Sonny Jurgensen, the Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback known as one of the game’s greatest pure passers during his 18 NFL seasons, died in Naples, Fla., on Friday morning, after a brief stay in hospice care. He was 91.
Jurgensen spent 11 seasons with Washington’s NFL franchise after playing his first seven with the Philadelphia Eagles. He won an NFL championship with Philadelphia, and during his career earned four All-Pro honors (including two first team), five Pro Bowl selections and a spot on the NFL’s 1960s All-Decade Team.
After his retirement in 1975, he spent decades as part of the Washington radio broadcast team, providing analysis during some of the franchise’s greatest moments in the 1980s and ’90s. Jurgensen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
“It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our husband, father and grandfather, Sonny Jurgensen,” the Jurgensen family said in a statement Friday. “We 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.”
Jurgensen, whose No. 9 jersey was retired by the Commanders in the 2022 season, led the league in passing yards five times (in 1961, ’62, ’66, ’67 and ’69), passing touchdowns twice and passer rating once. He remains second in franchise history in both passing yards and passing touchdowns.
“Sonny Jurgensen is, and always will be, one of the defining legends of Washington football,” Commanders owner Josh Harris said in a statement. “He was a brilliant leader, Hall of Fame quarterback, and had one of the best arms the game has ever seen. After his career on the field, Sonny’s voice became a fixture of Washington Sundays for decades, shaping the way generations of fans experienced the game.”
A Wilmington, N.C., native who played football at Duke, Jurgensen was selected by the Eagles in the 1957 NFL Draft and spent his early years in Philadelphia as its backup quarterback, helping the team to the 1960 NFL Championship over the Green Bay Packers. Jurgensen took over the starting job the following season and passed for a then-record 3,723 yards, plus 32 touchdowns, tying Johnny Unitas’ single-season record. It wasn’t until 2017 that Carson Wentz finally broke the franchise mark with 33 passing touchdowns.
The Redskins pulled off a stunner on April 1, 1964, when they traded for Jurgensen in exchange for Norm Snead and Claude Crabb. Jurgensen promptly earned a second-team All-Pro nod as well as a Pro Bowl selection after his first season in Washington.
Over his 11 seasons in Washington, Jurgensen became a beloved figure, both for record-setting performances and his fun-loving demeanor.
Harris lauded Jurgensen as “the embodiment of what it means to don the Burgundy and Gold: tough, smart and endlessly devoted to this franchise and its fans,” and described him as “a giant of the game.”
Joe Theisman, who was a rookie quarterback during Jurgensen’s final season with the Redskins, remembered one unforgettable conversation he had with the legend.
“I was always amazed at his ability to throw the ball with such touch and accuracy,” Theismann recounted on Friday. “The three of us on the team, Sonny could throw the ball so beautifully, Billy (Kilmer) was as tough a competitor as will ever put on a football uniform. I was the kid that ran around a lot. But I remember asking Sonny one day — I was gonna ask the ‘Guru of Pass,’ as I put it — I said, ‘Sonny, how do you throw a ball so beautifully?’ I mean, he would step to the left, and it would be like a three-quarter sidearm, and that ball would just float through the air. It was majestic, really.
“He said, ‘Well, Joe. You know, I grab the football, I put my hands on the laces. I take my arm back, and I let it go.’”
Sonny Jurgensen set a host of passing records during his prolific NFL career (Herb Weitman / USA Today via Imagn Images)
Jurgensen starred in numerous memorable moments for the franchise and was an entertainer at heart, throwing long, short, behind the back and at the last second, before a vicious pass rush barreled his way.
“All I ask of my blockers is four seconds,” the veteran quarterback once explained. “I try to stay on my feet and not be forced out of the pocket. … I beat people by throwing, not running. I won’t let them intimidate me into doing something which is not the best thing I can do.”
In 1965, he mounted a comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys, throwing for 411 yards to guide Washington to a 34-31 victory.
In 1968, he threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Allen that tied a league record for the longest pass play in league history.
When Vince Lombardi took over as Washington’s head coach in 1969, Jurgensen led the league in pass attempts (442), completions (274) and passing yards (3,102) while leading the team to its best record (7-5-2) in nearly 15 years.
Said Lombardi: “Jurgensen is a great quarterback. He hangs in there under adverse conditions. He may be the best the league has ever seen. He is the best I have seen.”
When Kilmer joined the team in 1971, the two became both competitors — bumper stickers declaring allegiance to one of the two QBs showed up throughout the Washington area — and lifelong friends. Kilmer sat with Jurgensen in a box suite during his final trip to what is now Northwest Stadium in Landover for his jersey retirement ceremony in January 2023, during the team’s Week 18 loss to the Cowboys.
Sonny Jurgensen, with former Washington safety Ken Houston in 2015, was a fixture at Washington games for decades. (Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
After his retirement, Jurgensen became a D.C. media staple, eventually forming a radio trio with play-by-play announcer Frank Herzog and former linebacker Sam Huff. “Frank, Sonny and Sam” provided the soundtrack for four Super Bowl trips and three Super Bowl wins, and the broadcasters were closely linked with the best years in franchise history. Jurgensen stepped away from broadcasting in 2019, having spent nearly four decades covering the team.
“Few players could rival Sonny Jurgensen’s genuine love of the game that continued long after his playing days,” Hall of Fame president Jim Porter said in a statement. “Whether he was standing tall in the face of an opposing lineman as a quarterback for the Eagles and Redskins for 18 seasons or later as a beloved broadcaster in Washington for several more decades, Sonny captivated audiences and introduced generations of fans to the sport. Watching Sonny throw a football was like watching a master craftsman create a work of art.”
The Hall’s flag outside of its museum in Canton, Ohio, will be flown at half-staff in Jurgensen’s honor.
Jurgensen is survived by his wife Margo and sons Greg, Scott, Erik and Gunnar. He is predeceased by his sister Betty Moscoso, who passed away exactly two years ago.