What Former Military Academy Footballer Played In The Most NFL Games?

Here is a great question that came in to the AskIQFB email box from Phil in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A couple of months ago we wrote about the pro football player who scored more NFL touchdowns than any other player who played college football at one of the United States military academies (Air Force, Army and Navy). Phil asked, what about longevity?

What NFL player, who played collegiately at a military academy, went on to play in the most games in the NFL?

We’ll take a look at it in reverse order.

The player who played collegiately for Army who went on to play in more NFL games than any other Army football player was Bob Mischak who played in 79 NFL games. Mischak played in one season (1958) for the New York Giants, sat out the 1959 season, and then came back to play six seasons in the American Football League (AFL). Because of the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, AFL statistics are included in the NFL record book.

The player who played college football for the Naval Academy who went on to play more games in the NFL than any other Navy football player is kicker Todd Peterson. Peterson played 12 seasons for six different teams (Cardinals, Seahawks, Chiefs, Steelers, 49ers and Falcons) and during that time appeared in 159 NFL games.

But the player who played in the most NFL games after playing collegiately at a military academy came out of the Air Force Academy. Larry Cole played in 176 games during an NFL career that lasted from 1968 to 1980, all of it spent with the Dallas Cowboys. During his time with the Cowboys Cole played in five Super Bowls, winning two of them.

Happy New Year Everyone!

As you recover from the New Year’s Eve festivities, we at IQFB.com are going to take a look at the many former pro football players born on New Year’s Day. There are indeed some unique football facts related to these gentlemen.

-Doak Walker, the Hall of Fame halfback of the early 1950s Detroit Lions, holds the record for most touchdown passes thrown by anyone born on January 1st. During his NFL career he threw two touchdown passes. His career 75 yards passing is also a record for players born on New Year’s Day.

-When it comes to receiving statistics put up by players who were born on New Year’s Day, the player holding the record for the most touchdown receptions is two time Pro-Bowler and lontime Chicago Bears receiver Dick Gordon who racked up 36 receiving TDs during his ten year career. At 93 yards, Gordon also holds the record for longest career reception by a player born on January 1st.

-David Hill who played tight end from 1976 to 1987 for both the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams put up more career receiving yards, with 4,212, than any other player born on New Year’s Day.

-When we look at rushing statistics, Hall of Famer Doak Walker is back at the top of a couple of categories for players born on January 1st. He scored more touchdowns (12), carried the ball more times (309), and ran for more yards (1,520) than any other player born on New Year’s Day.

-Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas, who played from 1989 to 1999, holds the record for most Pro Bowl appearances by a player born on the first day of the year. During his eleven year career, he made the Pro Bowl nine times.

-The longest run from scrimmage by a player born on New Year’s Day is 54 yards and was done by wide receiver Billy Parks in 1971 during his rookie season with the San Diego Chargers.

-Andy Heck, an offensive lineman for the Seattle Seahawks, Chicago Bears, and Washington Redskins from 1989 to 2000 played in more NFL games (185) than any other player born on New Year’s Day.

Current players in the NFL who were born on New Year’s Day:
Steve Johnson - Wide Receiver - Buffalo Bills
Jon Corto - Linebacker - Buffalo Bills
Alex Hall - Defensive End - Cleveland Browns
William Gay - Defensive Back - Pittsburgh Steelers
Ray Edwards - Defensive End - Minnesota Vikings
Stephen Tulloch - Linebacker - Tennessee Titans

Other notable players born on New Year’s Day
Andy Heck - Offensive Line
Lance Smith - Offensive Line
Bob Brudzinski - Linebacker
David Hill - Tight End
Derrick Thomas - Linebacker
Marlin McKeever - Linebacker/Tight End
Irv Eatman - Offensive Tackle
Kevin Mitchell - Linebacker
Harry Galbreath - Offensive Line
Frank Minnifield - Defensive Back
Dick Gordon - Wide Receiver
Pierce Holt - Defensive Line
Carl Birdsong - Punter
Doak Walker - Halfback/Defensive Back
Justin Armour - Wide Receiver
Chet Brooks - Defensive Back

One of the ways that many people measure the success of a coach is by how many wins they get in the post season. When a coach wins during the playoffs, they are helping their team to achieve the ultimate goal, winning the Super Bowl. What coach has been the least successful at this?

