No. 16, 12 | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
Born: | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | December 20, 1965||||||||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
High school: | St. Joseph's Preparatory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||||||
College: | Delaware (1984–1986) | ||||||||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1987 / round: 4 / pick: 98 | ||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
|
Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years. [1]
Gannon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and played college football at the University of Delaware where he directed coach Tubby Raymond's Wing-T offense. He recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and was Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. In the 1987 NFL draft, the New England Patriots selected Gannon in the fourth round intent upon converting Gannon to running back. He was soon traded to the Minnesota Vikings and would play with the Vikings until 1992. Gannon began his career as a backup for Wade Wilson. Gannon started his first games in 1990 in relief of an injured Wilson and would start many games in 1991. In 1992, he formally became the starting quarterback for the Vikings and led the Vikings to an 11–5 season and the playoffs after two consecutive losing seasons.
Gannon played for the Washington Redskins in 1993, the Kansas City Chiefs from 1995 to 1998, and the Oakland Raiders from 1999 to 2004. With the Raiders, he achieved his greatest successes, including four consecutive seasons making the Pro Bowl (1999–2002), three consecutive postseason appearances for the Raiders (2000–2002), two All-Pro selections (2000, 2002), one MVP, and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. However, Gannon spent much of his final two seasons (2003 and 2004) with injuries, and the Raiders had losing records in those seasons. After retiring from football before the 2005 season, Gannon began a career in sports broadcasting. He served as a sports analyst for NFL on CBS through the 2020 NFL season.
Gannon attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and won three varsity letters each in football and crew and twice in basketball. In his senior season, he earned first team All-City as a punter and quarterback, passing for 1,567 yards.
Gannon attended the University of Delaware where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. In football, he was coached by Tubby Raymond and played within Raymond's wing T offense. [2] [3] With the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, Gannon first played as a punter before switching to quarterback in his sophomore year. Gannon set 21 school records, including total offense (7,432 yards), passing yards (5,927), pass attempts (845), and completions (462) and was the only Delaware player at the time to achieve at least 2,000 yards of offense three years in a row. As a sophomore, Gannon won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I-AA Rookie of the Year award in 1984. In 1986, during his senior season, Gannon won Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and was an honorable mention All-American selection. [4]
When he led the Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he was the second player from the University of Delaware to go to the Super Bowl. [5]
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | QB Rating | Att | Yds | ||||
1984 | 126 | 239 | 1,555 | 12 | 11 | 114.7 | 147 | 529 | |||
1985 | 134 | 244 | 1,576 | 7 | 10 | 110.4 | 149 | 443 | |||
1986 | 201 | 361 | 2,795 | 16 | 11 | 129.2 | 190 | 537 | |||
Career | 461 | 844 | 5,926 | 35 | 32 | 119.7 | 486 | 1,509 |
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 193 lb (88 kg) | 30 in (0.76 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 4.58 s | 1.60 s | 2.64 s | 4.11 s | 32.5 in (0.83 m) | 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) | 7 reps | ||
All values from NFL Combine [6] |
Gannon was selected in the fourth round (98th overall) of the 1987 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, who envisioned converting him to a running back, defensive back, or wide receiver. [7] Gannon balked at the idea, and he was quickly traded to the Minnesota Vikings. [8] Gannon began his career with the Vikings as a backup to starting quarterback Wade Wilson. Gannon played four regular and one postseason games in his rookie season of 1987 and accumulated statistics in the Week 10 (November 22) game, a 24–13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons where he completed 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards. [9] Despite the Vikings finishing just above .500 on the season at 8–7, they unexpectedly won their first two postseason games, though Gannon was lightly used in the playoffs, rushing for 3 yards in the Vikings' Wild Card game, a 44–10 win over the New Orleans Saints on the road. [9] That game was the first playoff game in Saints team history. [10] The Cinderella Vikings eventually lost the NFC championship game to the eventual Super Bowl XXII champion Washington Redskins. [11]
