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A detail of the PGA Tour Champions logo during the first round of the Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Golf Club on May 4, 2024.<\/p>\n
John Brodie, a PGA Tour Champions winner<\/a> who also enjoyed a distinguished career as an NFL<\/a> quarterback, died Thursday at the age of 90. Brodie\u2019s death was announced<\/a> by the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>, the team he spent his entire professional football career<\/a> with before transitioning into golf<\/a> later in life.<\/p>\n While Brodie is best known nationally for his accomplishments in football<\/a>, his success in golf earned him a unique place in sports history. He remains one of the few athletes to compete, and win, at the professional level in two different major sports.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a great guy, a super competitor, I don\u2019t care what it was: football, cards, golf,\u201d Jerry Mertens, former 49ers cornerback (1958-65), said. \u201cHe was a great player, and he enjoyed all the things that were competitive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe guy just did it all, and he was a great leader, there\u2019s no question about that.\u201d<\/p>\n A Competitive Golf Career After Football<\/p>\n Brodie\u2019s golf career gained national attention<\/a> after his retirement from the NFL in 1973. A lifelong golfer, he turned his focus to competitive play and eventually earned a spot on what is now known as PGA Tour Champions<\/a>, the senior circuit for professional golfers.<\/p>\n His greatest achievement in the sport came in 1991, when he won the Security Pacific Senior Classic<\/a> at age 56. Brodie entered a playoff round with Chi Chi Rodriguez and George Archer, and won with a birdie on the first hole.<\/p>\n It made him one of the rare former NFL players to win a sanctioned PGA Tour event.<\/p>\n \u201cEmotion is something that I can\u2019t call back on and get the same feeling,\u201d Brodie said after his win in 1991. \u201cI feel just as good as I can possibly feel right now. I can\u2019t think of anything else right now that would make me feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond his lone victory, Brodie remained competitive on the Champions Tour for several seasons, recording multiple strong finishes<\/a> and earning respect among his peers for his preparation and understanding of the game.<\/p>\n Golf Was Always Part of His Athletic Identity<\/p>\n Golf was not simply something Brodie picked up after football<\/a>. He played the game throughout his life. According to Golfweek, \u201che\u2019d been introduced to the game by his father, Aloysius Brodie, and learned the game by caddying at Lake Chabot and Claremont Country Club, along with participating in youth events at local links such as Lincoln Park in San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n While still an active NFL quarterback, he regularly tested his game during the league\u2019s offseason, competing on the PGA Tour between 1959 and 1961. Balancing football preparation with tournament golf was uncommon even then, yet Brodie viewed both pursuits as complementary rather than conflicting. During those years, he frequently traveled alongside Tony Lema<\/a>, another Northern California native who would later claim the 1964 British Open<\/a> before his life was tragically cut short<\/a> at 32 in a plane crash.<\/p>\n Brodie\u2019s willingness to compete in major championships<\/a> underscored how seriously he took the game. He qualified for the U.S. Open twice, first in 1959 and again in 1981, creating a 22-year gap between appearances that remains one of the longest in tournament history. While he did not advance past the cut in either appearance, simply earning a place in the field decades apart highlighted both his longevity and his commitment to elite competition.<\/p>\n Brodie also played during his years at Stanford University, where he competed in two NCAA Championships, and\u00a0received two varsity letters for golf (three for football). His calm demeanor, rhythm, and decision-making were traits that translated naturally from quarterbacking to the golf course<\/a>.<\/p>\n Golf achievements continued to follow Brodie even during the peak of his football career. In 1970, he teamed with Bob Rosburg<\/a> to win the Crosby Pro-Am, shooting under par on his own ball over four rounds. Years later, his contributions to the sport were recognized when the California Golf Writers Association<\/a> presented him with the Jack Lemmon Ambassador of Golf Award<\/a> at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. His standing within the golf community<\/a> was further validated in 2023, when he was inducted into the Northern California Golf Association Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n After retiring from the NFL in 1973, Brodie spent more than a decade as a lead analyst at NBC Sports<\/a>, and \u201cwas one of the earliest color commentators for televised golf,\u201d according to Golfweek<\/a>. When he turned 50, Brodie made a decisive career shift, stepping away from television to pursue professional golf full-time. From 1985 through 1998, he competed on the PGA Senior Tour, recording one victory, 12 top-10 finishes, and earning $735,000, completing a rare professional arc that bridged two sports over nearly four decades.<\/p>\n A Football Career That Defined an Era<\/p>\n Before his golf success, Brodie built a Hall of Fame-caliber football resume<\/a>. Drafted third overall in 1957, he spent his entire NFL career with the 49ers and became the franchise\u2019s all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns by the time he retired.<\/p>\n