Brian Griese

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Brian Griese
Date of birth	March 18, 1975 (age 32)
Place of birth	Miami, Florida
Position(s)	QB
College	Michigan
NFL Draft	1998 / Round 3 / Pick 91
Pro Bowls	2001
Statistics	NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1998 - 2002 2003 2004 - 2005 2006 - Present	Denver Broncos Miami Dolphins Tampa Bay Buccaneers Chicago Bears

Brian David Griese (born March 18, 1975, Miami, Florida, USA) is an American football player who currently plays quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the NFL. He is the son of former NFL great Bob Griese of the Miami Dolphins. They wrote a book together, Undefeated (ISBN 0-7852-7021-3), published in 2000 about their lives through their undefeated seasons and living through the breast cancer illness and death of Brian's mother and Bob's first wife, Judi.

Contents 1 High school years 2 College career 3 Professional career 4 External links

[edit] High school years

Griese attended Columbus High School in Miami, Florida and was a letterman in football, basketball, and golf. In football, he won All-State third team honors as a senior

[edit] College career

Griese played college football at the University of Michigan 1993-1997. The Wolverines had not offered him a scholarship, and he was a walk-on to the football team. After being redshirted in 1993, and being limited to placekicker holding duties in 1994, Griese took over for Scott Dreisbach after Dreisbach got injured five games into the 1995 season. Griese finished as the starter for the remainder of the 1995 season, including a stunning upset of then #2 Ohio State, 31-23.

Griese ran into off-season trouble after the end of the 1995 season. On April 7, 1996, Griese was locked out of a local bar, called Scorekeepers, by the staff, after entering and exiting several times through the fire exit doors. After being locked out, Griese broke the bar's window. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor malicious destruction of property charge for this offense.

At the beginning of the 1996 season, Dreisbach regained his starting job and Griese was sent to the bench, serving on the team as a pooch punter. However, after Dreisbach struggled that season, Griese replaced him at halftime in the game against #2 Ohio State, where he led the Wolverines to upset the Buckeyes again, 13-9. Griese finished out that season as the starter in a 17-14 loss to Alabama in the Outback Bowl.

In 1997, Griese remained the starter. He, along with Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson, led the Wolverines to an undefeated season and a share of the national championship. Griese was selected the most valuable player of the Rose Bowl, going 18-30 for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns defeating Washington State University. His father says that watching him in that Rose Bowl was one of the proudest moments of his life.

Altogether, Griese went 17-5 as a starter at Michigan. He also has a 3-0 record (2-0 as a starter) against Ohio State. In addition, Griese was a member of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta. He also received his Bachelor's degree in an Individualized Concentration from the UM in 1997.

[edit] Professional career

Brian Griese was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft. His Wonderlic Test score was a 39. Griese began his professional career as a 3rd string-backup to Bubby Brister and John Elway. As a rookie, Griese was a member of the Super Bowl champion Broncos, though he primarily watched from the sidelines. Elway retired after that season, and Griese then became a starting quarterback, earning a place in the 2000 Pro Bowl, the same year his QB rating of 102.9 earned the NFL QB rating title.

Griese's performance declined after injuries. He was cut and replaced with former Cardinals starter Jake Plummer. He was later signed to the Miami Dolphins and then to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His stint with the Dolphins, where his father Bob Griese was a legend, was brief. Griese was given the starting job when the Dolphins starting quarterback Jay Fiedler got injured. Griese had an excellent start as a Dolphin, passing for 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in a blowout victory against San Diego. But he was less impressive in later games which he blamed on a lack of pass protection and a weak offensive line and was benched for more mobile Jay Fiedler, who proved to be more effective.

He was able to perform well for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and provided a catalyst for the jumpstart of the Tampa offense. Griese helped them to their only victories in 2004 with a 97.5 QB rating and to a 5-1 record in 2005 before succumbing to a torn ACL. Griese was cut by the Buccaneers in 2006 after his injury to his knee in order to free up money for the salary cap. On March 21, 2006, he signed a five year contract with the Chicago Bears.

After signing with the Bears, Griese saw limited action. Though he fared better than Rex Grossman during the 2006 Pre-Season, coach Lovie Smith decided to keep Griese as the Bears’ second string quarterback. He took late fourth quarter snaps at the end of blow-out victories. Smith allowed Griese to resume the role as a starter during week fifteen of the season, after the Bears had clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. In a game against the Detroit Lions, Griese completed six of nine passes for 51 yards, which set up several game-winning Robbie Gould field goals. Smith called Griese to relieve a struggling Grossman during a following game against the Green Bay Packers, where he completed 5 of 15 passes for 124 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Though many Chicagoans questioned Grossman’s ability to lead the Bears to the Super Bowl, Lovie Smith stood by Grossman, and declared him the teams starter throughout the playoffs. Grossman led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI, where the Indianapolis Colts beat them, 29-17.

[edit] External links

• Pro-Football-Reference.com - career statistics.
• Brian Griese is founder and board president of Judi's House, a children's grief support center in Denver, Colorado.

Preceded by Scott Dreisbach	Michigan Wolverines Starting Quarterbacks 1995 – 1997	Succeeded by Tom Brady
Preceded by John Elway	Denver Broncos Starting Quarterbacks 1999-2002	Succeeded by Jake Plummer
Preceded by Jay Fiedler	Miami Dolphins Starting Quarterbacks 2003	Succeeded by Jay Fiedler
Preceded by Brad Johnson	Tampa Bay Buccaneers Starting Quarterbacks 2004-2005	Succeeded by Chris Simms

Miami Dolphins Starting Quarterbacks
Wood • Bo. Griese • Strock • Woodley • Marino • Fiedler • Br. Griese • Feeley • Frerotte • Culpepper • Harrington • Lemon