The NFL head coach with the most playoff losses may surprise some people as it is also the coach with the most wins ever in the league, Don Shula. What many people forget when looking at losses is that any coach that is successful enough to have a long career is also going to rack up quite a few losses.

Here are the top fifteen coaches ranked by playoff losses:

Don Shula - Dolphins - 17 losses
Tom Landry - Cowboys - 16 losses
Marty Schottenheimer - Browns, Chiefs, Redskins, Chargers - 13 losses
Bud Grant - Vikings - 12 losses
Chuck Knox - Rams, Bills, Seahawks - 11 losses
Mike Holmgren - Packers, Seahawks - 11 losses
Dan Reeves - Broncos, Giants, Falcons - 9 losses
Tony Dungy - Buccaneers, Colts - 9 losses
Bill Cowher - Steelers - 9 losses
Bill Parcells - Giants, Patriots, Jets, Cowboys - 8 losses
Steve Owen - Giants - 8 losses
Chuck Noll - Steelers - 8 losses
Marv Levy - Chiefs, Bills - 8 losses
Dennis Green - Vikings, Cardinals - 8 losses
Paul Brown - Browns, Bengals - 8 losses

As you can see, some of the most successful head coaches in football history appear on this list. While building a career of winning games, great coaches are also going to accumulate a good number of losses too.

The University of Alabama runs one of the most respected football programs in all of college football. Many great players at every position have entered the NFL out of Alabama. Here are some facts related to the players that the Crimson Tide has sent into the NFL.

-Two players are tied for most NFL Pro Bowl appearances by someone from the University of Alabama, both John Hannah and Derrick Thomas played in nine Pro Bowls.

-No former Crimson Tide football player has played in more NFL games than punter Chris Mohr who has appeared in 239 NFL games.

-The University of Alabama football player that has played the most years in the NFL is quarterback Bart Starr who played 16 years for the Green Bay Packers.

-The tallest football player from the University of Alabama to ever be drafted into the NFL was offensive tackle Wesley Britt who stood at 6′ 8″ tall and was drafted in the 5th round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.

-Two different players have been drafted from the Crimson Tide football program with the number one overall pick in the draft. Quarterback Joe Namath was chosen number one overall in the 1965 AFL Draft by the New York Jets and quarterback/halfback Harry Gilmer was drafted number one overall by the Washington Redskins in 1948.

-No former University of Alabama football player has scored more touchdowns in the NFL than Shaun Alexander who racked up 112 touchdowns so far in his NFL career.

Alabama shows no sign of slowing down as far as playing great college football and sending great players into the NFL. The University of Alabama football program has truly given its fans something to both cheer about and be proud of.

Interceptions are one the more exciting things in pro football, especially when the ball is picked off in the end zone and returned all the way down the field for a touchdown. These interception returns of 100 or more yards stand out because athletically they are often stunning to watch, in terms of morale it is a totally demoralizing play, and when it comes to game impact it amounts to essentially a 14 point play as the team that threw the interceptions loses the 7 points they were about to score, and the team intercepting and returning the ball for a touchdown gains 7 points.

Here are a few facts about 100+ yard interception returns:

-The first interception return of 100 or more yards was made by Bob Smith of the Detroit Lions in 1949.

-The longest interception return ever was 106 yards, Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens did this in 2004.

-1961 and 1962 was the first time that the longest interception return of the year had been over 100 yards in back-to-back seasons. 1961 saw Eric Barnes return one 102 yards for the New York Giants and 1962 would see future Washington Redskins coach Richie Petitbon return one 101 yards for the Chicago Bears.

