Legacy thumb|Unitas jersey exhibited at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Unitas held the record for most Pro Bowl appearances (10) by a quarterback until Brett Favre broke his record in 2009. Unitas set the original standard for most wins as a starting quarterback with 118 regular season victories (since surpassed by multiple quarterbacks). Unitas was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Laid the foundation for the modern two-minute drill. Unitas is 11th in all-time number of regular season games won by an NFL starting quarterback with 118 wins. Unitas is 16th in all-time percentage of regular season games won by an NFL starting quarterback with a percentage of 64.5. United was inducted into the American Football Association Semi Pro Hall of Fame in 1987. Unitas's no. 16 is the first number retired by the football program at the University of Louisville. Unitas Tower, a dormitory at the University of Louisville, is named for Johnny Unitas. The Johnny Unitas Football Museum is in the Cardinal Football Complex at Louisville. A statue of Unitas sits in the north end zone of Cardinal Stadium at the University of Louisville. It is a tradition for each Cardinal player to touch the statue as he enters the field. Since 1987, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award has been awarded to the top senior quarterback of the current year in college football. The award is presented annually in Louisville. Among the winners was University of Tennessee, and future Colt, quarterback Peyton Manning. In 1999, he was ranked No. 5 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, behind only Joe Montana among quarterbacks. In 2004, The Sporting News ranked Unitas No. 1 among the NFL's 50 Greatest Quarterbacks, with Joe Montana at No. 2. In 1999, ESPN's Sportscentury: 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century ranked Unitas No. 32. Just before his death, Johnny Unitas became the community liaison for athletics in Towson, Maryland. The football stadium at Towson University was renamed Johnny Unitas Stadium in 2002. Unitas died less than a week after throwing his last pass in the grand opening of the stadium. Set the record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass at 47 games. This record was surpassed by Drew Brees in 2012.Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas' TD pass record Retrieved October 20, 2012. Set the record for consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes at 12 games. This record was surpassed by Don Meredith, Peyton Manning (twice), Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, and Patrick Mahomes. Set the record for most consecutive games with at least a 120 passer rating (4); this record was later matched by Kurt Warner. For the game following his death, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning asked to wear a pair of black cleats as a tribute to Johnny's signature black boots. The league denied his request and threatened Manning with a US$25,000 fine; Manning decided not to wear them. Despite the threatened fine, Chris Redman, a Louisville alum like Unitas, and then quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, decided to pay homage by wearing the signature cleats during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Manning later said he regretted not doing it, and that every quarterback in the league should have done it that day to honor Unitas. In 2013, a movie project was announced by The Baltimore Sun called Unitas We Stand, which will feature Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco as Unitas during the 1958 NFL Championship. 19th Street in Ocean City, Maryland, is named "Johnny Unitas Way" in his honor. Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University in Towson, Maryland, home of the Towson Tigers football and Towson Tigers men's lacrosse teams is named in his honor. Unitas was posthumously inducted into the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame on August 24, 2013. Readers of NFL.com voted Unitas the Greatest Quarterback of All Time in 2014. Unitas scored 72 percent of the vote over Joe Montana, after the two quarterbacks were the final ones remaining out of a bracket of players over the history of the NFL. There is an historical marker dedicated to Unitas in Pittsburgh. In 1999, HBO and NFL Films produced a documentary, Unitas, about Unitas, his life, career and impact, and his relationship to Baltimore, narrated by actor Liev Schreiber, including interviews with Unitas, Jim Brown, Frank Deford, and Raymond Berry, among others. Unitas was featured twice on The Simpsons, first in the episode "Homie the Clown", in which Unitas (voiced by himself) encourages the usage of the Krusty Moustache Removal System in a non-stop infomercial. In "Mother Simpson", Homer's father admires Unitas' short hair in contrast to Joe Namath's controversial sideburns, calling it "a haircut you could set your watch to". Unitas played the head coach of the Dallas Knights in Oliver Stone’s 1999 film Any Given Sunday. Unitas is referenced in the 1991 movie Point Break. One of the characters in the movie said "They got me babysitting some quarterback punk, named Johnny Unitas or something", when they get a new partner. Unitas is referenced in a 1992 episode of the Nickelodeon television show The Adventures of Pete & Pete titled "Space, Geeks and Johnny Unitas." Unitas played himself in the 1976 Disney movie, Gus.