For the 1988 season, Gannon was third-string after Wade Wilson and Tommy Kramer. Gannon played three games in 1988. In a Week 5 (October 2) 24–7 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 90 yards but was sacked twice for 15. He also rushed twice for 15 yards. Gannon took a knee in the Vikings' Week 8 (October 23) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 10 (November 6), Gannon was sacked for 7 yards and rushed for 15 yards in a 44–17 win over the Detroit Lions. [12] Improving from 1987, the 1988 Vikings finished 11–5 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs. [13]
Gannon did not play at all during the regular season, during which the Vikings went 10–6. [4] [14] In the Vikings' postseason divisional playoff game, a 41–13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the Vikings used all three quarterbacks (Wilson, Kramer, and Gannon), and Gannon was 13 of 18 passing for 144 yards and 1 interception. He rushed for 7 yards and was sacked twice for a total 20 yards. [15] [16]
Gannon started his first game in Week 4 (September 30) of 1990 after Wade Wilson had torn thumb ligaments. [17] The Vikings lost that game to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime 23–20. Steve Christie kicked the winning field goal for Tampa in a drive started from a Wayne Haddix interception of a Gannon pass. [18] Gannon would play 14 games in 1990 and start 12. [19]
Gannon won his first career start in Week 9 (November 4) with a 27–22 win over the Denver Broncos. John Elway, starting quarterback for the Broncos, left the game due to injury after building a 16–0 first-half lead for Denver. Gannon made the winning touchdown drive on a 56-yard trick play pass: first to Herschel Walker, who pitched back to Gannon, who made a deep pass to Anthony Carter for the touchdown. [20] Minnesota won despite Gannon completing less than half of his passes (6-for-13) and being sacked 7 times. [21] The following week against the Detroit Lions, Gannon rushed for a one-yard touchdown and passed for 147 yards completing 12 of 17 passes as the Vikings won 17–7. [22] These games began a five-game winning streak for Minnesota after a 1–6 start. However, the Vikings would finish 6–10 after losing the last four games of the year. For the season, he was 182 of 349 passing for 2,278 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. He was sacked 34 times and rushed 52 times for 268 yards. [21]
In the 1991 preseason, Vikings coach Jerry Burns demoted Gannon to third-string and elevated Sean Salisbury to second-string behind Wade Wilson. [23] Gannon played his first game of the year in Week 5 (September 29) against the Denver Broncos, replacing Wade Wilson with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter after Wilson threw three interceptions. On fourth down at Denver's 13-yard line with 43 seconds left, a wide-open Hassan Jones dropped Gannon's pass, and Minnesota lost 13–6. [24] Gannon would replace Wilson as starter for the last 11 games of 1991, and the Vikings went 6–5 with Gannon as starter for an overall 8–8 season. Gannon was 211 of 354 in completed passes for 2,166 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 19 times for 91 yards and rushed 43 times for 236 yards, including two rushing touchdowns. [25]
Competing with Sean Salisbury for the starting job, [26] Gannon ultimately became the Vikings' starting quarterback for 1992. In the final exhibition game of 1992, and with first-year coach Dennis Green, he led the Vikings to a 30–0 defeat of defending Super Bowl champions Washington Redskins in the Redskins' home field, completing 14 of 21 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns. [27]
In the fourth quarter of the Week 5 (October 4) home game against the Chicago Bears, Gannon led a Vikings rally from a 20–0 deficit to a 21–20 victory. Following a touchdown off an interception by Todd Scott, Gannon led a touchdown drive with four consecutive passes, the last one to Cris Carter in the end zone. With 6:40 left in the fourth quarter, Gannon led a 78-yard touchdown drive that included the Vikings' seventh straight first-down play of the game. The drive began with Gannon handing off to running back Terry Allen for a 21-yard rush, followed by a 22-yard rush by Roger Craig, who would make the tying 1-yard touchdown run, followed by the winning extra point kick. [28]
In Week 7 (October 15), Gannon started against the Detroit Lions and completed 8 of 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns for a 24–0 lead. Salisbury took over in the second quarter after Gannon suffered a hyperextended left knee, and the Vikings beat the Lions 31–14. The Vikings now were a surprising 5–1 after going a combined 14–18 in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. [29]
With Minnesota leading the NFC Central with an 8–3 record, Dennis Green benched Gannon in favor of Salisbury following the Week 12 (November 23) win over the Cleveland Browns. [30] [31]
