Steve Grogan

For the murderer and member of the Manson Family, see Steve "Clem" Grogan.
Steve Grogan
No. 14
Position: Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: (1953-07-24) July 24, 1953
Place of birth: San Antonio, Texas
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Career information
College: Kansas State
NFL Draft: 1975 / Round: 5 / Pick: 116
Career history
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT: 217–208
Passing yards: 26,886
QB Rating: 69.6
Rushing yards: 2,176
Rushing touchdowns: 35
Player stats at NFL.com

Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is a former American football quarterback. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons and spent the entirety of his career with the New England Patriots. He was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995.

High school and college

Grogan had a standout prep career in Kansas at Ottawa High School[1] where he led his team to state titles in track in 1970,[2] basketball in 1971,[3] and a state runner-up finish in football.

Grogan spent his collegiate career at Kansas State University, where he started as a quarterback for his junior and senior years.[4] He threw for 2,214 yards, completing 166 of 371 pass attempts, with 12 TDs and 26 interceptions.[4] 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.[4] Against Memphis in 1973, he had a 100-yard rushing game.[5]

New England Patriots: 1975-1990

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, his career was also marked by injuries and quarterback controversies, with Grogan competing 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. Besides taking the starting job from former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett as a rookie,[6] Grogan would later face competition from Matt Cavanaugh, Tony Eason, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, and Marc Wilson. (By the time Wilson came to the Patriots, he had spent several years battling the displaced Plunkett for the starting job of the Raiders.)

In his first season, Grogan played in 13 games out of the then-14 game regular season, starting 7 of the last 8.[4] Grogan threw for 1,976 yards, 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.[7] The Patriots finished with a 3-11 record, and traded Plunkett, their starter for the previous four years,[6] in the off-season. (Plunkett would eventually lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.)

For the Patriots 1976 season, Grogan led the Patriots to an 11-3 record and 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. However,they lost the divisional playoffs (24-21) to the Raiders. Grogan scored 12 rushing touchdowns in 1976, breaking a record of 11 previously held by Tobin Rote and Johnny Lujack.[8][9][10] His record would stand for 35 years until broken by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's 14 in 2011.[11]

In the Patriots 1978 season, Grogan led the Pats to an 11-5 record, a division title and the organization's first ever home playoff game, a 31-14 loss to the Houston Oilers. The Pats set the all-time single season team rushing record with 3,156 yards (Grogan rushing for 539 yards and 5 touchdowns himself). That record still stands as the most productive rushing team ever in the history of the NFL.[12] It is also the only season an NFL team has had 4 players rush for over 500 yards apiece.[4]

In the early 1980s, Grogan suffered several injuries,[6] and the Patriots drafted quarterback Tony Eason in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft.

By the Patriots 1985 season, Eason had taken the starting quarterback position and led the Patriots to a 2-3 record initially. Coach Raymond Berry benched Eason for Grogan. The Patriots won 6 straight wins behind their old quarterback, only to lose Grogan when he suffered a broken leg in Week 12 against the New York Jets.[13] Filling in again at QB, Eason and the Patriots lost that Jets game 16-13 in overtime, and relinquished 1st place in the AFC East Division. With Eason's return, the Patriots went 3-2 in their remaining five games. Finishing the season with an 11-5 record, the Patriots earned a wild card berth into the playoffs and eventually reached Super Bowl XX, where they faced the Chicago Bears, who, with their defensive coach Buddy Ryan's "46" defense, had gone 15-1 during the regular season. Eason, who had led the Patriots to victory in the wild card, divisional, and conference playoff games, started the game, but the Patriots could do little against the Bears' defense and Eason went 0-6 in passing attempts; Coach Berry replaced him with Grogan. Grogan went on to connect on 17 of 30 passes for 177 yards, a touchdown, but also two interceptions, in the 46-10 loss.[13] Of little solace was the fact that the Patriots were the only team to score against the Bears in the playoffs that season.[13]

At the time of his retirement, Grogan led the franchise as the all-time leader in passing yards (26,886) and passing touchdowns (182).[14] He is third in passing yards and passing touchdowns behind Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe.[14] His 16 seasons are the most ever for a Patriots player. He also held the Patriots previous single-game record with a 153.9 quarterback rating, achieved by completing 13-of-18 passes for 315 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions against the New York Jets on September 9, 1979, before Drew Bledsoe posted a perfect 158.3 rating against the Indianapolis Colts on December 26, 1993.[15]

