Vinny Testaverde

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Vinny Testaverde
Vinny Testaverde during his 2005 tenure with the New York Jets.
Date of birth	November 13, 1963
Place of birth	Brooklyn, New York
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	University of Miami
NFL Draft	1987 / Round 1/Pick 1
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	2
Awards	1986 Heisman Trophy 1986 Maxwell Award 1986 Walter Camp Award 1986 Davey O'Brien Award
Records	NFL Consecutive Seasons with a Touchdown Pass
Stats
Statistics	CBS.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1987-1992 1993-1995 1996-1997 1998-2003 2004 2005 2006-present	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cleveland Browns Baltimore Ravens New York Jets Dallas Cowboys New York Jets New England Patriots

Vincent Frank Testaverde (born November 13, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American football quarterback for the National Football League's New England Patriots. As a University of Miami quarterback, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1986.

1 University of Miami
2 NFL career
3 Career statistics
4 Career highlights
5 External links

[edit] University of Miami

Testaverde was a star quarterback at the University of Miami, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1986 on his way to becoming the Hurricanes all-time leader in career touchdown passes (46).

Testaverde played an important part in the University of Miami's ascendance as one of the top collegiate football programs of the 1980s and 1990s. Along with Jim Kelly and Bernie Kosar, Testaverde is considered part of the University of Miami's quarterback dynasty.

[edit] NFL career

Testaverde was the first overall draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1987 NFL draft. He has played in two Pro Bowls (in 1996 with the Baltimore Ravens and 1998 with the New York Jets) in twenty (through 2006) seasons in the NFL.

[edit] Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Testaverde was once the
highest paid player in football.

In 1988, Testaverde became the Bucs' starting quarterback, throwing a 47.6% completion rate for 3,240 yards and 13 touchdowns, but with 35 interceptions. Toward the end of his tenure in Tampa, Testaverde began to receive taunts from fans and radio personalities about his color blindness. In 1991 a radio station in Tampa rented a billboard after losing to the New York Giants that had Testaverde standing in front of a blue background. The billboard read: "Vinny thinks this is orange!" His numbers continued to improve and, by the 1992 season, his last with Tampa Bay, he threw for a 57.5% completion rate for 2,554 yards and 14 touchdowns.

[edit] Cleveland Browns/Baltimore Ravens

Testaverde signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Cleveland Browns in 1992. He spent three seasons in Cleveland, then moved with the Browns to Baltimore and played two more seasons with the newly-renamed Baltimore Ravens. Testaverde made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1996 with the Ravens.

[edit] New York Jets

In 1998, his first season with the Jets, Testaverde flourished, completing 61.5% of his passes with 29 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. In arguably his best season in the NFL, he led the Jets to the 1998 AFC East title to the AFC Championship game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos. Testaverde tore his achilles tendon in the first game of the 1999 season, costing him the rest of season with the injury.

In 2000, however, he returned to quarterback the "Miracle of the Meadowlands" game in October. In that game, the Jets fell behind 30-7, going into the 4th quarter but came back to win the game, 40-37. In the "miracle" comeback, Testaverde threw 5 touchdown passes, including one to Laveranues Coles, Jermaine Wiggins, Jumbo Elliot, and two to Wayne Chrebet.

In 2001, he led the Jets to the playoffs. In 2002, he was replaced mid-season by Chad Pennington. He made cameo appearances to take the last snap in the playoff clinching game versus the Green Bay Packers, as well as a 41-0 playoff win against the Indianapolis Colts. In each of these appearances, he was greated with standing ovations, as well as chants of VINNY!! In 2003, he was assigned to a backup role behind Pennington, although he started the first 6 games due to Pennington's left wrist injury.

[edit] Dallas Cowboys

Despite his injuries, Testaverde's performance with the Jets endeared him to coach Bill Parcells, who retired from coaching in 1999. One year after Parcells was lured out of retirement by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, he brought Testaverde to his new team in 2004.

Testaverde initially was signed to be a backup and mentor to young Cowboys quarterback Quincy Carter. But after Carter was abruptly cut by the Cowboys, Testaverde was given the starting quarterback job. While many questioned Testaverde's ability to still play in the NFL, the protection schemes and play calling allowed him to showcase his arm with mixed results. He was able to throw for significant yardage, but led the league in interceptions, getting picked off on 4 % of his passes.

Testaverde's one-year contract with the Cowboys expired early in 2005. The Cowboys chose to instead sign Parcells' 1993 number one draft pick, Drew Bledsoe, as their top quarterback, leaving Testaverde without a contract. Parcells cites Testaverede's presence in Dallas as having been important to the development of current starter Tony Romo.