-Between 1940 and 1975, only six times would the longest interception return of the year be over 100 yards in length. From 1975 through 2008, there have been 14 different seasons in which the longest interception return of the year was over 100 yards.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t have the type of history that the older and more successful teams in the National Football League do, but they have put together a number of quality seasons. The Buccaneers came into the league for the 1976 season as an expansion franchise along with the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams were not very successful right from the start, but Tampa Bay was extremely unsuccessful going 0-14 during their first season in the league and 2-12 in 1977. Despite this poor start, not uncommon among expansion teams throughout history, the Buccaneers would turn it around and prove to have some successful seasons as well.

2002
The best season ever in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history was easily the 2002 NFL season. That season, behind new head coach Jon Gruden, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up their best regular season record ever (12-4), then went on to defeat the San Francisco 49ers and the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs, before finally beating the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl. After twenty-seven years in the league, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally had their league championship.

1999
The 1999 season would see the Buccaneers put up an 11-5 record, at the time the best in team history, and they would advance all the way to the conference championship game before losing to the St. Louis Rams one game shy of a trip to the Super Bowl. This would be the best performance during the time that Tony Dungy coached the team. This would also be the last season with Trent Dilfer as the starting quarterback.

1979
The 10-6 record that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up in 1979 was not only the best in team history up to that point, but after records of 0-14, 2-12, and 5-11 in their first three seasons in the league, that 10-6 mark seemed unbelieveable. To the surprise of most football fans even more, the Buccaneers advanced past the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round of the playoffs that season only to miss the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the conference championship game by a score of 9-0.

2005
The 2005 season would see the Buccaneers go 11-5 in a year that most expected the team to finish at about .500. Regular season success was all that the team would know that year as they would lose in the wild card round of the playoffs to the Washington Redskins by the score of 17-10.

1997
Tony Dungy, in his second season as head coach of the team, would help the team go 10-6 in 1997. This was the Buccaneers first winning season since the strike-shortened year of 1981. This was also their first visit to the playoffs since that year too, a gap of fifteen years. They would make a good showing too, beating the Detroit Lions in the wild card round before losing to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.

For many years the Buccaneers were known largely for going their entire first season in the league without winning a game, they were also known for experiencing a lot of futility during different times in their history. There is much more to the team than that though. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are not known as the winningest franchise in pro football history, and they are not known for winning a great amount of championships either. The team has won a Super Bowl though, which many organizations cannot say, and their accomplishment of coming one game away from making it to the Super Bowl in only their fourth year in the league is something both the team and the fans can be proud of. Most teams in the NFL, no matter what they are known for, have a decent amount of high points that they have reached as an organization during their history, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are no different.

Through The Years: The Quarterbacks Of The Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still a relatively young NFL franchise, having just joined the league in 1995, but they have proven to be quite successful in their limited history. Half of their seasons in the NFL have ended with an above .500 record which is unusual for expansion teams. Much of this success can be traced to the fact that they exhibited a decent amount of stability in both the starting quarterback position and the head coaching position. In their short history, the Jaguars have only had three primary starting quarterbacks and just two head coaches. Here is a look at the quarterbacks that Jacksonville has had through the years.

The 1990s
The starting quarterback during the first year of the Jacksonville Jaguars existence was former University of Washington player and backup to Brett Favre, Mark Brunell. Brunell proved to be a great find for Jacksonville early on both with his arm as well as with his quite capable running ability. As a matter of fact in the Jaguars first season, Brunell would finish second on the team in rushing yards just 45 yards behind team leader James Stewart. With his four rushing touchdowns that season, he would however lead the team in rushing touchdowns. Amazingly, in only their second year in the NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars would make it all the way to the AFC Championship Game only to lose and come one game shy of playing in the Super Bowl. Brunell would remain the starting quarterback of the Jaguars through the end of the 1990s, helping the team make the playoffs each year. Some of the backup quarterbacks that would appear on the roster beneath him during this time were Steve Beuerlein, Rob Johnson, Shane Matthews, Jonathan Quinn, Jamie Martin, and Jay Fiedler.

