Dan Fouts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dan Fouts
Date of birth	June 10, 1951 (age 55)
Place of birth	San Francisco, California
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Oregon
NFL Draft	1973 / Round 3/ Pick 84
Career Highlights
Pro Bowls	6
Awards	1982 AP Offensive Player of the Year 1979 Pro Bowl MVP 1979 PFWA MVP 1979 UPI AFL-AFC MVP 1979 UPI AFL-AFC MVP
Honors	NFL 1980s All-Decade Team
Retired #s	San Diego Chargers #14
Records	San Diego Chargers Career passing yards San Diego Chargers Career touchdowns
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1973-1987	San Diego Chargers
Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1993

Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951 in San Francisco, California) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers from 1973 through 1987, and is famous for being one of the most prolific quarterbacks of the Super Bowl Era.

1 Family
2 Pro Football career
3 Honors
4 After Pro Football
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Family

Fouts's father, Bob Fouts, was a long-time announcer for the San Francisco 49ers, and Dan was a ball boy for the team while growing up.

[edit] Pro Football career

Drafted in the third round out of the University of Oregon, Fouts helped lead the Chargers to the playoffs from 1979 to 1982 and twice to the AFC title game (1980 and 1981). He led the league four times in passing yards; ending his career with over 40,000, the third player to surpass that landmark. Fouts was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.

Fouts was a 6 time Pro-Bowl selection (1979-1983 & 1985) and compiled passer ratings over 90.0 for a 3 year stretch (1981-83). Fouts threw for over 4,000 yards for 3 consecutive seasons (1979-81), led the NFL in passing yards in 4 consecutive seasons(1979-1982) and 6 times eclipsed the 20 Touchdown mark with a career high 33 in 1981. His career high of 4,802 passing yards during the 1981 season was an NFL record at the time. Fouts garnered All-Pro selections in both 1979 and 1982, while also being named 2nd Team All-Pro in 1980 and 1985. In addition Fouts was also named 2nd Team All-AFC in 1981 and 1983. However, Fouts and the Chargers lost both AFC Championship Games in which they played. The first one, in January 1981, was played in Cincinnati on one of the coldest days in NFL history). A stingy Bengal defense held the highly ranked San Diego offense to just seven points.

Fouts's first few years in the league were inauspicious, but with the arrival of Don "Air" Coryell in 1978 the Chargers' fortunes turned. Yet it was actually two years earlier, with the arrival of Bill Walsh as the Charger's offensive coordinator, that the seeds of success were planted. Under Coryell, the Chargers were known for the deep passing game and the involvement of the tight end as a key receiver. This required a tough, intelligent quarterback with a strong arm. Fouts filled the bill.

Fouts was not a mobile quarterback and the deep passing game led to many hits. Fouts's ability to take punishment and still play at a very high level is unique. Rarely using the shotgun, Fouts would drop back from center and look for one of a bevy of great receivers. Wide receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow were the most famous, both now in the Hall of Fame, but John Jefferson and Wes Chandler, among others, were key. Pass protection was also critical for such an offense. The Chargers had an excellent offensive line which protected Fouts well, and included 4 time Pro-Bowler Ed White, 5 time Pro-Bowler Russ Washington, 3 time Pro-Bowler Doug Wilkerson, Billy Shields and Don Macek.

Despite going to the playoffs from 1979 through 1982 and playing in 2 AFC Championship Games, the Chargers never went to the Super Bowl under Fouts (although they went 7 years after his retirement). Usually this is attributed to poor defense and their unwillingness to run the ball. In Fouts' prime the defense was not as stellar, but the running game became far better with the addition of James Brooks. The defense had little opportunity to improve as the offense often scored quickly, leaving the defense to spend far too much time on the field. Overall, the Chargers achieved three wins against four losses in the playoffs under Fouts, who threw for over 300 yards in all but two of those games. One of their more notable wins was a game known in NFL Lore as The Epic in Miami, where Fouts led his team to victory by completing 33 of 53 passes for a franchise record 433 yards and 3 touchdowns. His completions, attempts, and yards in the game were all NFL posteason records.

The following season, he threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31-28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC divisional playoff round.

[edit] Honors

Fouts finished his 15 NFL seasons with 3,297 of 5,604 completions for 43,040 yards and 254 touchdowns, with 242 interceptions. He also rushed for 476 yards and 13 touchdowns

Dan Fouts is one of only six quarterbacks in NFL history that have achieved two consecutive (back-to-back) 30-touchdown passing seasons at least one time in their careers. The others are Steve Bartkowski, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, Jeff Garcia and Y.A. Tittle. He was also the third quarterback in NFL history to reach the 40,000 passing yards milestone, after fellow hall of famers Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton, and the first quarterback ever to throw for over 4,000 yards in back to back seasons.

Fouts' jersey number, 14, is one of two such numbers retired by the San Diego Chargers.

In 1999, he was ranked number 92 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

[edit] After Pro Football

Fouts's post-NFL career included a well-received commentator role on ABC's Monday Night Football, alongside famed MNF anchor Al Michaels and comedian Dennis Miller. He also served as a college football analyst alongside Brent Musberger and Keith Jackson (after Fouts' MNF departure).

After Jackson's retirement in 2006, Fouts became a play-by-play announcer, adding his own commentary on the game at times since he was a former player and analyst. His broadcast partner for 2006 is Tim Brant^[1] now that Jackson has opted to permanently retire. (Jackson previously said he was going to retire after the 1998 college football season, but elected to stay on to call Pac-10 games for ABC, including the annual Rose Bowl.)

Fouts also did color commentary for the football video game NFL Gameday 2003. He partnered with long-time announcer Dick Enberg.