On August 19, 1993, the Vikings traded Gannon to the Washington Redskins for a conditional 1994 fifth-round draft pick. Gannon was the third-stringer behind starter Mark Rypien and backup Cary Conklin. [32] With the Redskins, Gannon played in eight games and started the four games from Weeks 12 to 15. [33]
Gannon played his first game of 1993 in Week 5 (October 4), a Monday night game, taking over for Cary Conklin against the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino. Gannon could only lead one touchdown drive that brought Washington within a 14–10 deficit behind Miami. With 59 seconds left, Gannon threw an interception to the Dolphins' Troy Vincent to seal the Dolphins' 17–10 victory. [34] Gannon injured his foot during the game. [35] However, Gannon would play in limited roles in Weeks 6 and 7. [33] After a 2–7 start, Redskins coach Richie Petitbon announced he would bench Mark Rypien and start Rich Gannon once Gannon recovered from the injury. [36]
In Week 12 (November 21) against the Los Angeles Rams, Gannon completed 24 of 39 passes for 170 yards, was sacked three times for 11 yards, and rushed twice for 18 yards. With Los Angeles leading 10–6 and 3:10 left in the game, Gannon missed an opportunity for a game-winning drive. At the Rams' 27, Gannon's 23-yard pass intended for Art Monk bounced off Rams safety Anthony Newman's hands and into Michael Stewart's hands for an interception, sealing the victory for the Rams. [37]
The following week (November 28), Gannon threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins a 14–10 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Philadelphia would win 17–14 on a touchdown reception by James Joseph. [38] On 20-for-31 passing for 279 yards, Gannon threw two interceptions and two touchdowns that game. He was sacked five times for 27 yards and rushed four times for 25 yards. [33]
Gannon led the Redskins to a Week 14 (December 5) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23–17, starting with a cumulative 17–0 lead by the third quarter. Gannon completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards and rushed 7 times for 12 yards. [39] Gannon's one interception that game came when Buccaneers defensive tackle Santana Dotson deflected the pass from the Redskins 8 and Ray Seals caught the ball in the Redskins' end zone for a touchdown. The score was 17–10 Redskins as the Buccaneers rallied with 10 unanswered points. [40]
In the Redskins' 3–0 loss to the New York Jets in Week 15 (December 12), Gannon was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Mark Rypien, but the Redskins could not handle the Jets' defense. [41] Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 62 yards (including one 50-yarder). [42]
On 74 of 125 passing (59.2 percent), Gannon passed for 704 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and one touchdown. The Redskins finished 1993 with a 4–12 record, and Gannon was 1–3 as a starter, with the three losses all being within margins four points or less. [33]
Gannon sat out the 1994 season after shoulder surgery. [43] In 1995, Gannon signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. For two years he served as a backup to Steve Bono. In 1997, a quarterback controversy was created when the Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injured Elvis Grbac. In the playoffs, coach Marty Schottenheimer elected to play Grbac instead of Gannon, and the Chiefs lost 14–10. The two ended up splitting snaps in 1998, after Grbac was injured in Week 1.
In February 1999, Gannon was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Raiders. He excelled in head coach Jon Gruden's West Coast offense and was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Raider – the first of four straight selections. In 2001 and 2002, he won the Pro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player.
Gannon won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns and recording a career-high 97.2 passer rating, [44] which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII, making him the first former Blue Hens quarterback to start a Super Bowl. [45] He was passing at a record pace with more passing yards than any quarterback in history through 14 games at the time but fell off the pace in the last few weeks. [46] He led the league with 418 completions on 618 attempts.
In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl-record five interceptions – three of which were run back for touchdowns – in a 48–21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers' defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden, who had knowledge of the Raiders' playbook as well as Gannon's mannerisms and even some audibles, which Raiders head coach Bill Callahan had left unchanged after Gruden's departure. [47]
Gannon's 2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury in Week 7 after a 2–5 start. A serious neck injury in 2004 effectively ended his career. Gannon was hurt in Week 3 when he scrambled, and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.