The 2000s
When the new decade started, Mark Brunell remained the starting quarterback. He would continue with the team, with much less success, through the 2003 season before departing to become quarterback of the Washington Redskins. Jamie Martin and Jonathan Quinn remained as Brunell’s backups during the first two seasons of the new millennium, but in 2002 a new young player would see his name listed on the depth chart, David Garrard. In 2003, Brunell would only start three games and the Jaguars would go 0-3 in those contests, the remaining 13 games of the season were started by rookie Byron Leftwich. 2004 would see Leftwich emerge as the full time starting quarterback and would result in limited success. Due to injuries and inconsistent play, Leftwich and Garrard would split time as the starting quarterbacks during the 2005 and 2006 season, but in 2007 Garrard was given the opportunity to be the full time starter and it proved a quite successful move. Soon Leftwich was gone and the backup quarterback position would be filled with the likes of Quinn Gray and Cleo Lemon. David Garrard would remain the starting quarterback for a third consecutive game when the 2008 season rolled around.

The history of the quarterbacks of the Jacksonville Jaguars is not as long and storied as that of many of the NFL franchises that have existed longer, but there is still a story to be told. The Jaguars, though young as a team, have exhibited great maturity in the handling of their quarterbacks. Many teams change quarterbacks year-to-year, and with these actions comes great instability and poor leadership. The Jaguars have not fallen into this trap and nothing in their short history indicates they will anytime soon.

Merry Christmas to all the readers of IQFB.com!

About a month ago we took a look at interesting facts involving players born on Thanksgiving, today we’ll take a look at some of the little known info regarding NFL players born on Christmas Day. It’s bad enough that they have to share their birthday with everyone else, but occasionally some of them have had to spend their birthday and Christmas on the football field.

-The most career NFL games played by any player born on Christmas is 184, this was accomplished by legendary Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken “The Snake” Stabler.

-Ken Stabler also threw for more yards (27,938) and touchdowns (194) than any other player born on Christmas Day.

-No player born on Christmas caught more passes (360) for more yards (5,619) and more receiving touchdowns (44) during their career than Wide Receiver / Tight End Dave Parks who split his career between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints, before ending it with one final year with the Houston Oilers.

-The player who scored more rushing touchdowns (64) and put up more rushing yards (8,081) than any other player born on Christmas is Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka.

-Running back Larry Csonka, who spent his NFL career with the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants, played in more NFL Pro Bowl games than any other player born on Christmas.

Current NFL player born on Christmas Day:
Marcus Trufant - Defensive Back - Seattle Seahawks
Limas Sweek - Wide Receiver - Pittsburgh Steelers
Thomas Williams - Linebacker - Jacksonville Jaguars

Other notable NFL players that were born on Christmas Day:
Chris Naeole - Offensive Line
Corey Widmer - Defensive Line
Hanford Dixon - Defensive Back
William Andrews - Running Back
Ken Stabler - Quarterback
Larry Csonka - Running Back
Howard Twilley - Wide Receiver
Bob Scholtz - Offensive Line

Here is a great question from Todd. He would like to know who is the last franchise that is no longer in existence to win an NFL Championship.

Well, every team that has ever won a Super Bowl is still an active team in the league so that means we have to look back further than the first Super Bowl in 1966. The last team to win an NFL Championship representing a different city than they currently do is the Los Angeles Raiders in 1983. But, that isn’t the answer to Todd’s question. The last team to win an NFL Championship and then cease operations later was the Providence Steam Roller who won the title in 1928 after going 8-1-2 during the regular season.

Oh, Todd would also like to add “Go Jets!”

Thanks for the great question Todd, anyone can ask a question by clicking on “Ask IQFB” in the upper right or clicking here instead.

