Football Hall of Fame member Yelberton Abraham Tittle - better known as Y.A. - was born in Marshall on October 24, 1926. His football career began at Marshall Jr. High in 1938, and continued at Marshall High School where he made the All District Team in 1942 an 1943.
Tittle became an award winning player for Louisiana State University and was named to the Blue - Grey Game in 1946 and 1947. Following graduation, he was drafted into professional football. He played for the Baltimore Colts two years before being traded to the San Francisco. While with the Colts he was named Rookie of the Year.
Tittle was traded to the San Francisco 49ers in 1950. the next year he was named quarterback, a position he held through 1960. During that time he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl four times. He was selected Most Valuable Player in the Hula Bowl in 1955.
Tittle ended his career playing the next four seasons with the New York Giants. He was an NFL Most valuable Player in 1961, 1962, and 1963. Although the championship ring always evaded him, he and the Giants played in NFL title games those same three years. In 1963, Tittle led his team into the championship game with the Chicago Bears. Despite a severely injured left knee, he played a tough game, but could not stop the Bears, who won, 14-19. At the end of that season, Y.A. Tittle was the oldest player in the National Football League. He played one more year before retiring.
Morris Berman's famous photograph of the bleeding Tittle, ribs broken and gasping for air, marked not only the end of his career, but, some say, the beginning of professional football as an immensely lucrative endeavor for player and owner alike.
Tittle and his wife of 51 years, Minnette DeLoach, spend part of their time at their home on Caddo Lake and part of it in California, where Tittle established his insurance business upon retirement. Actually, players were paid so little during Y.A.'s glory days that most had to find part-time work during the off season. Tittle sold insurance door to door, and then built those contacts into a business after 1964.
In 1995, Tittle's daughter Dianne Tittle de Laet, wrote a book about her father she called Giants and Heroes.
One of Tittle's professional jerseys, a football and other artifacts from his professional career are on display in the Harrison County Historical Museum. .