still reports to work at the insurance agency that bears his name. He said he goes in to the office for a half day three or four days a week, mainly to avoid his honey-do list.

"Otherwise," Tittle said, "I'm just driving my wife around to Nordstrom's."

Football still dominates his life, even more than 40 years after the last game of his famed career as a quarterback. Tittle watches football every Sunday, with a fire going in his fireplace without fail. He said he has been especially thankful that the networks have aired more Giants games than he typically gets to see.

Tittle said he "can hardly wait" for the NFC Championship game against the Packers Sunday, and that's at least somewhat related to the history of the teams. The last time the Giants and Packers played in a championship game was 1962, a game Tittle repeatedly said he tries "to blank out of my mind."

Jim Baumbach Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

Video

Related links

Giants blog
Giants fan forum
Giants minicamp Photos
Giants draft picks Photos
Giants schedule

• Week 1: Thu., Sep. 4 vs. Washington, 7 p.m.
• Week 2: Sun., Sep. 14 at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
• Week 3: Sun., Sep. 21 vs. Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
• Week 4: Bye week
• Week 5: Sun., Oct. 5 vs. Seattle, 1 p.m.
• Week 6: Mon., Oct. 13 at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m.
• Week 7: Sun., Oct. 19 vs. San Francisco, 1 p.m.
• Week 8: Sun., Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh, 4:15 p.m.
• Week 9: Sun., Nov. 2 vs. Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
• Week 10: Sun., Nov. 9 at Philadelphia, 8:15 p.m.
• Week 11: Sun., Nov. 16 vs. Baltimore, 1 p.m.
• Week 12: Sun., Nov. 23 at Arizona, 4:15 p.m.
• Week 13: Sun., Nov. 30 at Washington, 1 p.m.
• Week 14: Sun., Dec. 7 vs. Philadelphia, 1 p.m.
• Week 15: Sun., Dec. 14 at Dallas, 8:15 p.m.
• Week 16: Sun., Dec. 21 vs. Carolina, 1 p.m.
• Week 17: Sun., Dec. 28 at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Last six games: Times subject to change due to flex schedule.
Best of the Super Bowl champion Giants Video
PHOTOS: GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL

Giants 17, Pats 14
• Victory parade
• Super Bowl XLII photos
• Giants celebrate title
• Road to Super Bowl
Complete Giants Super Bowl coverage
2007-08 Giants trivia quiz Quiz
Buy Giants frontpage reprints

The Giants lost to the Packers in the championship the year before, as well. But Tittle said the Packers were the better team that year, and it showed in the title game. The Packers crushed the Giants, 37-0.

But one year later Tittle felt the Giants were ready for the Packers. After losing their season-opener to the Browns, 17-7, the Giants won 11 of their next 12 games, thanks to a high-powered offense that was led by their seasoned quarterback. Tittle threw for 3,224 yards and 33 touchdowns against 20 interceptions.

"I thought we were the best team in the history of football that year," he said. "We scored so many points, just blowing everyone away with just big scores."

But cold, windy weather refused to let the Giants show off their offense in the championship game, which was played at the old Yankee Stadium Dec. 30. The field was frozen, the ball was impossible to grip and newspaper reports say wind gusts were consistently around 40 mph.

"It wasn't the coldest game I've ever been a part of," Tittle said. "It was the most miserable game I've ever been a part of because of the wind. I played in below zero games, but not like that game in New York with the wind. I thought it affected the play very adversely for our team, and I'm not trying to make excuses. We were a team that was built on the forward pass, not so much blood-and-guts running as Green Bay might have been."

The Packers won, 16-7, with the Giants clearly bothered by the conditions.

"We were the highest scoring team that year and we we were busy concentrating on what kind of footwear to wear," Tittle said. "Should we wear cleats? Tennis shoes? We played in tennis shoes. You can't stand up on a frozen field with cleats on because you're cleats are made to primarily dig into the ground. If you're wearing cleats, it's like running around trying to stand up on stilts."

The weather figures to be frigid this Sunday for the Giants-Packers game, but wind is not expected to be an issue. But that doesn't mean Eli Manning is in for an easy day. Tittle is pulling for him, but he did have one piece of advice. "I hope Manning is ready to duck," he said. "They're going to come after him."

And when asked if a Giants win would take away some of the frustration from his losses in 1961 and 1962, Tittle laughed. "That's a good idea," he said. "I hope they get revenge."