Sign in Subscribe
Sports History

On This Date: Y.A. Tittle Throws 7 Touchdown Passes (Oct. 28, 1962)

On Oct. 28, 1962, Y.A. Tittle threw 7 touchdown passes for 505 yards as the Giants beat Washington 49-34, tying an NFL record nobody has ever broken.

On This Date: Y.A. Tittle Throws 7 Touchdown Passes (Oct. 28, 1962)
Tittle throws against Washington at Yankee Stadium in 1962.

Most people know Y.A. Tittle from one photograph: bald, bloodied and on his knees in the end zone at Pittsburgh in 1964, his helmet beside him. It’s one of the most famous pictures in football, and it’s a picture of a quarterback at the end.

“Y. A. Tittle Tosses Seven Touchdown Passes as Giants Wallop Redskins.” (The Day, New London, Conn., Oct. 29, 1962, p. 18, via Newspapers.com)
“Y. A. Tittle Tosses Seven Touchdown Passes as Giants Wallop Redskins.” (The Day, New London, Conn., Oct. 29, 1962, p. 18, via Newspapers.com)

But on Oct. 28, 1962, Tittle had just turned 36, and he was having the best day any NFL quarterback had ever had.

The Game

The Washington Redskins came to Yankee Stadium unbeaten at 4-0-2 and leading the Eastern Conference. The Giants were 4-2. A sellout crowd of 62,844 showed up on a cool, breezy Sunday afternoon.

The official program for the Giants and Redskins at Yankee Stadium, Oct. 28, 1962.
The official program for the Giants and Redskins at Yankee Stadium, Oct. 28, 1962.
“Tittle Rips Up Redskins and Record Book.” Washington’s Fred Dugan hauls in a touchdown pass from Norm Snead. (Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-19, via Newspapers.com)
“Tittle Rips Up Redskins and Record Book.” Washington’s Fred Dugan hauls in a touchdown pass from Norm Snead. (Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-19, via Newspapers.com)

It didn’t start like a record day. Washington’s Norm Snead hit Bobby Mitchell for a 44-yard touchdown on the first possession, and the game went back and forth all half. Tittle threw a 22-yard touchdown to Joe Morrison in the 1st quarter, then a 5-yarder to Joe Walton in the 2nd. When Washington answered, Sam Huff blocked the extra point, and Tittle hit Morrison from the 1 before halftime. The Giants led 21-13.

“When Tittle Tosses, There’s Del.” Newsday led with Del Shofner, who caught 11 passes for 269 yards. The photo is Dugan’s touchdown catch. (Newsday, Oct. 29, 1962, p. 98, via Newspapers.com)
“When Tittle Tosses, There’s Del.” Newsday led with Del Shofner, who caught 11 passes for 269 yards. The photo is Dugan’s touchdown catch. (Newsday, Oct. 29, 1962, p. 98, via Newspapers.com)

Early in the 3rd quarter, Snead and Mitchell connected again, this time for 80 yards, and it was 21-20.

Bobby Mitchell’s 1962 Topps card. He caught 2 touchdown passes from Snead that day, one for 80 yards.
Bobby Mitchell’s 1962 Topps card. He caught 2 touchdown passes from Snead that day, one for 80 yards.

Then Tittle took the game apart. He hit Del Shofner for 32 yards. He found Walton for 26. He threw 63 yards to Frank Gifford, who was back in football after missing the 1961 season. That was 3 touchdown passes in one quarter and 6 in the game, and it was 42-20.

With 8:55 left in the game, he threw a short one to Walton, a former Redskin, for number 7. Snead got Washington 2 late touchdowns to make the final 49-34.

Norm Snead’s 1962 Topps card. He threw 4 touchdown passes in the game.
Norm Snead’s 1962 Topps card. He threw 4 touchdown passes in the game.
“Redskins Reel From ‘YAT’ Attack.” (The Washington Daily News, Oct. 29, 1962, p. 28, via Newspapers.com)
“Redskins Reel From ‘YAT’ Attack.” (The Washington Daily News, Oct. 29, 1962, p. 28, via Newspapers.com)

The Numbers

Tittle completed 27 of 39 passes for 505 yards, with 7 touchdowns and no interceptions. Shofner caught 11 passes for 269 yards, still the Giants’ single-game record. Walton caught 3 of the touchdowns, Morrison 2, and Shofner and Gifford 1 each.

The 7 touchdown passes tied the NFL record. Sid Luckman of the Bears had set it against the Giants in 1943, and Adrian Burk of the Eagles had matched it against Washington in 1954. George Blanda had done it in the AFL the year before.

There was time left for an 8th. Tittle didn’t go for it. “It would look kind of like too much individualism,” he told reporters in the locker room, a cigarette in his hand. Backfield coach Kyle Rote said Tittle had come to him after number 6 and said some of the players wanted him to go for the record. Rote told him to keep calling the same plays.

