People, Aug. 5, 1974

He is, by the record book, the greatest quarterback in pro football history. But last week Johnny Unites, 41, turned in his shoulder pads. "I'm taking up time on the field that could be used for younger fellows," he said, resigning from the San Diego Chargers—who last year signed him to a two-year, $500,000 contract—and retiring from pro ball. Troubled by arthritis, Johnny spent much of the season on the bench. He looks back on his 18-year career with satisfaction.

No one else has gained 40,239 yds. passing or made 290 touchdowns through the air. Three times Unitas was voted most valuable player in the N.F.L., and he led the Baltimore Colts to four N.F.L. titles. Now Unitas will concentrate on business ventures. But it won't be the same. "I'd like to play another 30 years," said Johnny U.

It was Kiss-a-Cop Week in Manhattan. New York City policemen know they are the finest, but it was nice to have it confirmed with a kiss from the British star of My Fat Friend Lynn Redgrave. "I used to be scared working in New York," she cooed to the patrolmen, "but this time I notice a huge difference." Two years ago, 60 actors, including Hal Holbrook, Julie Harris and Joan Hackett petitioned the city for better protection of the grubby Great White Way. It was claimed that actors could not step outside the greenroom without getting goosed or mugged. Today, says A Little Night Music's Hermione Gingold, "There are far less evil-looking people around." Two days later, an uptown precinct tried to persuade the visiting Moiseyev troupe of folk dancers that Central Park was safe. Not a bicycle thief was in sight when Patrolman Murray Trelford and eight of his colleagues challenged the 30 Russians to a Frisbee game on the Great Lawn. Then they all linked arms in a Russian folk dance. While a balalaika was strummed, Igor Moiseyev said, "Now we know the police are men with human qualities."

"If you take care of your insides, the outside will take care of itself," is one of Gloria Swanson's favorite maxims. Looking fit, Gloria, 75, was in Manhattan after a brief but glamorous appearance in the film Airport 1975 and was delighted to provide the details of the regimen that keeps her in shape. Sprouted grains for one thing. "They have plenty of chlorophyll that cleanses the blood and makes the body smell pure. There is no odor to my sweat." After breakfasting on dried and crumbled whole-grain bread kneaded with carrot juice and topped with rice polish, lecithin, yogurt and a tiny ripe banana, Gloria sometimes skips around the house. "I'm a regular hausfrau, but I still need more exercise." Gloria plans to buy a treadmill. To display what her way of life has done for her in 50 years, Gloria obligingly posed for a photographer in exactly the same way she did in 1925 for a classic Steichen portrait and offered a final, somewhat enigmatic beauty tip: "My life," she beamed, "is always a great surprise."