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The Austrian-born kicker came to the National Football League in 1972 (spending his first season with the New Orleans Saints) after playing soccer professionally for seven years in his home country, including six appearances with the Austrian national team.

Linhart overcame a relationship with Charm City fans that was at times frigid when he kicked a 31 yard field goal in a dense fog at Memorial Stadium in December 1975. After Bert Jones lead the Colts downfield, Linhart (who was described in that week’s Sports Illustrated as “having a history of the shanks”) connected on the kick to give the Colts a 10-7 overtime win over the Miami Dolphins. The win helped the Colts to a 10-4 record and an AFC East title, a season result that seemed very unlikely when the Colts started the season 1-4.

Linhart would go on to lead the NFL in scoring in 1976 and reached the Pro Bowl in both 1977 and 1978. He finished his career with the New York Jets in 1979.

Former Colts QB Marty Domres told the Baltimore Sun ”Toni was never flamboyant about his abilities.” He added about the man he once held kicks for “he was low-key and understated about everything. I doubt that a lot of people even think of him when it comes to Colts’ lore.”

Linhart lived in the Baltimore area in his final years and attended many Colts reunion events.

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The Super Bowl XLVII MVP is doing just fine, thank you. After silencing his critics (except for a handful of analysts who refuse to accept fact and continue to live in a world where continuing their narrative is more important than actually analyzing what happens on a football field) in a postseason run for the ages, Flacco signed what is still technically for the moment the richest contract in NFL history. Since then, the Ravens have made a series of personnel moves that have made it clear the quarterback isn’t just the future of the franchise but very much the present.

By no means is there anything other than the brightest rays of sunshine in Joe Flacco’s life.

This weekend brought a strange turn however, as the seemingly incredibly cool news that Flacco would shoot the football scenes of an upcoming Johnny Unitas biopic in the role of the Hall of Fame Baltimore Colts QB. The project, “Unitas We Stand” is being produced on a smaller budget by Joe Unitas, one of the sons of “Johnny U”, the screen play based on the book “Johnny U” by Tom Callahan.

My initial reaction to the news was something along the lines of “this is one of the neatest Baltimore things I’ve ever heard…ever.”

My personal reaction to the news hasn’t changed much since that first response, but the story took an ugly turn Sunday as other members of the Unitas family weighed in on the involvement of the Ravens’ signal caller.

J.C. Unitas, the grandson of Johnny Unitas and son of John Unitas Jr. said on Facebook “If you want a real movie, hire a real actor. My grandfather and his legacy deserves only the best, and this is not it. Has Baltimore forgotten that Trent Dilfer also won a Super Bowl while playing for Baltimore?”

Unitas Jr. described Flacco to USA Today as a “goofball”, adding “if you want a quarterback, go with Peyton Manning. My father was just like that. This is a joke.”

The quotes make public on a national scale what has been known on a much smaller scale for years; there is a major rift between the children of Baltimore’s greatest quarterback’s two wives. After the Hall of Famer’s death, his widow Sandra Unitas seized control of the marketing company representing his likeness from John Jr. John Jr. sued to regain control of the company and a divide was created in the relationship between the five children Unitas had from his first marriage (including John Jr.) and the three from his second marriage (including Joe).

John Unitas Jr. once told the Baltimore Sun “she is nothing to me” about Sandra Unitas. I can tell you (while choosing to avoid specifics because I don’t think they serve much of a purpose) that I have heard him use much worse terms to describe her in private conversations.

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Moreover, the greatest quarterback in Baltimore Ravens history is set to live up to the standards of the greatest quarterback in Baltimore football history.

Joe Flacco will always face comparisons to Hall of Fame Baltimore Colts QB Johnny Unitas as long as he plays in Charm City and it appears as though he is not at all afraid of the standard.

Flacco has agreed to play the role of Unitas in the “under the helmet” football scenes of the upcoming film project “Unitas We Stand.” The film is produced by Joe Unitas (the son of the legendary “Johnny U”) and is based on the book “Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas” by author Tom Callahan. Unitas and Ravens fan Nick Slatkin of Orange Bird Productions co-wrote the film.

The project’s website UnitasWeStand.com describes the film this way.

“Unitas We Stand” is obviously a passion project for Johnny Unitas’ son, Joe Unitas. Long before his father passed away, Joe recalls how his dad was approached on many occasions about making a movie about his life. His father’s humble response was always, “Who would want to go see that movie?” Our opinion: A lot of people will go to see this movie because it is the kind of story that resonates with the masses who tend to pull for the underdog who inspire them to succeed in their own lives. Sports films that tell the story of the underdog overcoming hardship and rising to the top have been extremely successful over the years. Academy Award winners like “Rocky” and “Raging Bull” are obvious but other films that didn’t win such as, “Hoosiers”, “Rudy”, “Remember the Titans” and most recently “The Blind Side”, are just a few examples of how these timeless stories attract big audiences.

Flacco’s agent Joe Linta told Unitas in an e-mail ”Flacco is excited and honored by the opportunity and looks forward to the role.”  Unitas added “Flacco is the perfect guy to play my dad in the action scenes of the 1958 Championship. He’s a Super Bowl MVP Quarterback in real life. No actor can play quarterback better than Joe Flacco.  This will be groundbreaking.”

Flacco has no prior acting experience (outside of commercials) but has plenty of football experience. In five years, the quarterback has lead the Ravens to nine playoff victories, including a 34-31 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII in January. Unitas lead the Baltimore Colts to two NFL Championships (1958 & 1959) in his first five seasons under center.

The filmmakers released this promotional picture to celebrate the announcement.

There is no timetable yet for the film’s release.

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