25 best small-school quarterbacks in NFL history

[Ness]

This article was via Yardbarker.com. I'm trying to think of something others, but this about sums it up, at least in the modern era.

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles ... 32#slide_1

[ChrisBabcock]

Interesting article. The 3 that immediately popped into my mind were Warner, Simms and McNair.

[JeffreyMiller]

Jack Kemp ... Occidental

[rhickok1109]

I wonder how they define "small school."

Central Florida, for example, is a Division I FBS school that has the largest enrollment of any college in Florida. San Jose State is also a division I FBS school with an enrollment well over 30,000.

[Bryan]

I wonder how they define "small school."

Central Florida, for example, is a Division I FBS school that has the largest enrollment of any college in Florida. San Jose State is also a division I FBS school with an enrollment well over 30,000.

Yeah, the criteria is a bit wonky. The article says "be it low-level Division I programs or non-Division I schools"...if that is the case, then any QB from my alma mater (U of Illinois) should be considered for this list!

What about Steve Young and all of those BYU QBs? Does Roger Staubach of Navy qualify?

I remember hearing about Neil Lomax when he was in college, because he was setting all the passing records. I think Dave Krieg would have to be the ultimate small-school QB, because his school ceased to exist. There was a period of time in the Pennington/Leftwich/Roethlisberger era that the MAC conference was producing the best QBs. Strange.

[Brian wolf]

Luckman went to Columbia ...

[Lee Elder]

I wonder how they define "small school."

Central Florida, for example, is a Division I FBS school that has the largest enrollment of any college in Florida. San Jose State is also a division I FBS school with an enrollment well over 30,000.

Yeah, the criteria is a bit wonky. The article says "be it low-level Division I programs or non-Division I schools"...if that is the case, then any QB from my alma mater (U of Illinois) should be considered for this list!

What about Steve Young and all of those BYU QBs? Does Roger Staubach of Navy qualify?

I remember hearing about Neil Lomax when he was in college, because he was setting all the passing records. I think Dave Krieg would have to be the ultimate small-school QB, because his school ceased to exist. There was a period of time in the Pennington/Leftwich/Roethlisberger era that the MAC conference was producing the best QBs. Strange.

If Grambling State qualifies a small school, then James Harris could be added to the list.

[sheajets]

Tim Rattay was another Louisiana Tech guy and had a tremendous collegiate career. Nowadays he's best known as one of the guys selected ahead of Brady

He wasn't this big prospect or anything. In 16 career starts as a 49er he went an ugly 4-12, but threw for nearly 4,000 yards, 24td's, 18ints, and a completion percentage of 60.8. Not bad at all.

[Brian wolf]

Wasnt Jaworski from Youngstown State ? The Titans have Willis from Liberty, though he was at Auburn.

Always have been intrigued by Brett Favre's time at Southern Miss ... Did his dad Irvin Favre, always intend him to go to that one school ? Brett had great talent in high school but his father never showcased his passing skills, running a wishbone running attack as the head coach. I believe Irvin talked with the University about recruiting Brett but according to the Favre Fourever NFL Films documentary, they were the only school to offer him a scholarship. Did other schools simply miss out ?
Did Irvin deliberately downplay Brett's athletic ability, knowing he would go to his local university to play ? Even when Brett joined the University team, they wanted him to play safety but Brett convinced them to let him play QB ... After his horrible auto accident before his senior year at Southern Miss, its a miracle Brett played football again at all. His hip was as torn up at the socket as Bo Jackson's but he never needed the hip replacement. The Packer doctors failed him on his physical but Ron Wolf the GM overuled them ... A bold move that eventually put both of them in the HOF ...

[rhickok1109]

Tim Rattay was another Louisiana Tech guy and had a tremendous collegiate career. Nowadays he's best known as one of the guys selected ahead of Brady

He wasn't this big prospect or anything. In 16 career starts as a 49er he went an ugly 4-12, but threw for nearly 4,000 yards, 24td's, 18ints, and a completion percentage of 60.8. Not bad at all.

Patriiots' scouts were very high on Rattay but Belichick was suspicious because they were left over from the previous regime, so he sent Dick Rehbein down to Louisiana Tech to review his film. Rehbein reported that Brady, whom he had previously scouted at Michigan, was much better than Rattay.