1962 Titan Quarterback Profiles

AL DOROW
Quarterback
No. 12
Michigan State
"Master of the rollout and the AFL's finest rushing quarterback is Al Dorow, the 31-year-old sharpshooter who knows his way around the course. He was the most active of running T-men in 1961, galloping 54 times for 317 yards, a per carry average of 5.9, more than a yard better than any of the top ten rushers. He was also the most overworked passer in the AFL, tossing 438 forwards and getting the most completions (197), totaling 2,651 yards.
Out of Alameda, California, he was exposed to six NFL (Redskins, Eagles) seasons."

-Don Schiffer, 1962 Pro Football Handbook

"Dorow's ability to run, coupled with his great passing arm, has made him one of the most dangerous threats in pro football. His masterly executed roll-outs have caused no end of aggravation for opposing defense men. His field generalship ranks him as the league's top signal caller.
He finished fourth among AFL passers last year, completing 197 of 438 passes for 2,651 yards."

-1962 Fleer No. 57


JOHNNY GREEN
Quarterback
No. 18
Tennessee-Chattanooga

"Recently acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnny played part of the 1959 season with the Toronto Argonauts. He was an outstanding quarterback at the University of Chattanooga for three years.

Johnny has a rifle arm and is an accurate long passer. He is also considered an able runner."

-1960 Buffalo Bills Official Program

"None of the '61 rookie hopefuls at the Bills' training camp carried quarterback credentials, enough evidence to tab veteran Johnny Green as No. 1 at the T job. The 24-year-old Riviera Beach (California) rifle came from the Steelers early in '60 and went on to top all Bill aerialists, tossing 10 TD bombs and gaining 228 yards."

-1961 Pro Football Handbook

"He can throw and he can run. That's what coaches dream of in a quarterback, and that's what Green has to offer. With the height and weight to take a chance at running the ball, he worries would-be rushers because of his accuracy on the long throw.
A three-year regular at Chattanooga, Green broke into pro ball with the Toronto Argonauts, then switched to the Pittsburgh Steelers."

-1961 Fleer No. 133

"Green shared the quarterbacking assignment last year, completing 56 of 126 passes, good for 903 yards. Although his touchdown aerials dipped from 10 in 1960 to only six last year, he was the toughest quarterback in the league to intercept. Only four of his passes were stolen, an excellent .039 percentage.
The veteran from Riviera Beach, California came from the Steelers in 1960. He broke into pro ball with the Toronto Argonauts."

-1962 Fleer No. 13


BUTCH SONGIN
Quarterback
No. 11
Boston College
"One of the oldest and ablest in AFL battle dress was 34-year-old Ed (Butch) Songin, the passing master out of Norwood, Mass. Butch was No. 4 in the aerial column, hitting his targets for 2,467 yards and 15 touchdown passes; however, he was the most accurate for the fewest number of interceptions, less than .04 of his tosses ending up in enemy hands."

-1961 Pro Football Handbook

"One of the real 'old pros,' Songin starred for Boston College in 1948, '49 and '50. He was also an All-American hockey player at BC. After the 1950 North-South contest, Ed took his passing arm to Canada, where he won all-league honors while with the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1953. His glittering statistic with Hamilton was his 48 touchdown passes.
Songin, the father of four, doubles as coach for Marion High in Framingham."

-1961 Fleer No. 177

"Ed ('Butch') Songin, handicapped throughout his pro life with a bad knee, is aware that he'll get only the spot duty at quarterback worthy of a 35-year-old veteran. The ex-Patriot passer from Norwood, Massachusetts suffered a slump in 1961, dropping to a 46 percent aerial average while gaining 1,429 yards with 98 successes. He still managed to keep his interception figure low, leading the circuit in fewest aerials stolen."

-Don Schiffer, 1962 Pro Football Handbook

"One of the oldest and ablest in AFL competition, this 38-year-old passing wizard joined the Titans last winter after two seasons with the Boston Patriots.
Butch was No. 7 in the aerial column, hitting his target for 1,429 yards and 14 touchdowns. For the second straight season, he was charged with the fewest number of interceptions, .043 of his tosses ending up in enemy hands.
He starred for Boston College in 1948, 1949 and 1950, then played in Canada where he won all-league honors with the Hamilton Tiger Cats in 1953."

-1962 Fleer No. 63


LEE GROSSCUP
Quarterback
No. 17
Utah

Quarterbacks Who Can Really Throw The Ball Around Under Fire Don't Show Up Too Often. That's Why Lee Grosscup Is ...

THE PASSER THE PROS WANT

"Lee Grosscup, an unusual young man who talks well, acts well and passes very well, had just concluded a fair season's of work at Utah. He had completed 94 out of 136 passes, for a record .686 average, with only two interceptions. He had made a national reputation for himself when he went wild against Army, passing for 326 yards against only 45 for the winning Cadets, in a 39-33 brawl where a fumble decided the outcome. And he was an All-America selection after a couple of years of bouncing around the Pacific Coast and only one season of varsity competition.

