John Hadl was a local hero to Lawrenceville, Kansas, and he stayed close to home playing offense and defense for the Kansas Jayhawks from 1959-61.
He played multiple positions for the Jayhawks: HB, QB, P, and DB.
He set multiple records at the school and was elected as an NCAA All-American at both HB (’60) and QB (’61).
Hadl was selected by both the Lions of the NFL and the Chargers of the rival AFL in 1962.
John opted to play for the Chargers, and although he contributed to the franchise’s AFL Championship run, he was relegated primarily to splitting time or backing up Tobin Rote.
Took over the reins of the starting QB job in 1965 and led the AFL in passing yards (2798) and yards per attempt (8.0) while posting a 9-2 record.
In 1968, he led the league in a host of categories: Attempts (44), completions (208), yards (3473), TDs (27) and unfortunately interceptions- 32.
1971 saw another solid output for Hadl as he led the league in attempts (431), completions (233), yards (3075), and TDs (21).
After his swan song in 1972 when John led the NFL in interceptions (26) a second time, he’d be traded to the Rams in 1973.
Hadl had an outstanding season with the Rams leading the team to a 12-2 record as a starter, leading the team to the playoffs.
He threw 22 TDs on just 135 attempts, and his receivers went for 14.9 yards after the completion.
After 5 contests in 1974, Hadl was traded again- this time to the Packers.
The trade itself is considered one of the worst in NFL history, as the Pack gave up 5 picks to get him, including first and second round picks for the next two seasons.
Hadl struggled with the Packers mightily posting a 7-12 record over the next season and a half, throwing 15 TDs to 35 interceptions, while be sacked mercilessly 44 times.
In 1976 John joined the Houston Oilers, where he saw mop up duty behind starting QB Dan Pastorini.
Retiring after the 1977 season, John wanted to stay close to the sport.
He worked at his Alma Mater, Kansas from 1978-81 as a QB coach and as offensive coordinator, but was run out of town basically by the NCAA as they felt he was giving ‘improper benefits’ to potential recruits.
John then moved to the Rams in ’82 as an offensive assistant, before tutoring future NFL HOF QB John Elway in 1983 with the Broncos.
At his final stop he coached for the Express from 1984-85, posting a 13-23 record.
ACCOLADES:
College Football Hall of Fame
Pro Bowl 1972-73
All-Pro 1973
AFL All-Star 1964, 1965, 1968, 1969
Chargers Hall of Fame
NOTES:
I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to writing John’s bio, but it could’ve been for two reasons. First, John has a laundry list of accomplishments and accolades. One could even argue that he’s HOF worthy based on his AFL contributions. Second, it was rumored that in his final years, John was really struggling, and that perhaps his autograph was ghost signed. I did kick in 20 bucks to grease the wheels, so the hope is he actually signed these, but they look really.. fluid and not like a struggling octogenarian signed it.
John quickly became a set need based on a variety of factors that did come into play, but most importantly I loved his Topps and Upper Deck entries.
EPITAPH:
On November 30, 2022, John Hadl passed away at the age of 82. No cause of death was given.
It had been a long time since I wrote Shane, and he has so many set needs that I felt it was fine time to get him on a few more. I realized afterwards I missed on the Skybox 1993 card- which happens to have him as a member of the Rams. Conlan like many great pros before him, to me is iconic as a member of his primary team- the Buffalo Bills. Anything else just seems a bit forgetful or bizarre to me.
Upper Deck 1991, #153Topps 1989, #41
Still a few scattered Canton Acquisitions cards here and there. I was not a huge fan of any of these cards. Those cards being the Topps and Score issued cards. In these cards you can see the gap in his teeth where one of them is missing. It got knocked out in a high school game.
And here’s an Upper Deck card. Wow. How exciting. For priding themselves on being a leader of exciting sports photography on trading card canvases- that must have been an exciting phone call.
An all-around all star athlete at football, track and baseball for Wisconsin (1941-42), and Michigan (1943-44)
Served in the military from 1945-46.
Selected by the NFL Cleveland Rams in the 1945 NFL Draft, but opted not to play for them.
Signed with the Chicago Rockets of the AAFL, who were coached by his military service football coach.
Played both ways intially, also moonlighting as CB, recording 6 interceptions for 97 yards his rookie season.
After 4 ultimately frustrating seasons in the AAFL, finally joined the NFL in 1950, signing with the now Los Angeles Rams, who held his rights and shifted him to End.
In 1951 set multiple NFL receiving records at the time, in only a 12 game slate.
Incredible season had him lead NFL in 5 receiving categories, catching 66 passes for 1495 yards, (22.7 yards per reception), 17 TDs, a 91 yard long and 124.6 yards per game.
Became one of the first multimedia darlings, as he starred in the movie ‘Crazylegs’ in 1953 based on his life.
Appeared in two other movies of note, ‘Unchained’ (1955), and ‘Zero Hour’ (1957).
Retired in 1957, but not after basically owning all the Rams career receiving marks (at the time).
Returned to Rams in 1960 where he served as the franchise’s GM through the 69 season.
Then headed back to Wisconsin where he served as Athletic Director through 1987.
Passed away of natural causes in 2004.
ACCOLADES:
Pro Bowl 1951-53
All Pro 1951, 1953
Pro Football Hall of Fame 1968
Wisconsin Hall of Fame 1964
Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor 1984
NFL 1950s All-Decade Team
College Football Hall of Fame 1974
2001 Topps Archives, #29
NOTES:
When the pandemic struck, card prices began going through the roof. This was very true when it came to things like boxes of current product, so I turned my focus towards older cards. Since I was interested mainly in the hits, aka the autographs- I started focusing in on HOFers that I could possibly snipe out of the certified autograph market via EBay. The strategy worked better than I expected, and I was able to fill out quite a few needs at this level at an affordable price.
The first player I went after was Elroy Hirsch. I waited a few weeks and studied the prices and was able to nab this one at under the going rate. I was very happy to add his certified to the collection on his Legends entry. Later I picked up this Topps Archive autograph at a fraction of the cost.
I remember watching the archival footage of him slicing through opposing defenses with ease with his strange gait, and the NFL talking about what a legacy he had across a variety of media. I had always wanted to get Crazylegs certified autograph, but thought that he would be completely out of reach.
Elroy also was ahead of his time in his receiving style, as during that period it was still unheard of for players to catch the ball over their shoulder or in stride running down the field.
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
387
7029
18.2
60
91t
FUM
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
7
15
251
16.7
0
32
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
