A St. Louis native, Christman led the Missouri Tigers to a 20–8 record during his three seasons (1938–40) as their starting quarterback. He was a two-time All-American, and led the nation in touchdown passes in 1940. Christman was Missouri's all-time leading passer until 1976, when he was surpassed by Steve Pisarkiewicz. While at Mizzou, he was a member of the Kappa Sigmafraternity. His jersey number, 44, is one of seven retired by the school. In 1956, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
NFL career
Christman made his debut in the third week of the 1945 season. Facing the Philadelphia Eagles, he went 10-of-36 for 170 yards while also being trounced for -14 yards on three rushes. He threw his first touchdown pass on October 28. He led the league in passing attempts with 219 while completing 89 for 1,147 yards with five touchdowns to fourteen interceptions. He was less fortunate on the rushing attack, running for -34 yards on 30 carries with a touchdown, with all of this being done in eight games (with Chicago winning once) that resulted in 12 fumbles (four of which he lost), which was a league high.[3] Christman was more fortunate in his second season, which saw him throw for 1,656 yards on 100-of-229 passing with 13 touchdowns to 18 interceptions as the Cardinals went 6-5 when he played. He had his finest game as a quarterback on October 13, throwing for four touchdowns on a 20-for-34 day of 263 yards (with two interceptions) and adding a rushing touchdown to beat the Detroit Lions 36–14.[4] He fumbled the ball 15 times and lost it 12 times. Oddly enough, he would fumble the ball eight total times in his next four seasons combined (the 35 for a career was second alltime in history when he retired).[5][6]
In 1947, the arrival of halfback Charley Trippi to accompany Christman, halfback Elmer Angsman and fullback Pat Harder, completed a desire for owner Charles Bidwill to have a "Dream Backfield", which was also referred to as a "Million Dollar Backfield. That year, Christman threw for 2,191 yards with 17 touchdowns to 22 interceptions as the Cardinals managed to go 9–3. This was good enough to qualify for the 1947 NFL Championship Game, where Christman went 3-of-14 for 54 yards with two interceptions. However, the Cardinals managed to hold on anyway for a 28–21 victory, which was their first championship in two decades.[7][8] During the 1948 season, Christman made a cameo appearance in the film Triple Threat alongside teammate Charley Trippi. Christman missed four games the following year, which saw him throw just 114 passes for 740 yards with five touchdowns to four interceptions that saw Chicago make it all the way back to the NFL title game. He did not play in the NFL Championship Game that year when he fractured his left wrist in the season finale against the Bears; Ray Mallouf took snaps as quarterback versus the Eagles in the title game, which they lost 7–0.[9][10] He played in ten games in his final season for Chicago in 1949, which saw him throw for 1,015 yards for 11 touchdowns to 13 interceptions while having his most rushing yards as a player with 34 on four carries.[11] He had his worst game of interceptions on October 23 against Detroit, oddly enough, where he threw for five interceptions on 6-of-17 passing.[12] He was traded to the Green Bay Packers prior to the 1950 season. He threw for 545 times on 126 passes with seven touchdowns and interceptions each.[13]
Broadcasting career
After retiring as a player, Christman worked as a television color commentator, first-teaming with play-by-play announcer Joe Boland to call Cardinals games for CBS in 1958 and 1959. In 1960 and 1961, he called college football games for ABC Sports alongside Curt Gowdy. In 1962, he began calling American Football League games on ABC with Gowdy, a pairing that continued after AFL rights shifted to NBC in 1965. Christman called Super Bowl I with Gowdy for NBC in January 1967. In 1968–69, he returned to CBS, teaming with Ray Scott on NFL broadcasts.
Christman also called the collegiate Orange Bowl game for several years, teaming with Boland (1960), Scott (1961), and Gowdy (1962–67). He and Gowdy then called the Rose Bowl game in 1968.
Christman died three days shy of his 52nd birthday in 1970 in Lake Forest, Illinois, from a heart attack. He had a history of heart trouble and was admitted to the hospital, where he died less than two days later.[14][15] Christman was buried at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, and was survived by his wife Inez and three adult children.
