Dan Fouts Is 190 Yards Away From Passing His Idol, Johnny Unitas

SAN DIEGO —  Dan Fouts owns seven National Football League records and is approaching yet another. This one, though, makes him uneasy because it displaces his boyhood idol--Johnny Unitas.

“I’m a little embarrassed at the thought of breaking his record,” the San Diego Charger quarterback said.

Fouts can overtake Unitas today as the second-most prolific passer in NFL history with a 190-yard passing day against Seattle.

Unitas has 40,239 yards; Fouts has 40,050. Fran Tarkenton is the all-time leader with 47,003 yards.

“I’m honored to even be mentioned in the same sentence with Johnny Unitas,” Fouts said, “but I still feel I’ve got no business being there. In my mind, he’s the greatest and I don’t want to diminish anything he’s ever done.”

Fouts has been a Unitas fan since his childhood days in San Francisco. A former ballboy for the 49ers, Fouts relished watching San Francisco take on Unitas and his Baltimore Colts.

“He was my idol,” Fouts said. “At that time, he was in his heyday. I still consider him the finest quarterback that ever played. I just really thought when he was out there, there was no one better.”

Little did he know he would play alongside Unitas one day. They were teammates in 1973, when Unitas was an aging superstar and Fouts’ career was just starting.

The Chargers drafted Fouts out of the University of Oregon that year and revived Unitas’ career. At the time, Unitas was 40 and out of football after 17 seasons with the Colts.

Fouts was on the sidelines when Unitas became the first player to surpass 40,000 yards in the second game of the ’73 season. But Unitas suffered a career-ending shoulder injury a short time later.

“He helped me quite a bit, but he wasn’t around long enough to help me as much as I needed help,” Fouts said. “He tore his shoulder up and was gone before the season was over.”

But Fouts, now 35, carried on as the gallant leader of “Air Coryell.”

Bill Walsh, the Chargers’ quarterback coach in 1977, laid the groundwork for Fouts’ emergence. Then Don Coryell arrived in 1978 and built an offense around Fouts that led the league in passing seven of the last eight years.

“Bill Walsh really got me into the position to be an effective quarterback,” said Fouts, a six-time All-Pro. “But when Don came here, it was bombs away. It was just a dream come true for any quarterback to play for him.”

Walsh is long gone, now with the 49ers. Gone, too, is the Chargers’ stylish offense, which unraveled this year during an eight-game losing streak and Coryell’s resignation.

Through his first seven games, Fouts threw 19 interceptions and completed roughly 50% of his throws, 9% below his pro average.

He missed four of the next five games because of a concussion and a shoulder problem, but he led the Chargers to consecutive victories the past two weeks.

“It’s been difficult. Things haven’t gone as well as we’d like,” Fouts said. “I was more disappointed in our record, really. My performance could have been better in a lot of ways, but the tough thing is having the injuries and then having coach resign, that was the tough thing.”