A 1,000 yard season is a mark that almost every running back shoots for. It is a sign of being successful as well as consistent. But there are a handful of running backs who have doubled that milestone and run for 2,000 or more yards in a season.

It is common knowledge that the record holder for most rushing yards in a season is Eric Dickerson. In his second season in the league Dickerson ran for 2,105 yard for the Los Angeles Rams. This effort broke the previous record of O.J. Simpson who was the first person to break the 2,000 yard mark when he ran for 2,003 yards for the Buffalo Bills in 1973.

The youngest player to ever break the 2,000 yard milestone is in fact Eric Dickerson who accomplished this feat at the age of 24. Jamal Lewis was also 24 years old when he rushed for 2,066 with the Baltimore Ravens in 2003, but he was slightly older than Dickerson at the time.

The oldest player to make this list is Barry Sanders who rushed for 2,053 yards while playing for the Detroit Lions in 1997, he was 29 years old at the time.

The University of Florida has proven itself year in and year out to be one of the better college football programs in the nation. Many Gators players have not only played in some of the biggest college football games, but have gone on to contribute greatly to the pro game as well. With that in mind, lets take a look at some interesting facts surrounding the football players that the University of Florida has sent to the NFL.

-The tallest player ever selected in the NFL Draft from the University of Florida was 6′ 7″ tall and there were actually four of them: Offensive lineman Dan Fike by the New York Jets in 1983, offensive lineman Mike Pearson by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002, Offensive tackle Max Starks by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004, and defensive end Jarvis Moss by the Denver Broncos in 2007.

-No Florida Gators football player has gone on to play more seasons in the NFL than offensive tackle Lomas Brown who played 18 seasons.

-Lomas Brown also holds the record for most NFL games played in by a former Florida Gator with 263.

-No former Gator football player has scored more NFL touchdowns than running back Emmitt Smith, who during his career scored 175 touchdowns.

-Emmitt Smith also holds the record for most NFL Pro Bowls played in by former Florida Gators with 8 appearances. Tied for second place with 7 appearances each are offensive tackle Lomas Brown and defensive end Jack Youngblood.

-Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier was the first quarterback from the University of Florida taken in the NFL Draft when the San Francisco 49ers took him with the third pick of the first round in 1967. Since then, five other Gator quarterbacks have been drafted into the NFL, they are: John Reaves by Philadelphia in 1972, Kerwin Bell by Miami in 1988, Danny Wuerffel by New Orleans in 1997, Jesse Palmer by the New York Giants in 2001, and Rex Grossman by Chicago in 2003.

-The highest any University of Florida player has been taken in the NFL Draft was with the second overall pick of the first round, this happened in 1945 when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Paul Duhart. Duhar would only play in the NFL two seasons. Four different former Florida players have been selected with the third overall pick of the draft, they are halfback Chuck Hunsinger by the Bears in 1950, quarterback Steve Spurrier by the 49ers in 1967, wide receiver Wes Chandler by the Saints in 1978, and defensive tackle Gerard Warren by the Browns in 2001.

The University of Florida has been at or near the top of college football programs for a long time now and they don’t look like they are going any where any time soon.

Some of the most exciting plays in football are passing plays when the quarterback is not involved. This can take place under a number of different circumstances including a fake punt, fake field goal, halfback option pass, even a wide receiver or tight end can get in on the action. Here are some facts about the passing achievements of players who did not play quarterback.

Most of this information is only available for players playing since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

-No non-quarterback has completed more passes in the NFL since 1970 than former Pittsburgh Steelers and current Washington Redskins wide receiver Antwaan Randle El. This should be no surprise considering that in college he played quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers football team.

-The non-quarterback who has thrown the most passes (34), thrown for the most passing yards (331), thrown the most touchdowns (8), and thrown the most interceptions (6) since 1970 is Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton.

