On an October afternoon in 1991, a 56-year-old man drained a playoff putt to beat two World Golf Hall of Fame members. Twelve years earlier, he had been the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. John Brodie died Friday at age 90. The PGA TOUR and PGA TOUR Champions confirmed his passing through a joint tribute on Instagram, honoring a man who refused to let one sport define him.
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John Brodie spent 17 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and recorded 31,548 passing yards and 214 touchdowns. He led the NFL in passing yards for a total of three times. In 1970, he claimed the league’s MVP award, guiding San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game before Dallas ended the dream. The 49ers retired his No. 12 jersey in 1973, the same year he retired.
But football was only the first act.
Brodie joined the PGA TOUR Champions in 1985, a decade after hanging up his cleats. He made 230 starts over 13 seasons, recording 12 top-10 finishes. The transformation mirrored what Jim Dent accomplished during the same era. Dent rebuilt his game at 50, hired instructors to fix his short game and putting, and the transformation yielded 12 Champions Tour wins and over $9 million in earnings. Brodie’s reinvention followed a similar arc. It was serious, methodical, and legitimate.
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The apex arrived at the 1991 Security Pacific Senior Classic. Brodie entered the final round in contention, then faced a sudden-death playoff against George Archer, the 1969 Masters champion, and Chi Chi Rodriguez, one of the most decorated players in senior golf history. On the first playoff hole, Brodie buried a birdie putt to claim the title.
“Emotion is something that I can’t call back on and get the same feeling,” Brodie said afterward. “I feel just as good as I can possibly feel right now. I can’t think of anything else right now that would make me feel better.”
This was a man who had thrown touchdown passes in front of 60,000 screaming fans. Yet, playing golf without an offensive line, no receivers, just him and the moment, produced a satisfaction that football never quite matched.
Modern athletes rarely attempt what Brodie accomplished. Tony Romo plays in sponsor exemptions. Steph Curry tries Korn Ferry events. Neither has won a professional tournament. But Brodie did at the age of 56, against legends, with a birdie putt under pressure.
The tributes that followed his death tell two stories at once.
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Fans across football and golf mourn John Brodie’s passing
“RIP to a great one who did it all,” one fan wrote beneath the PGA TOUR’s Instagram post. Another added simply, “A class act.” A third called him a “true old school legend.”
But other reactions exposed how much of Brodie’s legacy has faded from collective memory. “Ngl knew him as a great football player,” one commenter admitted. “And I’m a big golf guy, but had no idea about his time on the Champions Tour. May he rest in peace, and condolences to his loved ones.”
The sentiment echoed elsewhere. “He was a legend. I just spoke with my brother, and we thought it’s too bad that a whole generation has no idea who he is. We remember him well as a great football player, solid golfer, broadcaster, and Los Altos resident,” a fan said.
Brodie worked for NBC Sports after retiring from football, calling Super Bowl XIII and covering golf tournaments. He bridged his two careers through the microphone before returning to competition on the senior circuit. Football fans remember the quarterback. Golf fans remember the Champions Tour winner. Older viewers remember the voice. Younger audiences remember none of it.
“RIP John. You were my first Niner QB!” one fan reminisced upon Brodie’s legacy as part of the 49ers roster.
The PGA TOUR sent its prayers to Brodie and his family. “Rest In Peace, John Brodie.”
It was a fitting close for a man who lived two athletic lives and mastered both.
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