A graduate of New Mexico State in 1961, Charley Johnson was a 10th round pick of the St Louis Cardinals as well the 8th pick of the the Chargers of the AFL. He signed with St. Louis as by 1962 was their starting quarterback. Made the Pro Bowl in 1963 after leading the NFL with 3045 passing yards.Â
Charley Johnson remained in St. Louis until 1969 and joined Houston for 3 seasons before spending the final 3 years of his career with Denver. In 1973 he led the Broncos to a 7-5-2 record, the first ever winning season in Denver’s history.
During his 15-year career he started 124 games, passed for 24410 yards and 170 touchdowns. One his best known accomplishments during his time in the NFL is the Saints and Cardinals game of 1969 where he and Saints quarterback Billy Kilmer each threw 6 touchdown passes.
Image Gallery of Charley Johnson, Quarterback 1961 to 1975
Charley Johnson Football Cards
Charley Johnson Lifetime Career Statistics
| Year | Age | Team | Pos | # | Games | QBrec | Comp | Att | Cmp% | Yards | TD | Int | Long | Y/A | Rate | Sacked | Yards Lost | 4QC | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 23 | STL | QB | 12 | 4 | 5 | 13 | 38.5 | 51 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 3.9 | 10.9 | 1 | 10 | |||
| 1962 | 24 | STL | QB | 12 | 11 | 3-6-1 | 150 | 308 | 48.7 | 2440 | 16 | 20 | 86 | 7.9 | 65.9 | 17 | 184 | 1 | 0 |
| 1963* | 25 | STL | QB | 12 | 14 | 9-5-0 | 222 | 423♦ | 52.5 | 3280 | 28 | 21 | 78 | 7.8 | 79.5 | 40 | 372 | 2 | 3 |
| 1964 | 26 | STL | QB | 12 | 14 | 9-3-2 | 223♦ | 420♦ | 53.1 | 3045♦ | 21 | 24♦ | 78 | 7.3 | 69.4 | 37 | 298 | 2 | 2 |
| 1965 | 27 | STL | QB | 12 | 11 | 5-6-0 | 155 | 322 | 48.1 | 2439 | 18 | 15 | 78 | 7.6 | 73.0 | 20 | 184 | 1 | 1 |
| 1966 | 28 | STL | QB | 12 | 9 | 7-1-1 | 103 | 205 | 50.2 | 1334 | 10 | 11 | 69 | 6.5 | 65.0 | 18 | 170 | 4♦ | 4♦ |
| 1967 | 29 | STL | QB | 12 | 5 | 12 | 29 | 41.4 | 162 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 5.6 | 31.8 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 1968 | 30 | STL | QB | 12 | 7 | 1-1-0 | 29 | 67 | 43.3 | 330 | 1 | 1 | 30 | 4.9 | 57.4 | 7 | 64 | 2♦ | 2 |
| 1969 | 31 | STL | QB | 12 | 12 | 2-6-1 | 131 | 260 | 50.4 | 1847 | 13 | 13 | 84 | 7.1 | 69.5 | 11 | 101 | 1 | 0 |
| 1970 | 32 | HOU | QB | 12 | 10 | 3-7-0 | 144 | 281 | 51.2 | 1652 | 7 | 12 | 63 | 5.9 | 59.8 | 15 | 124 | 1 | 1 |
| 1971 | 33 | HOU | QB | 12 | 14 | 0-4-0 | 46 | 94 | 48.9 | 592 | 3 | 7 | 70 | 6.3 | 48.7 | 8 | 61 | 1 | 0 |
| 1972 | 34 | DEN | QB | 12 | 12 | 4-5-0 | 132 | 238 | 55.5 | 1783 | 14 | 14 | 60 | 7.5 | 74.6 | 12 | 82 | 1 | 1 |
| 1973 | 35 | DEN | QB | 12 | 14 | 7-5-2 | 184 | 346 | 53.2 | 2465 | 20 | 17 | 62 | 7.1 | 74.9 | 26 | 177 | 2 | 2 |
| 1974 | 36 | DEN | QB | 12 | 14 | 6-5-1 | 136 | 244 | 55.7 | 1969 | 13 | 9 | 73 | 8.1♦ | 84.5 | 36 | 270 | ||
| 1975 | 37 | DEN | QB | 12 | 14 | 3-3-0 | 65 | 142 | 45.8 | 1021 | 5 | 12 | 90 | 7.2 | 46.7 | 10 | 79 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 seasons Cardinals | 87 | 1030 | 2047 | 50.3 | 14928 | 108 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 7.3 | 5.9 | 153 | 1393 | 7.0 | 12 | 58 | ||||
| 4 seasons Broncos | 54 | 517 | 970 | 53.3 | 7238 | 52 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 7.5 | 6.1 | 84 | 608 | 8.0 | 4 | 35 | ||||
| 2 seasons Oilers | 24 | 190 | 375 | 50.7 | 2244 | 10 | 2.7 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 23 | 185 | 5.8 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| 15 Year NFL Career | 165 | 1737 | 3392 | 51.2 | 24410 | 170 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 7.2 | 5.8 | 260 | 2186 | 7.1 | 17 | 100 | ||||
- * – Pro Bowl Selection
