Steve Grogan

Patriots Hall of Fame quarterback who set rushing records and led the team to Super Bowl XX.

via Wikipedia: Steve Grogan · see source

Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL draft. Grogan led the NFL in both passing and quarterback rushing statistics several times in his career, and ran for a quarterback-record 12 touchdowns in 1976, a record that stood for 35 seasons.

Grogan ran for over 500 yards in 1978 and led the team to 3,156 rushing yards, an NFL record that was eclipsed only by the 2019 Baltimore Ravens. He had his statistically best year in 1979, before being hobbled by injuries for much of the 1980s. He only had one season during the rest of his career, 1983, when he started more than half of his team's games, and spent the majority of the rest of his career splitting starting time with a number of other quarterbacks.

He played in Super Bowl XX, coming off the bench to throw a pass for the only touchdown the Patriots scored on the day. When he retired in 1990, he held many of the team's passing and longevity records. He was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995.

Quick Facts

Position: Quarterback
Born: 24 July 1953
Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
High school: Ottawa (Ottawa, Kansas)
College: Kansas State (1972–1974)
Draft year: 1975
Draft round: 5
Draft pick: 116

Lore & Background

Grogan grew up in Ottawa, Kansas, a few blocks away from Ottawa University. Both of his parents were alumni and took Grogan to many sporting events there when he was younger. At Ottawa High School, Grogan led his team to state titles in track in 1970, basketball in 1971, and a 3A state runner-up finish in football in 1970. He was named the team MVP six different times and won the Inspiration & Leadership Award in 1975.

He was also a member of National Honor Society and was named Mr. O.H.S. Grogan spent his collegiate career at Kansas State University, where he started as a quarterback for his junior and senior years. He threw for 2,214 yards, completing 166 of 371 pass attempts, with 12 TDs and 26 interceptions. He ran for 585 yards and six touchdowns on 339 attempts, punted 7 times for 279 yards (a 39.9-yard average), and as a senior caught one touchdown pass of 22 yards.

Against Memphis in 1973, he had a 100-yard rushing game. He was named academic 'All Big 8' twice and was honorable mention All-American.

Reader's Guide

Grogan was selected in the fifth round (116th overall) in the 1975 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. Although he would start every game for four consecutive seasons early in his career, Grogan also competed with other quarterbacks for the starting job. His second through his fifth season were the only times he would start every game in a season. In addition to taking the starting job from former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett as a rookie, Grogan would later face competition from Matt Cavanaugh, Tony Eason, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, and Marc Wilson.

In his first season, Grogan played in 13 games out of the then-14 game regular season, starting 7 of the last 8. Grogan threw for 1,976 yards, 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. The Patriots finished with a 3–11 record, and traded Plunkett, their starter for the previous four years, in the off-season. Grogan's first career victory came against the Dan Fouts and the San Diego Chargers in week 8 of the 1975 season.

He threw for 285 yards and 1 touchdown in a 33–19 win. For the Patriots 1976 season, Grogan scored 30 combined touchdowns through the air and the ground, leading the Patriots to an 11–3 record the franchise's first playoff berth since 1963. The eleven wins were the most Patriots wins in a season since the club's inception. Along the way the Patriots defeated the defending Super Bowl champion, Pittsburgh Steelers (30–27).

They also handed the Oakland Raiders their only regular season loss that year by defeating them 48–17. They lost the divisional playoffs (24–21), however, to the Raiders. Grogan scored 12 rushing touchdowns in 1976, breaking a quarterback record of 11 previously held by Tobin Rote and Johnny Lujack. His record would stand for 35 years until broken by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's 14 in 2011.

Grogan would lead the league in quarterback rushing yards with 397. On October 10, 1976, in a game vs the Jets, Grogan became the first quarterback in Patriots history to rush for 100+ yards in a game, in a 41–7 victory. During the 1977 season, Grogan advanced the ball with his legs, amassing another 300+ yard rushing season, although he would only find the end zone once on a running play, as running backs Horace Ivory, Sam 'Bam' Cunningham, and Andy Johnson did most of the scoring on the ground.