Now he was basking pleasantly in a hero's glory and thinking about returning to Utah for his senior year and more of the same. But a call came through from Toronto. The Argonauts in the Canadian Big Four League needed a passing quarterback badly. Would he jump school and play for them in 1958? They would pay his price. 'No thanks,' Grosscup told them. 'I'm going back to school and then I'm going to play in the National Football League.'

The people at Utah and in the NFL began to breathe easily again. Young Grosscup, even with his one season of ball, is the passer the pros want. Coach Sid Gillman of the Los Angeles Rams has already predicted that Lee will be the bonus choice at the NFL draft meeting after this season. Gillman was technically wrong- there is no more bouns choice in the league, each team having one crack at it- but he was right in his estimate of Grosscup's value.

His 1,398 yards passing, high mark in the nation last year, is only one reason he has been tagged by the pros. His ability to pass both long and short- vital in pro ball- is another. But there is much more. Lee is a confident player. 'You get the impression,' one coach observed, 'that he could hit his receivers anywhere on the field.' He doesn't throw the ball away; he is willing to eat it if he can't find anyone open. He is big (6-1, 180), strong, accurate, ambitious, and a stern competitor.

Lee's parents married young- his father was 18, his mother 15- and he was born a year later. When he was six, his father came riding home one day on his bicycle with a football under his arm, and Lee was hooked. For two years they worked out around the house, the young father and the young son. Then his dad went into the navy. When he came out, he was 29 and Lee was ten, old enough by now to take instruction in football fundamentals, like signal-calling and blocking. But mostly Lee learned how to throw the ball. Instead of practicing by throwing to an old tire hung to a wall, the traditional method, he would throw at a moving target? Who was the target? Grosscup senior, naturally. 'Dad was in good shape,' Lee explains. 'He still is. He's only 40 now and we play volleyball together, in doubles games, and we do pretty well.'

Lee went to Santa Monica High School, where both Ronnie Knox and Jackie Douglas, later a couple of hotshot passers in the Pacific Coast Conference, were ahead of him. Lee did well in football, earned the usual share of college bids, and settled on the University of Washington. He had a good freshman season there, but that was the year Washington was rapped for its zeal in acquiring athletes, and the players were punished for the recruiters' crimes. Ineligible to play there and unable to transfer to another PCC school because of a special double transfer rule that would have forced him to sit out two seasons, Lee went to Santa Monica Junior College to escape the storm for a while. There he broke his leg as a result of a three-way gang-up. An end, a tackle and a shooting linebacker landed on him simultaneously, and the break kept him on the shelf for three months. It wasn't until a year ago that the leg healed completely.

Unable to get back into the PCC after his one year at Santa Monica, Lee went shopping and found that the Skyline Conference had a lenient transfer rule. He chose Utah because Jack Curtice, the coach there last season is pass-minded and Lee figured, rightly, that he would have a showcase for his good right arm. In the first game of the season, he broke a rib in the first quarter and fared poorly with his passing. It appeared that his jinx hadn't left him. But the next week against tough Colorado, he was better again and began his aerial assault on the record books. Against Colorado State, in a fierce snowstorm, he completed 12 of 13 passes. Afterward, Colorado State coach Tuffy Mullinson said: 'I've never seen anything like it. How in the world can a boy throw the ball like that on such a miserable field?' And Red Blaik after Lee had completed 14 of 28  passes against Army said: 'He is the best passer in college ball today. He could make any pro team in the country.'

This year, with Curtice moving on to Stanford and Ray Nagel, who learned his football under Ray Sanders, taking over as coach, Utah has switched to a split-T offense, which requires the quarterback to run more, block more, handle the ball more and take more punishment. 'I am happy for the chance,' Grosscup says. 'People thought I was a passing specialist last year. They will have more respect for me if I can do the job in the split-T.'

His job is to continue the work that brought unexpected prestige to the often-ignored Skyline Conference, success to Utah and the scouts to his door. Bambi- a logical nickname because of his spindly legs- will not have the supporting cast he had last year. Star halfback Stuart Vaughan, the nation's leading pass-receiver with 53 catches, and Merrill Douglas, the Skyline's best running back, are gone. But Nagel, hopeful as all new coaches are, says Lee will still have a great season. And he probably will."

-Sport Magazine, November 1958

"Backing up Charlie Conerly and George Shaw at quarterback is Lee Grosscup (11). This young man from Utah is a rookie in name only. The Giants' No. 1 draft choice in 1959, he was on the 'taxi squad' last year. A brilliant passer and clever ball handler, he'll be heard from. As a collegian, he completed 20 passes against Army in 1957."

-1960 New York Giants Official Program (Yankee Stadium)

"Maybe this is the year that quarterback Lee Grosscup 'comes of age.' Selected as the top draft choice in '59, he was carried on the practice squad, not seeing action until last year when he completed 11 passes for 144 yards. He is cool and confident, and throws a sharp pass for great distance"

-1961 Pro Football Handbook