Christian ‘Sonny’ Jurgensen, the Hall of Fame quarterback who spent time with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington, has died at the age of 91, his family has announced.

Jurgensen played 18 years in the NFL between 1957 and 1974, leading the league in passing yards five times and touchdown passes twice. He was drafted by the Eagles out of Duke with the 43rd overall selection in the 1957 NFL Draft but, after only four starts as a rookie, didn’t start another game until the 1961 season. The presence of the legendary Norm Van Brocklin kept him on the bench, but the Dutchman retired after the Eagles won the NFL title in 1960, giving Jurgensen his shot the following season.

The Eagles went 10-4 under Jurgensen, who led the league with 235 completions, 3723 passing yards, and 32 touchdowns…along with 24 interceptions. But it would mark the only season during his time as a starter in which the Eagles won double-digit games, beginning with a 3-10-1 campaign in 1962, when Jurgensen again paced the league in yards and interceptions. Between 1962-63, the Birds went 4-15-2 in games Jurgensen started.

With the 1964 season looming, the Eagles sent Jurgensen to Washington in exchange for fellow quarterback Norm Snead and cornerback Claude Crabb. It marked a significant step in Jurgensen’s career, as he established himself as one of the league’s most productive passers despite the franchise’s middling success. In three different seasons (1966, 1967 and 1969), he led the league in pass attempts, completions and passing yards. He also threw a league-high 31 touchdowns in 1967.

But 1969 was perhaps the best season of his career as he led Washington to a 7-5-2 record in his first season under head coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi sadly died before the 1970 season, news that devastated Jurgensen, who called the legendary former Green Bay Packers coach the one he most enjoyed playing under. The 1970 season would mark his last as a full-time starter, and he led the league in completion percentage for the only time in his career, as he completed 59.9 percent of his 337 passes.

A true pocket passer, Jurgensen is regarded as one of the best pure throwers in NFL history. All told, he finished his career with 32,224 passing yards and 255 touchdowns, earning five Pro Bowl nods and one All-Pro selection along the way. Only Joe Theismann amassed more passing yards for Washington than Jurgensen’s 22,585, while only Sammy Baugh has thrown more touchdown passes for the team than his 179 scoring strikes. Jurgensen was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

Post playing career, Sonny switched to covering the team, and spent most of his time on the radio. Jurgensen covered the team for WRC-TV from 1994 until December 2008, and served as a game analyst at preseason games and as a studio analyst at training camp before retiring from broadcasting in 2019. His #9 jersey was retired in the 2022 season during a game against the Dallas Cowboys, the team he racked up more passing yards against than any other.

In a statement released by his family, they said that they “are enormously proud of his amazing life and accomplishments on the field, marked not only by a golden arm, but also a fearless spirit and intellect that earned him a place among the legends in Canton. But to those of us who knew him beyond the stadium lights, he was the steady, humorous, and deeply loving heart of our family.”.

The NFL has lost a true legend.

Image courtesy Washington Commanders