Tittle “aims another pass” at Joe Walton, who caught 3 of the 7, in the Giants’ dressing room after the game. (AP Wirephoto in the Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-23, via Newspapers.com)
Tittle “aims another pass” at Joe Walton, who caught 3 of the 7, in the Giants’ dressing room after the game. (AP Wirephoto in the Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-23, via Newspapers.com)
“Y. A. T. Wasn’t Going for Eight.” The AP’s Jack Hand in the Giants’ locker room. (The Day, New London, Conn., Oct. 29, 1962, p. 18, via Newspapers.com)
“Y. A. T. Wasn’t Going for Eight.” The AP’s Jack Hand in the Giants’ locker room. (The Day, New London, Conn., Oct. 29, 1962, p. 18, via Newspapers.com)

The 2 quarterbacks combined for 11 touchdown passes, which the papers called a league record for one game. Tittle’s 505 yards broke Charlie Conerly’s Giants record of 363 and came up 49 short of Norm Van Brocklin’s NFL record.

“Sherman, McPeak Laud Redskins.” Washington coach Bill McPeak told his team, “You lost the game but not your spirit.” (Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-21, via Newspapers.com)
“Sherman, McPeak Laud Redskins.” Washington coach Bill McPeak told his team, “You lost the game but not your spirit.” (Evening Star, Washington, Oct. 29, 1962, p. A-21, via Newspapers.com)

How He Got There

Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. was from Marshall, Texas. He played at LSU, broke into pro football with the Baltimore Colts of the All-America Football Conference in 1948, and spent 10 seasons in San Francisco, where he played in the 49ers’ “Million Dollar Backfield” and threw the original “alley-oop” passes to R.C. Owens.

Tittle on his 1953 Bowman card, with the 49ers.
Tittle on his 1953 Bowman card, with the 49ers.

By 1961 the 49ers had moved on to a shotgun offense and a younger quarterback, John Brodie. In August they traded Tittle to New York for Lou Cordileone, a 23-year-old lineman who had been the Giants’ 1st-round draft pick.

“Tittle to Giants.” The UPI story on the trade. (The Washington Daily News, Aug. 16, 1961, p. 69, via Newspapers.com)
“Tittle to Giants.” The UPI story on the trade. (The Washington Daily News, Aug. 16, 1961, p. 69, via Newspapers.com)

Tittle was 34, bald, and widely considered washed up. He took the Giants to the NFL Championship Game that first season and won the players’ MVP award.

Tittle in a 1962 Giants press photo.
Tittle in a 1962 Giants press photo.
Tittle’s 1962 Topps card says N.Y. Giants, but the photo still shows his 49ers helmet.
Tittle’s 1962 Topps card says N.Y. Giants, but the photo still shows his 49ers helmet.

What Came After

The 7-touchdown day was the 2nd win in a 9-game streak that ran to the end of the season. The Giants finished 12-2, and Tittle threw 33 touchdown passes, a new NFL record. They lost the title game to Green Bay at Yankee Stadium, 16-7, in 17-degree cold.

The program for the 1962 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium.
The program for the 1962 NFL Championship Game at Yankee Stadium.
“P-P-Packers Ch-Ch-Chill G-G-Giants.” Green Bay’s Willie Davis and Bill Quinlan close in on Tittle in the 1962 title game. (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, Dec. 31, 1962, p. 16, via Newspapers.com)
“P-P-Packers Ch-Ch-Chill G-G-Giants.” Green Bay’s Willie Davis and Bill Quinlan close in on Tittle in the 1962 title game. (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, Dec. 31, 1962, p. 16, via Newspapers.com)

In 1963 he broke his own record with 36 touchdown passes and won the AP MVP award. The Giants lost the championship game again, 14-10 to the Bears, with Tittle playing on an injured knee. That made 3 straight title-game losses.

Then came 1964. In the 2nd week of the season, at Pitt Stadium, defensive end John Baker hit him as he threw. Tittle was left with a concussion and a cracked sternum, and Morris Berman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took the photo that outlived the season. Tittle retired after the year and went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. He died in 2017 at 90.

Tittle at Pitt Stadium on Sept. 20, 1964. (Photo: Morris Berman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Wikimedia Commons)
Tittle at Pitt Stadium on Sept. 20, 1964. (Photo: Morris Berman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Wikimedia Commons)
“Vince in Hall of Fame; Tittle, Robustelli, Also.” Tittle went in with Vince Lombardi, Jim Brown and Norm Van Brocklin. (Daily News, New York, Feb. 5, 1971, p. 72, via Newspapers.com)
“Vince in Hall of Fame; Tittle, Robustelli, Also.” Tittle went in with Vince Lombardi, Jim Brown and Norm Van Brocklin. (Daily News, New York, Feb. 5, 1971, p. 72, via Newspapers.com)

Still the Record

More than 60 years later, nobody has thrown 8. Joe Kapp, Peyton Manning, Nick Foles and Drew Brees have all thrown 7, which makes 8 quarterbacks who share the record.

Read next

Comments ()