-Three players are tied for the longest career pass thrown by a non-quarterback. Gary Hammond, Arthur Marshall, and Josh Miller have all completed 81 yard passes during their careers.

-A number of players who don’t play quarterback have a 100% completion percentage because they’ve only attempted and completed one pass during their career. There are even a number of players that have a 100% completion percentage and have thrown more than one pass. But, how many non-quarterbacks have a 100% completion percentage, have completed more than one pass, and all of their completed passes have gone for touchdowns? The answer is three, they are:

Arthur Marshall - 2 for 2 with two touchdowns
Kevin Lockett - 2 for 2 with two touchdowns
Curtis Martin - 2 for 2 with two touchdowns

-Marcus Allen has been sacked more times than any other non-quarterback, during his career with the Raiders and Chiefs he was sacked six times.

The Cincinnati Bengals have spent the majority of their history in the bottom half of the league standings. The team hasn’t always been bad though as they have appeared in two Super Bowl games, though they lost both to the San Francisco 49ers. It is interesting to note that although the Bengals are known of late as a team that has not had consistency at the position of quarterback, for a period of 21 years (from 1972 to 1992) the team had only two starting quarterbacks, Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason. In fact, looking at the Bengals team history through the history of the quarterback position is quite interesting as well.

The 1960s
The Bengals played their first two seasons of professional football in the AFL, having entered the league two years before the AFL-NFL merger of 1970. The initial head coach of the Bengals would be football legend Paul Brown who was also the owner of the team. On the roster in the position of quarterback that first year was a man that would go on to coach team years later, Sam Wyche. Wyche was primarily a backup quarterback during his career though and ahead of him on the depth chart was Dewey Warren and then starting quarterback John Stofa. Stofa had been a backup for the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and 1967, and following that first season with the Bengals in 1968 he would return to finish his career in 1969 and 1970 as a backup quarterback for the Dolphins. 1969 would see highly drafted rookie Greg Cook take over at quarterback, but due to an undetected rotator cuff injury, that would be his only season as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He attempted a comeback in the early 1970s, but by then it had been too late.

The 1970s
The first sign of stability at the quarterback position for the Bengals would show up at the beginning of the new decade as the primary starting quarterback for both the 1970 and 1971 teams was former Chicago Bears backup quarterback Virgil Carter. 1970 would be Sam Wyche’s last year riding the bench for the Bengals and a new rookie quarterback was added to the team in 1971, Ken Anderson. In 1972, the offense would be turned over to Anderson who would remain in the starting quarterback position for the Bengals for the rest of the 1970s and beyond. The benefits of Anderson at the helm would show up almost immediately as he would lead the league in passing yards and quarterback rating in 1974 and 1975. Anderson was also amazingly durable, missing very few games during this time. The Bengals would put up three ten-win seasons in four years in the mid 1970s before their successes on the field became more rare near the end of the decade. During the 1970s, many quarterbacks would see time as the backup quarterback behind Ken Anderson including Virgil Carter, Greg Cook, Wayne Clark, John Reaves, and Jack Thompson.

The 1980s
To combat the sliding win-loss record, a new head coach with a history of playing on winning teams was brought in. Former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Forrest Gregg was the new head coach of the team in 1980, though the club record of 6-10 was not much of an improvement. The next year however, Ken Anderson would throw for the most yards (3,754) and touchdowns (29) of his career as the Bengals would make it all the way to the Super Bowl, losing to the 49ers by the score of 26-21. Jack Thompson remained the backup behind Anderson during this time, though longtime Bengals backup quarterback Turk Schonert would also appear on the roster in 1981. Gregg would remain the coach for the next two seasons though the team would not remain at the top of the league during that time. 1984 would see many changes come to Cincinnati. First, former backup quarterback Sam Wyche would sign on as the new head coach. Second, this would be the last season that Ken Anderson would be the primary starting quarterback for the team. And third, the main reason for that was the addition of University of Maryland rookie quarterback Boomer Esiason. In 1985, his second season with the team, Esiason would take over as the starting quarterback and in just 14 games throw for 3,443 yards and 27 touchdowns. Ken Anderson would stay with the team through the 1986 season, serving as a valuable experienced backup quarterback for Esiason to rely on. The Bengals would make another Super Bowl appearance following the 1988 season, again losing to the 49ers, this time by the score of 20-16. Esiason would remain one of the statistically better quarterbacks during the rest of the 1980s and some of his backup quarterbacks during this time were Ken Anderson, Turk Schonert, Doug Gaynor, Dave Walter, Adrian Breen, Ben Bennett, and Erik Wilhelm.

