Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack " Norm " Van Brocklin ( March 15 , 1926 – May 2 , 1983 ) , nicknamed " The Dutchman " , was an American football quarterback , punter , and coach in the National Football League . Van Brocklin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971 . Early life . Van Brocklin was born in Parade , Dewey County , South Dakota , to Mack and Ethel Van Brocklin and grew up in Walnut Creek , California . He played high school football at Acalanes High School in Lafayette , California . Van Brocklin served in the United States Navy from 1943 through 1945 . College career . Van Brocklin led the Oregon Ducks to a 16 - 5 record as a starter , including tying with Cal for the 1948 title of the Pacific Coast Conference , forerunner of the Pac - 10 . Oregon did not go to the Rose Bowl , however , because Cal was voted by the other schools to represent the PCC in the game . Among the Cal voters was the University of Washington , which elevated the intensity of the Oregon - Washington rivalry . Oregon received an invitation to play SMU in the 1949 Cotton Bowl Classic , which they accepted . It was the first time that a Pacific Coast team played in a major bowl game other than the Rose Bowl . SMU won 20 – 13 . That season , Van Brocklin was honored with an All - America selection and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting . Coincidentally , the Heisman Trophy winner that year was SMU running back Doak Walker . Both Walker and Van Brocklin got Outstanding Player recognition for their performance in the Cotton Bowl Classic . Van Brocklin left Oregon for the NFL with one remaining year of college eligibility . At that time , a player was not allowed to join the NFL until four years after graduating from high school . Though he had only been at the University of Oregon for three years , he was eligible due to his time in the Navy during World War II . Professional playing career . Van Brocklin was drafted in the fourth round ( 37th overall ) of the 1949 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams . He joined a team that already had a star quarterback , Bob Waterfield . Beginning in 1950 , new Rams coach Joe Stydahar solved his problem by platooning Waterfield and Van Brocklin . The 1950 Rams scored an ( at that time ) NFL record 466 points ( 38 . 8 per game - which is still a record ) with a high octane passing attack featuring Tom Fears and Elroy " Crazy Legs " Hirsch . Fears led the league and set a new NFL record with 84 receptions . Van Brocklin and Waterfield finished 1 - 2 in passer rating as well . They were defeated by the Cleveland Browns in the 1950 title game , 30 - 28 . In 1951 , Van Brocklin and Waterfield again split quarterbacking duties and the Rams again won the West . That year , Hirsch set an NFL record with 1 , 495 receiving yards and tied Don Hutson ' s record of 17 touchdown receptions . This time , the Rams won the title rematch against Cleveland , 24 - 17 . Waterfield ( 9 - 24 , 125 yards ) took most of the snaps , but Van Brocklin ( 4 - 6 , 128 yards ) threw the game winner of 73 yards to Fears . This was the last Rams championship until 1999 . Also in 1951 , on September 28 , Van Brocklin threw for 554 yards , breaking Johnny Lujack ' s single - game record of 468 , a mark that still stands more than 60 years later . From 1952 to 1957 , Van Brocklin continued to quarterback the Rams , leading them to the title game again in 1955 . In that game , the Browns defeated the Rams 38 - 14 while Van Brocklin threw six interceptions . In 1958 , Van Brocklin joined the Philadelphia Eagles under famed head coach , Buck Shaw . Shaw gave Van Brocklin total control of the Eagle offense . Steadily , Van Brocklin improved the Eagles ' attack . In the 1960 NFL Championship Game , throwing to his favorite receiver , 5 ' 9 " , 176 pound Tommy McDonald , Van Brocklin quarterbacked the Eagles to victory against the Green Bay Packers . In a game dominated by defense , he led a fourth quarter comeback resulting in a final score of 17 - 13 . During his twelve - year career , Van Brocklin played on two championship teams in the National Football League : the 1951 Los Angeles Rams and the 1960 Philadelphia Eagles . Following the latter triumph , he retired . As it turned out , his Eagles team would be the only team to defeat the Packers in a playoff game during Vince Lombardi ' s tenure as Green Bay ' s head coach . Van Brocklin led the NFL in passing three times and in punting twice . On nine occasions , he was selected to the Pro Bowl . Coaching career . Van Brocklin cut his ties with the Eagles after his belief that the team had reneged on an agreement to name him head coach to replace the retiring Buck Shaw . On January 18 , 1961 , he accepted the head coaching position for the expansion Minnesota Vikings and over the next six years Van Brocklin compiled a record of 29 - 51 - 4 . The tenure was highlighted by his contentious relationship with quarterback Fran Tarkenton . Van Brocklin was displeased with Tarkenton ' s penchant for scrambling , preferring that he stay in the pocket . The feud culminated with Van Brocklin ' s resignation on February 11 , 1967 . Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants shortly after Van Brocklin ' s departure , but was reacquired by Van Brocklin ' s successor , Bud Grant , in 1972 . During his first year off the field in over two decades , Van Brocklin served as a commentator on 1967 NFL broadcasts for CBS . On October 1 , 1968 , he took over as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons , replacing Norb Hecker , who had started the season with three defeats , extending the team losing streak to ten games . Over the next seven seasons , Van Brocklin had mixed results , putting together a 37 - 49 - 3 mark . He led the team to its first winning season in 1971 with a 7 - 6 - 1 record , then challenged for a playoff spot two years later with a 9 - 5 mark . However , after winning just two of his first eight games in 1974 , he was fired . Final years . Following his dismissal , Van Brocklin returned to his pecan farm in Social Circle , Georgia . His only connections to football during this era were as a running backs coach for Georgia Tech in 1979 , and as a college football broadcaster . Van Brocklin suffered a number of illnesses , including a brain tumor . After it was removed , he told the press , " It was a brain transplant . They gave me a sportswriter ' s brain , to make sure I got one that hadn ' t been used . " He died on May 2 , 1983 , the day after suffering a stroke . Van Brocklin was posthumously elected to the University of Oregon Athletics Hall of Fame in 1992 .