Ken O'Brien

Kenneth John O'Brien Jr., born November 27, 1960, played quarterback in the NFL for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. He was one of six quarterbacks taken in the famous 1983 draft class. O'Brien became the first Jet to lead the league in passer rating for a season, and he also set a franchise record with 17 consecutive completions in a single game. In 1997, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

O'Brien attended Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California. He began his college career in 1978 as a reserve at Sacramento State, then transferred to UC Davis to play for coach Jim Sochor. As a senior in 1982, he earned NCAA Division II All-American honors, led the Aggies to a 10–0 regular season and a berth in the Division II championship game, and ranked second nationally in total offense and third in passing efficiency. He also received the Babe Slater Award as UC Davis’s top male athlete. O'Brien is the only player to have suited up for both sides of the Causeway Classic. He was a three-time All-Far Western Conference quarterback and entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

The Jets made O'Brien the 24th overall pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft, a move that stunned observers who expected them to take Dan Marino—a future Hall of Famer who went three picks later to Miami. Jets fans at the draft in New York City were surprised and angry; O'Brien was so little known that TV reporter Sal Marchiano mispronounced his name twice while covering the crowd’s reaction. O'Brien later said, “Who blames [the fans], right? Who, in New York, has heard of Cal, University of California, Davis? Nobody … I’m not sure I would have reacted any differently. Heck, some of my cousins grew up as Jets fans. They were probably doing the same thing.”

Dolphins coach Don Shula famously asked, “Who’s he?” Years afterward, Jets personnel director Mike Hickey explained that O'Brien was picked because he was smart enough to handle first-year head coach Joe Walton’s complicated offense—O'Brien reportedly had an IQ of 130—and had an arm suited for windy Shea Stadium (the Jets moved to Giants Stadium the next season). Hickey also noted that the Pittsburgh Steelers, picking three spots ahead of New York, passed on hometown Marino, and that the final choice came down to O'Brien or Darrell Green (later a Hall of Famer with Washington).

In 1985, O'Brien led the NFL in passer rating (96.2) and had the lowest interception rate, earning a Pro Bowl selection. The Jets went 11–5 that year, their first playoff appearance since 1982. In the wild-card round, he completed 13 of 17 passes for 149 yards, with a touchdown and an interception, in a 26–14 loss to the New England Patriots. He later led the league in lowest interception rate again in 1987 and 1988.

On September 21, 1986, O'Brien dueled Dan Marino in a 51–45 Jets victory. The two combined for 927 yards and ten passing touchdowns; O'Brien threw for 479 yards and four scores. On November 2 of that same year, he made history against the Seattle Seahawks, completing 26 of 32 passes for 431 yards and becoming the first quarterback to post a perfect passer rating (158.3) while throwing for 400 yards—a feat not repeated until Nick Foles in 2013. He achieved a second perfect rating on December 23, 1990, against the New England Patriots, going 11-of-12 for 210 yards and two touchdowns.

O'Brien threw 25 touchdown passes for the second straight season in 1986, helping the Jets to a 10–6 record, but a sore arm hampered him late in the year as the team lost five straight to stumble into the playoffs. Backup Pat Ryan (who won two starts) got the nod in the wild-card win over Kansas City. O'Brien entered the divisional-round game against Cleveland after Ryan was injured early, going 11-of-19 for 134 yards with no touchdowns and six sacks in a double-overtime loss.

O'Brien made two Pro Bowls (1985 and 1991). He returned to the playoffs in 1991, where the Jets lost 17–10 to the Houston Oilers; he completed 21 of 31 passes for 221 yards, with a touchdown and three interceptions. He retired after the 1993 season with the Philadelphia Eagles, starting only four games and serving as a backup to Randall Cunningham and Bubby Brister. Despite occasional flashes and over 25,000 career passing yards, his record as a starter was 50–59–1; in seven seasons where he started more than ten games, he finished with a winning record only three times.

After retiring, O'Brien worked as an assistant coach at the University of Southern California, where he coached Heisman winner Carson Palmer (later of the Bengals, Raiders, and Cardinals).

O'Brien and his wife Stacey have four children; their first grandchild was born in 2018. As of 2019, he works at IWP Wealth Management in Manhattan Beach, California.