Statistically, Grogan's best season was the Patriots 1979 season, when he completed 206 of 423 passes for 3,286 yards and 28 touchdowns, rushing for 368 yards and 2 touchdowns.[16] His 28 touchdown passes led the league, tied with Brian Sipe of Cleveland,[17] and his rushing yards led the league for quarterbacks.[4]

Grogan rushed for 2,176 yards (4.9 per carry) and 35 touchdowns during his career,[18] a mark which places him as the Patriots' fourth overall in rushing touchdowns.[18] With Grogan, the Patriots made the playoffs five times (1976, 1978, 1982, 1985, and 1986 as a backup). Before Grogan was drafted, the Pats made the playoffs just once from 1960-1974.

Grogan's injuries and his toughness in response to them are also part of his legacy. One sports writer for the main Massachusetts paper, the Boston Globe, wrote of the "Grogan Toughness Meter" in 2003. The writer, Nick Cafardo, gave a partial listing of Grogan's injuries over his 16-year career: "Five knee surgeries; screws in his leg after the tip of his fibula snapped; a cracked fibula that snapped when he tried to practice; two ruptured disks in his neck, which he played with for 1 1/2 seasons; a broken left hand (he simply handed off with his right hand); two separated shoulders on each side; the reattachment of a tendon to his throwing elbow; and three concussions."[19]

Honors

Grogan's high school, Ottawa High School in Ottawa, Kansas has named its football stadium after him.[20]

Kansas State has retired the number Grogan wore for the Wildcats, #11, to jointly honor him and Lynn Dickey, who also wore #11.[21] It is the only number retired by Kansas State.[21] (Grogan wore #14 with the Patriots.)[4][22]

Grogan was named to the Patriots 35th Anniversary Team in 1994,[23] and was elected into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995.[24] He was also elected to the Patriot's All-Decade teams of the 1970s and the 1980s.[23]

See also

Statistics

Regular season

Year Team GP GS Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles Notes
Att Comp Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD Sack Yds Fum Lost
1975 NE 13 7 274 139 50.7 1976 7.21 11 18 60.4 30 110 3.7 3 22 207 6 2 Rookie season, Patriots go 3-11.
1976 NE 14 14 302 145 48.0 1903 6.30 18 20 60.6 60 397 6.6 12 18 155 6 2 Patriots go 11-3, are the AFC wildcard team.
1977 NE 14 14 305 160 52.5 2162 7.09 17 21 65.2 61 324 5.3 1 14 155 7 5 Final season with 14-game schedule.
1978 NE 16 16 362 182 50.0 2824 7.80 15 23 63.6 81 539 6.7 5 21 184 9 7 Patriots go 11-5, win division. Team rushing record.
1979 NE 16 16 423 206 48.7 3286 7.77 28 20 77.4 64 368 5.8 2 45 341 12 8 Final season Grogan would start all games.
1980 NE 12 12 306 175 57.2 2475 8.09 18 22 73.1 30 112 3.7 1 17 138 4 3 Knee surgery, April. Sprains left knee (9/21), right knee (9/28).
1981 NE 8 7 216 117 54.2 1859 8.61 7 16 63.0 12 49 4.1 2 19 137 5 3 Week 2 neck injury, misses 4 games. Week 11, knee injury, out for rest of season. Patriots go 2-14.
1982 NE 6 6 122 66 54.1 930 7.62 7 4 84.4 9 42 4.7 1 8 48 2 1 Strike-shortened season. Patriots make playoffs.
1983 NE 12 12 303 168 55.4 2411 7.96 15 12 81.4 23 108 4.7 2 29 195 4 3 Highest QB rating playing at least 10 games. Breaks leg (11/20). Patriots go 8-8.
1984 NE 3 3 68 32 47.1 444 6.53 3 6 46.4 7 12 1.7 0 7 45 4 2
1985 NE 7 6 156 85 54.5 1311 8.40 7 5 84.1 20 29 1.5 2 11 86 6 5 Breaks leg and injures medial collateral ligament (11/24). Lose to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX.
1986 NE 4 2 102 62 60.8 976 9.57 9 2 113.8 9 23 2.6 1 4 34 2 1 Has (throwing) elbow surgery in off-season. Patriots go 11-5, win division.
1987 NE 7 6 161 93 57.8 1183 7.35 10 9 78.2 20 37 1.9 2 7 55 8 2 Strike-shortened season.
1988 NE 6 4 140 67 47.9 834 5.96 4 13 37.6 6 12 2.0 1 8 77 2 1 Neck surgery in off-season. Head and neck injury (11/15), out three games. Breaks left hand (12/20).
1989 NE 7 6 261 133 51.0 1697 6.50 9 14 60.8 9 19 2.1 0 8 64 3 1 Patriots go 5-11.
1990 NE 4 4 92 50 54.3 615 6.68 4 3 76.1 4 -5 -1.3 0 9 68 1 0 Patriots go 1-15. Grogan starts only win.[25]
Total 149 135 3,593 1,897 52.3 26,886 7.48 182 208 69.6 445 2,176 4.9 35 247 1,986 81 47

