Former Raiders quarterback and kicker George Blanda played for an...

Former Raiders quarterback and kicker George Blanda played for an NFL record 26 seasons. Credit: AP

George Blanda, a Pro Football Hall of Famer who played 26 seasons and scored more than 2,000 points with the Raiders, Bears, Baltimore Colts and Houston Oilers, died Monday after a brief illness. He was 83.

Blanda played until he was 48 years old, compiling 2,002 points as a quarterback and kicker. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981.

Blanda was the NFL Player of the Year in 1970, as he led a string of last-minute Oakland wins with either touchdown passes or field goals, prompting Raiders owner Al Davis to call him "the greatest clutch player the game of pro football has ever known."

Late in his career, Blanda became known as the Ageless Wonder. He was the oldest player in NFL history.

"Our heart goes out to his wife Betty and the Blanda family, and we grieve with them for our great friend," the Raiders said Monday in a statement.

After playing under legendary coach Bear Bryant at the University of Kentucky, Blanda played 10 seasons for the Bears under team owner and head coach George Halas. Blanda helped the Bears to the NFL title game in 1956. He retired after the 1958 season over a financial dispute and complaints of playing time, but was persuaded to return in 1960 with the AFL's Oilers. As a quarterback and kicker, he helped the Oilers to the first two AFL titles in 1960 and 1961.

"I signed with Houston because I knew Bud Adams [the team owner] had a lot of money," Blanda said.

Davis acquired Blanda for the waiver price of $100 in 1967, when Blanda was 39. He wound up playing nine seasons in the Bay Area, often spectacularly, as a kicker and backup quarterback to Daryle Lamonica.

Blanda's most memorable season in Oakland was 1970, when in a five-game stretch he won four games and tied another with his arm and/or foot, a feat that led to his being named AFC Player of the Year.

"Al Davis always liked my attitude, and my time with the Raiders was special, because it looked like my career was over," the always-blunt Blanda said. "Instead, I played another nine years, which by itself was more than twice the average playing career."

When he retired after the 1975 season, he had scored 2,002 points, a record that stood until kicker Gary Anderson broke it during the 2000 season. He also set marks for most career field-goal attempts (637), and most PATs made and attempted (943 of 959).

His 340-game career was the longest in league history, and his 26 years of service were five seasons longer than for any other player.After retirement, Blanda gave motivational speeches to corporate groups, played incelebrity golf events (he was a 7-handicap) and followed another favorite sport, horse racing.

He and his wife, Betty, split time between Chicago and LaQuinta, near Palm Springs, Calif.

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