[edit] Back with the New York Jets

As injuries on September 25 knocked both Chad Pennington and backup Jay Fiedler out for the 2005 season, the New York Jets re-signed Testaverde on September 27, 2005. Testaverde was named the Jets' starting quarterback in week five of the 2005 season, in a home game against the team which originally drafted him, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

On December 26, against the New England Patriots on the final ABC telecast of Monday Night Football, Testaverde set a new NFL record for most consecutive seasons with at least one touchdown pass, 19, by throwing a 27-yard pass to Laveranues Coles to secure the record. That pass is also notable as being the last touchdown pass thrown on Monday Night Football while it was still broadcast by ABC. The game was also notable because the Patriots sent in back-up quarterback Doug Flutie, making this the first game in NFL history in which two quarterbacks over the age of 40 completed a pass (Testaverde was 42, Flutie was 43).

After the 2005 season, Testaverde officially retired from the NFL, though there was speculation that he could be called upon by an NFL team should injuries warrant his being called upon. The Cleveland Browns were one such team that has expressed a possible interest in Testaverde. On September 26th, 2006 the New England Patriots brought Testaverde in for a workout, with the idea of possibly using him as a backup for Tom Brady.

[edit] Reunited with Belichick

On November 14, 2006, the New England Patriots signed Testaverde as a backup quarterback. Testaverde is likely to serve as the Patriots' third quarterback and as counsel to starter Tom Brady. Coach Bill Belichick, who had also worked with him in Cleveland, said he does not expect Testaverde to see any playing time.[1]. However, Testaverde took a few snaps against the Packers on November 19, 2006.

[edit] Career statistics

		Passing							Rushing
Season	Team	GP	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	INT	Att	Yds	TD
1987	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	6	71	165	43.0	1081	5	6	13	50	1
1988	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	15	222	466	47.6	3240	13	35	28	138	1
1989	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14	258	480	53.8	3133	20	22	25	139	0
1990	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14	203	365	55.6	2818	17	18	38	280	1
1991	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	13	166	326	50.9	1994	8	15	32	101	0
1992	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	14	206	358	57.5	2554	14	16	36	197	2
1993	Cleveland Browns	10	130	230	56.5	1797	14	9	18	74	0
1994	Cleveland Browns	14	207	376	55.1	2575	16	18	21	37	2
1995	Cleveland Browns	13	241	392	61.5	2883	17	10	18	62	2
1996	Baltimore Ravens	16	325	549	59.2	4177	33	19	34	188	2
1997	Baltimore Ravens	13	271	470	57.7	2971	18	15	34	138	0
1998	New York Jets	14	259	421	61.5	3256	29	7	24	104	1
1999	New York Jets	1	10	15	66.7	96	1	1	0	0	0
2000	New York Jets	16	328	590	55.6	3732	21	25	25	32	0
2001	New York Jets	16	260	441	59.0	2752	15	14	31	25	0
2002	New York Jets	5	54	83	65.1	499	3	3	2	23	0
2003	New York Jets	7	123	198	62.1	1385	7	2	6	17	0
2004	Dallas Cowboys	16	297	495	60.0	3532	17	20	21	38	1
2005	New York Jets	6	60	106	56.6	777	1	6	7	4	2
2006	New England Patriots	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	3	-3	0
	Totals	224	3691	6526	56.6	45252	269	261	416	1644	15

[edit] Career highlights

Preceded by: Bo Jackson	Heisman Trophy Winner 1986	Succeeded by: Tim Brown
Preceded by: Steve Deberg	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Starting Quarterbacks 1987-1992	Succeeded by: Craig Erickson
Preceded by: Bernie Kosar	Cleveland Browns Starting Quarterbacks 1993-1995	Succeeded by: Ty Detmer
Preceded by: First Starting QB	Baltimore Ravens Starting Quarterbacks 1996-1997	Succeeded by: Jim Harbaugh
Preceded by: Neil O'Donnell	New York Jets Starting Quarterbacks 1998-2001	Succeeded by: Chad Pennington
Preceded by: Quincy Carter	Dallas Cowboys Starting Quarterbacks 2004	Succeeded by: Drew Bledsoe
Preceded by: Chad Pennington	New York Jets Starting Quarterbacks 2005	Succeeded by: Brooks Bollinger
Preceded by: Bernie Kosar	Miami Hurricanes Starting Quarterbacks 1985-1986	Succeeded by: Steve Walsh

[edit] External links

National Football League number one overall Draft picks

Berwanger • Francis • C. Davis • Aldrich • Cafego • Harmon • Dudley • Sinkwich • Bertelli • Trippi • Dancewicz • Fenimore • Gilmer • Bednarik • Hart • Rote • Wade • Babcock • Garrett • Shaw • Glick • Hornung • Hill • Duncan • Cannon • Mason • E. Davis • Baker • Parks • Frederickson • Nobis • Bu. Smith • Yary • Bradshaw • Plunkett • Patulski • Matuszak • Jones • Bartkowski • Selmon • Bell • Campbell • Cousineau • B. Sims • Rogers • K. Sims • Elway • Fryar • Br. Smith • Jackson • Testaverde • Bruce • Aikman • George • Maryland • Emtman • Bledsoe • Wilkinson • Carter • Johnson • Pace • P. Manning • Couch • Brown • Vick • Carr • Palmer • E. Manning • A. Smith • Williams

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