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS Passing Rushing Sacked Fumbles Notes
Att Comp Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD Sack Yds Fum Lost
1976 NE 1 1 23 12 52.2 167 7.3 1 1 72.2 7 35 5.0 0 0 0 0 0 Loss to Oakland, 21-24.
1978 NE 1 1 12 3 25.0 38 3.2 0 2 0.7 1 16 16.0 0 1 3 0 0 Loss to Houston, 14-31.
1982 NE 1 1 30 16 53.3 189 6.3 1 2 56.1 0 0 0.0 0 4 29 0 0 Loss to Miami, 13-28.
1985 NE 1 0 30 17 56.7 177 5.9 1 2 57.2 1 3 3.0 0 4 33 0 0 Grogan replaces Eason in Super Bowl.
1986 NE 0 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Grogan DNP in loss to Denver.
Total 4 3 95 48 50.5 571 6.0 3 7 49.1 9 54 6.0 0 9 65 0 0

Stats from Database of Football,[1] the NFL,[16] and Pro-Football-Reference.com.[25] Injury information from New England Patriots.[4]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Database of Football, Steve Grogan
  2. ↑ Boys State Indoor Track & Field Meets, KSHSAA http://www.kshsaa.org/Public/Track/PDF/CompleteHistory.pdf
  3. ↑ History of Boys State Basketball Winners, KSHSAA http://www.kshsaa.org/Public/Basketball/PDF/CompleteHistory.pdf
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Steve Grogan, Official New England Patriots Biography
  5. ↑ K-State Football Records
  6. 1 2 3 Gill, J. (2010, August 18). Boston sports, then and now: Steve Grogan. Boston Sports, Then and Now.
  7. ↑ Steve Grogan, QB at NFL.com
  8. ↑ Bedard, Greg A. (December 4, 2011), "Grogan reflects on his record-setting feet", The Boston Globe, The New York Times Company and BostonGlobe.com
  9. ↑ 1976 NFL Rushing Statistics - The Football Database
  10. ↑ Harrison, E. (2010, October 8). From Moss to Johnny U, these are the most impressive records. NFL.com.
  11. ↑ Person, Joe (December 4, 2011), "Newton rushes to record in win", The Charlotte Observer
  12. ↑ 2010 NFL Record and Stat Book, All Time Team Records
  13. 1 2 3 Zimmerman, P. (1986, February 3). A brilliant case for the defense. Sports Illustrated.
  14. 1 2 New England Patriots, All Time Leaders, Passing
  15. ↑ "Drew Bledsoe: Game Logs", NFL.com
  16. 1 2 Steve Grogan: Career Stats at NFL.com
  17. ↑ 2010 NFL Record and Stat Book, Yearly Stat Leaders
  18. 1 2 New England Patriots, All Time Leaders, Rushing
  19. ↑ Cafardo, N. (2003, September 25). Brady inspires tough love. Boston Globe.
  20. ↑ Ottawa Senior High School student handbook
  21. 1 2 Haskin, K. (2002, August 7). Kansas State will unveil a ring of honor at KSU. Topeka Capital-Journal.
  22. ↑ Gill, J. (2010, December 1). Patriots Grogan and Bledsoe caught in retired numbers game. Bleacher Report.
  23. 1 2 Patriot's Anniversary Teams
  24. ↑ Patriot's Hall of Fame
  25. 1 2 Pro-Football-Reference.com, 1990 New England Patriots
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