The 1990s
The 1990s would start with Esiason still at quarterback and with Schonert retired, Wilhelm would now take over as the primary backup for the Bengals. The 1990 season would also see the Bengals return to the playoffs, beating the Houston Oilers in the wildcard round before falling to the Los Angeles Raiders in the second round. No one knew it at the time, but the Bengals wouldn’t make a return trip to the playoffs for 15 years. 1991 marked Sam Wyche’s last season with the team. Esiason’s production began to slip and after two sub-par seasons he would move on to the New York Jets. The backup quarterbacks during Esiason’s final years with the team were Erik Wilhelm, Todd Philcox, Donald Hollas, and David Klingler. The starting quarterback duties in 1993 were turned over to David Klingler and Jay Schroeder was brought in as a veteran backup. After struggling, Klingler began to share starting quarterback duties with Jeff Blake in 1994 and by 1995 had replaced Hollas as the primary backup behind Blake. The starting quarterback duties would belong to Jeff Blake through much of the late 1990s, even with former Bengals great Boomer Esiason coming back to play one final season with the team in 1997. After a somewhat successful career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and then two seasons with the Jets, Neil O’Donnell came in and was the starting quarterback for most of the 1998 season, before the job was turned back over to Jeff Blake in 1999. Paul Justin and Scott Covington would see time at backup quarterback during this time, along with highly drafted prospect Akili Smith.

The 2000s
The new millennium would start out with a mid-season coaching change with the firing of Bruce Coslet and the hiring of Dick LeBeau. The 2000 season would see Akili Smith get the bulk of the starts although backup Scott Mitchell would also see significant time. 2001 would see both of them in the backup quarterback role as former Detroit Lions the next season. 2006 would see Palmer remain as the starter, backed up this time by Anthony Wright. Palmer would remain the primary starter through the rest of the decade, though 2008 would see him miss most of the season due to a season ending injury and the team’s offense would be turned over to Ryan Fitzpatrick who had been a backup quarterback with the St. Louis Rams before coming to the Bengals in 2007.

The Cincinnati Bengals have had an up and down history as a team in the NFL. They have put together some of the best seasons as well as the worst seasons of any team in the league. Other than their two long stints with Ken Anderson and then Boomer Esiason as starting quarterbacks, the quarterback position in Cincinnati has been very inconsistently manned. Like most teams, the most successful times in Bengals history have been when their has been stability at the starting quarterback position. It remains to be seen if that can be achieved when Carson Palmer recovers from this latest injury. True fans of the Cincinnati Bengals are most likely hoping so.

Through the years, cornerbacks usually lead the league in interceptions. With the position dependent so much on speed, it is usually a position dominated by young players. Typically, the yearly interception leaders fall in the age group of 25 to 28. Occasionally a player as old as 30 will lead the league in interceptions, but who is the oldest player to ever lead the league in interceptions?

The answer is the great Rod Woodson, who in 2002 at the age of 37 tied for the league lead in interceptions with 8 while playing for the Oakland Raiders.

Who is the second oldest? There would be a tie at this spot in the standings at the age of 34. This occurred in 1999 when James Hasty intercepted seven passes for the Kansas City Chiefs over the course of the season. The player Hasty tied with? Rod Woodson again, who intercepted his 7 passes that same year while playing for the Baltimore Ravens.