- Rich Gannon
Infobox NFLretired
position=Quarterback
number=12, 16
caption=Rich Gannon as a Viking in 1993
birthdate=birth date and age|1965|12|20Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
debutyear=1987
finalyear=2004
draftyear=1987
draftround=4
draftpick=98
college=Delaware
teams=
*New England Patriots (1987) *
*Minnesota Vikings (1987-1992)
*Washington Redskins (1993)
*Kansas City Chiefs (1995-1998)
*Oakland Raiders (1999-2004):*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=180-104
stat2label=Yards
stat2value=28,743
stat3label=QB Rating
stat3value=84.7
nfl=GAN296635
highlights=
* 4xPro Bowl selection (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002)
* 3xAll-Pro selection (2000, 2001, 2002)
* 2002AP NFL MVP
* 2002PFWA NFL MVP
* 2xBert Bell Award (2000, 2002)
* 2xPro Bowl MVP (2000, 2001)Richard Joseph Gannon (born
December 20 1965 in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania ) is a retired footballquarterback , who achieved most of his success late in his career with theOakland Raiders in theNational Football League .High school
Gannon attended
Saint Joseph's Preparatory and won threevarsity letter s each in football and crew, and twice inbasketball . Gannon exploded his senior season winning first team All-City as a punter and quarterback. He threw for 1,567 yards his senior season.College
Gannon attended the
University of Delaware , was a member ofSigma Phi Epsilon , and played underTubby Raymond and ran Raymond's Wing-T offense. When he led the Raiders toSuper Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he was the first player from the University of Delaware to go to theSuper Bowl .NFL career
Minnesota Vikings
He was selected in the 4th round (98th overall) of the
1987 NFL Draft by theNew England Patriots , who envisioned converting him to adefensive back . Gannon balked at the idea, and he was quickly traded to theMinnesota Vikings . After two years of playing sparingly, Gannon became the Vikings' starting quarterback in 1990, displacing incumbent Wade Wilson, until he was passed over forSean Salisbury towards the end of the 1992 season.Washington Redskins
In 1993 Gannon was released and signed with the
Washington Redskins after coming offrotator cuff surgery. Gannon started three games for Washington and was released at season's end.Kansas City Chiefs
Following a hiatus from football for the 1994 season, he signed with the
Kansas City Chiefs in 1995. For two years he served as a backup toSteve Bono . In 1997 a quarterback controversy was created when the Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injuredElvis Grbac . In the playoffs, coachMarty 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.Oakland Raiders
In February 1999 he was signed as a
free agent by theOakland Raiders . He excelled inJon Gruden 'sWest 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 thePro 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, which helped the Raiders advance toSuper Bowl XXXVII . He led the league in with 418 completions on 618 attempts.In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl record 5 interceptions, three of which were run back for touchdowns, in a 48-21 rout by the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers . The Bucs' stellar defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden, who was able to impart to the Buccaneers almost perfect knowledge of the Raiders' playbook, as well as Gannon's mannerisms and even some audibles which Oakland coachBill Callahan had left unchanged since Gruden left. [ [http://www.tienmao.com/archives/2003_01.html "Derelict predictions by Gregg Easterbrook"] , Tien Mao.com]Rich'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 when he scrambled, and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay
linebacker Derrick Brooks in Week 3.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 coachNorv Turner 's vertical offense. Gannon not only kept his starting QB spot, but thrived. He threw for 305 yards in the season opener against Pittsburgh, including a 40 yard touchdown strike toDoug 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 QB, going 2-1 when he started and 3-10 after his injury.Retirement
On August 6, 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joined CBS television as an NFL analyst. He retired as an Oakland Raider and was inducted into the
University of Delaware athletics hall of fame the same year.Broadcasting
Gannon joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005.
Personal
Bill Brown, former
Minnesota Vikings running back, is his father-in-law. [ [http://www.nflplayers.com/players/player.aspx?id=11483 Gannon's bio] ] Rich is married to Shelley Gannon. He has two daughters Alexis and Danielle. Danielle suffers fromceliac disease , a chronic digestive disorder, and cannot eatgluten s.Awards
*
Pro Bowl selections - 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002
*Pro Bowl MVP - 2000 & 2001
*NFL MVP - 2002
*Voted into University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005NFL Records
*Most completions, season - 418 (2002 --record broken by
Drew Brees during the 2007 season) [ [http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/passing "NFL Records - Passing"] , NFL.com]
*Most 300+ yard passing games, season - 10 (2002) [ [http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/passing "NFL Records - Passing"] , NFL.com]
*Most consecutive 300+ yard passing games - 6 (2002; tied with Steve Young, 1998 andKurt Warner , 2000) [ [http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/passing "NFL Records - Passing"] , NFL.com]
*Single-game record for most consecutive completions - 21 (at Denver 2002 --record broken byMark Brunell during the 2006-2007 season) [ [http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/passing "NFL Records - Passing"] , NFL.com]
*Most completions in a non-overtime game - 43 (vs. Pittsburgh 2002) [ [http://www.nfl.com/history/randf/records/indiv/passing "NFL Records - Passing"] , NFL.com]Raiders Franchise Records
*Most completions, career - 1533 [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/career-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Career Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Most completions, season - 418 (2002) [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/single-season-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Single-season Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Most attempts, season - 618 (2002) [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/single-season-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Single-season Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Most passing yards, season - 4689 (2002) [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/single-season-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Single-season Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Highest completion percentage, career (min. 500 attempts) - 62.6% [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/career-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Career Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Highest completion percentage, season (min. 200 attempts) - 67.6% (2002) [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/single-season-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Single-season Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Highest passer rating, career (min. 500 attempts) - 91.2 [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/rai/career-passing.htm "Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Career Passing Register"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]
*Most 300-yard passing games - 20 [ [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GannRi00_biggames.htm "Rich Gannon Gamelogs"] , Pro-Football-Reference.com]ee also
*
List of NFL on CBS commentator pairings External links
*espn nfl|id=0430|name=Rich Gannon
* [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/GannRi00.htm Career statistics] at pro-football-reference.comReferences
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