When the Raiders signed Kerry Collins prior to the 2004 season, some thought that Gannon would be cut in favor of the strong-armed Collins, whom skeptics thought was a better fit in new head coach Norv Turner's vertical offense. Gannon not only kept his starting quarterback spot, but thrived. He threw for 305 yards in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including a 40-yard touchdown strike to Doug Gabriel. The Raiders nearly won the game over a Steelers team that finished the 2004 season with 15 victories. The Raiders were a competitive team with Gannon as their quarterback, going 2–1 when he started and 3–10 after his injury.[ citation needed ]
Legend | |
---|---|
AP NFL MVP | |
Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
1987 | MIN | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 18 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2.8 |
1988 | MIN | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | 15 | 46.7 | 90 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 66.0 |
1989 | MIN | 0 | 0 | — | DNP | ||||||||
1990 | MIN | 14 | 12 | 5−7 | 182 | 349 | 52.1 | 2,278 | 6.5 | 16 | 16 | 78 | 68.9 |
1991 | MIN | 15 | 11 | 6−5 | 211 | 354 | 59.6 | 2,166 | 6.1 | 12 | 6 | 50 | 81.5 |
1992 | MIN | 12 | 12 | 8−4 | 159 | 279 | 57.0 | 1,905 | 6.8 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 72.9 |
1993 | WAS | 8 | 4 | 1−3 | 74 | 125 | 59.2 | 704 | 5.6 | 3 | 7 | 54 | 59.6 |
1995 | KC | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 11 | 63.6 | 57 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 76.7 |
1996 | KC | 4 | 3 | 1−2 | 54 | 90 | 60.0 | 491 | 5.5 | 6 | 1 | 25 | 92.4 |
1997 | KC | 9 | 6 | 5−1 | 98 | 175 | 56.0 | 1,144 | 6.5 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 79.8 |
1998 | KC | 12 | 10 | 5−5 | 206 | 354 | 58.2 | 2,305 | 6.5 | 10 | 6 | 80 | 80.1 |
1999 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 8−8 | 304 | 515 | 59.0 | 3,840 | 7.5 | 24 | 14 | 50 | 86.5 |
2000 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 12−4 | 284 | 473 | 60.0 | 3,430 | 7.3 | 28 | 11 | 84 | 92.4 |
2001 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 10−6 | 361 | 549 | 65.8 | 3,828 | 7.0 | 27 | 9 | 49 | 95.5 |
2002 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 11−5 | 418 | 618 | 68.0 | 4,689 | 7.6 | 26 | 10 | 75 | 97.3 |
2003 | OAK | 7 | 7 | 2−5 | 125 | 225 | 55.6 | 1,274 | 5.7 | 6 | 4 | 46 | 73.5 |
2004 | OAK | 3 | 3 | 2−1 | 41 | 68 | 60.3 | 524 | 7.7 | 3 | 2 | 58 | 86.9 |
Career [48] | 157 | 132 | 76−56 | 2,533 | 4,206 | 60.2 | 28,743 | 6.8 | 180 | 104 | 84 | 84.7 |
On August 6, 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joined CBS television as an NFL analyst. [43] He was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame that same year.
For his career accolades, Gannon was named the 28th greatest quarterback of the modern era by Football Nation. [50]
Gannon joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005 alongside Kevin Harlan. He also works as a game analyst for Las Vegas Raiders preseason games.
On February 22, 2021, Gannon was let go as a game commentator for CBS.
Gannon's father-in-law was former Minnesota Vikings running back Bill Brown. Gannon and his wife, Shelley, have two daughters. One daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and her parents serve as national spokespeople for the Celiac Disease Foundation and organize an annual Celiac Walk at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, Minnesota. [51] Gannon is a practicing Roman Catholic. [52]
Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Los Angeles Raiders to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1983 season. The Raiders defeated the Redskins, 38–9. The Raiders' 38 points scored and 29-point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records; it remains the most points scored by an AFC team in a Super Bowl, later matched by the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. This is the first time the city of Tampa hosted the Super Bowl and was the AFC's last Super Bowl win until Super Bowl XXXII, won by the Denver Broncos.
Super Bowl XXII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1987 season. The Redskins defeated the Broncos by the score of 42–10, winning their second Super Bowl. The game was played on January 31, 1988, at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California, which was the first time that the Super Bowl was played there. It was the second consecutive Super Bowl loss for the Broncos, who had lost to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl the year before.
Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2002 season. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders by the score of 48–21, tied with Super Bowl XXXV for the seventh-largest Super Bowl margin of victory, winning their first-ever Super Bowl. The game was played on January 26, 2003, at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California.
Donovan Jamal McNabb is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football for the Syracuse Orange and was selected with the second overall pick in the 1999 NFL draft by the Eagles, where he spent 11 seasons. McNabb also spent a year each with the Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings. The Eagles retired McNabb's no. 5 jersey when he was inducted to the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame in 2013.
Mark Robert Rypien is a Canadian-American former professional football quarterback for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington State Cougars and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL draft. He was the first Canadian-born quarterback to both start in the NFL and be named Super Bowl MVP, doing so in Super Bowl XXVI with the Redskins. He also played for several other NFL teams. His nephew Brett plays in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings.
Jeffrey Scott George is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was selected first overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1990 NFL draft. A member of seven NFL teams during his career, George helped the 1995 Atlanta Falcons and the 1999 Minnesota Vikings reach the playoffs and led the league in passing yards in 1997 with the Oakland Raiders. George's NFL tenure would also be marked by frequent conflicts with coaches and management, which resulted in his departure from most of his teams.
Rodney Peete Sr. is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, earning first-team All-American honors in 1988. Peete was selected in the sixth round of the 1989 NFL draft. He played in the NFL for the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders, and Carolina Panthers.
Robert Garland Johnson is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was a fourth-round pick in the 1995 NFL draft by the expansion team Jacksonville Jaguars.
James Bradley Johnson is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), Johnson played for the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Dallas Cowboys. He is best known for his time with the Buccaneers, whom he led to their Super Bowl XXXVII title over the Oakland Raiders.
Charles Wade Wilson was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, and Oakland Raiders in a seventeen-year NFL career from 1981 to 1998. He was quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Cowboys from 2000 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017, and also for the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2006. He played college football for East Texas State Lions, where he was an NAIA All-American quarterback and led the Lions to the NAIA national semifinals during the 1980 season.
Jay Brian Schroeder is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, after which he was selected in the third round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, where he played for four seasons. He then played for the Los Angeles Raiders for five seasons and spent one season each with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals.
Casey Austin Keenum is an American professional football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars, where he became the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards, touchdowns, and completions. In the 2008 college football season, Keenum ranked first nationally in total offense and second in total passing yards.
The 1990 Los Angeles Raiders season was the franchise's 31st season overall, and the franchise's 21st season in the National Football League. Led by Coach of the Year Art Shell, the club appeared in its first AFC Championship Game since their Super Bowl-winning 1983 season, but lost a lopsided affair to the Buffalo Bills, 3–51. This would be the Raiders' final division title for 10 years, and their final one in Los Angeles. Bo Jackson suffered a hip injury in the team's divisional playoff victory against the Cincinnati Bengals which turned out to be a career ending injury for him.
Christian Andrew Ponder is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. He played for the Vikings, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers.
Kirk Daniel Cousins is an American professional football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft. Cousins ranks sixth all-time in completion percentage with at least 1,500 pass attempts and is 11th in the NFL's all-time regular season career passer rating.
Nicholas Edward Foles is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. A member of six teams, he achieved his greatest success with the Philadelphia Eagles, leading the franchise to their first Super Bowl title.
Theodore Edmond Bridgewater Jr. is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, winning the 2013 Sugar Bowl, and was selected as the final first round pick of the 2014 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings. During his second season, Bridgewater led the Vikings to a division title and earned Pro Bowl honors. Upon suffering a severe leg injury the following offseason, Bridgewater appeared in only one game over the next two years.
Mitchell David Trubisky is an American professional football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels and was selected second overall by the Chicago Bears in the 2017 NFL draft.
Samuel Richard Darnold is an American professional football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans, winning the Archie Griffin award in 2016, and was selected third overall by the New York Jets in the 2018 NFL draft.
Daniel Stephen Jones III, nicknamed "Danny Dimes", is an American professional football quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils and was selected sixth overall by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL draft.