Legacy thumb|Unitas jersey exhibited at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Unitas held the record for most Pro Bowl appearances (10) by a quarterback until Brett Favre broke his record in 2009. Unitas set the original standard for most wins as a starting quarterback with 118 regular season victories (since surpassed by multiple quarterbacks). Unitas was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Laid the foundation for the modern two-minute drill. Unitas is 11th in all-time number of regular season games won by an NFL starting quarterback with 118 wins. Unitas is 16th in all-time percentage of regular season gam,es won by an NFL starting quarterback with a percentage of 64.5. United was inducted into the American Football Association Semi Pro Hall of Fame in 1987. Unitas's no. 16 is the first number retired by the football program at the University of Louisville. Unitas Tower, a dormitory at the University of Louisville is named for Johnny Unitas. The Johnny Unitas Football Museum is in the Cardinal Football Complex at Louisville A statue of Unitas sits in the north end zone of Cardinal Stadium at the University of Louisville. It is a tradition for each Cardinal player to touch the statue as he enters the field. Since 1987, the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award has been awarded to the top senior quarterback of the current year in college football. The award is presented annually in Louisville. Among the winners was University of Tennessee, and future Colt, quarterback Peyton Manning. In 1999, he was ranked No. 5 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, behind only Joe Montana among quarterbacks. In 2004, The Sporting News ranked Unitas No. 1 among the NFL's 50 Greatest Quarterbacks, with Joe Montana at No. 2. In 1999, ESPN's Sportscentury: 50 Greatest Athletes of the 20th Century ranked Unitas No. 32. Just before his death, Johnny Unitas became the community liaison for athletics in Towson, Maryland. The football stadium at Towson University was renamed Johnny Unitas Stadium in 2002. Unitas died less than a week after throwing his last pass in the gran,d opening of the stadium. Set the record for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass at 47 games. This record was surpassed by Drew Brees in 2012.Drew Brees breaks Johnny Unitas' TD pass record Retrieved October 20, 2012. Set the record for consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes at 12 games. This record was surpassed by Don Meredith, Peyton Manning (twice), Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, and Patrick Mahomes. Set the record for most consecutive games with at least a 120 passer rating (4); this record was later matched by Kurt Warner. For the game following his death, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning asked to wear a pair of black cleats as a tribute to Johnny's signature black boots. The league denied his request and threatened Manning with a US$25,000 fine; Manning decided not to wear them. Despite the threatened fine, Chris Redman, a Louisville alum like Unitas, and then quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, decided to pay homage by wearing the signature cleats during a game against .the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Manning later said he regretted not doing it, and that every quarterback in the league should have done it that day to honor Unitas. In 2013, a movie project was announced by The Baltimore Sun called Unitas We Stand, which will feature Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco as Unitas during the 1958 NFL Championship. 19th Street in Ocean City, Maryland, is named "Johnny Unitas Way" in his honor. Johnny Unitas Stadium on the campus of Towson University in Towson Maryland, home of the Towson Tigers football and Towson Tigers men's lacrosse teams is named in his honor. Unitas was posthumously inducted into the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame on August 24, 2013. Readers of NFL.com voted Unitas the Greatest Quarterback of All Time in 2014. Unitas scored 72 percent of the vote over Joe Montana, after the two quarterbacks were the final ones remaining out of a bracket of players over the history of the NFL. There is an historical marker dedicated to Unitas in Pittsburgh. In 1999, HBO and NFL Films produced a documentary, Unitas, about Unitas, his life, career and impact, and his relationship to Baltimore, narrated by actor Liev Schreiber, including interviews with Unitas, Jim Brown, Frank Deford, and Raymond Berry, among others. Unitas was featured twice on The Simpsons, first in the episode "Homie the Clown", in which Unitas (voiced by himself) encourages the usage of the Krusty Moustache Removal System in a non-stop infomercial. In "Mother Simpson", Homer's father admires Unitas' short hair in contrast to Joe Namath's controversial sideburns, calling it "a haircut you could set your watch to". Unitas played the head coach of the Dallas Knights in Oliver Stone’s 1999 film Any Given Sunday. Unitas is referenced in the 1991 movie Point Break. One of the characters in the movie said "They got me babysitting some quarterback punk, named Johnny Unitas or something", when they get a new partner. Unitas is referenced in a 1992 episode of the Nickelodeon television show The Adventures of Pete & Pete titled "Space, Geeks and Johnny Unitas." Unitas played himself in the 1976 Disney movie, Gus.