Bret Stafford

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Bret Stafford (born c. 1965) is a former American football player. He started as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns for almost 2½ seasons, 1985-87. Stafford established numerous UT records during his collegiate career, among them most passing years in a season (2,233) in 1986, and most passing yards over a career (4,735). However, most of his records have since been surpassed by Peter Gardere, James Brown, Major Applewhite, and Vince Young.

A native of Amarillo, Texas, Stafford's family moved to Temple in 1972, where his father, Dick Stafford, served as offensive coordinator to Bob McQueen at Temple High School. Bret Stafford had immediate impact on the Wildcats varsity, starting as a freshman, never losing a district title game, and leading Temple to its first state title in 1979. However, after Dick Stafford accepted the head coach job at Belton in 1982, Bret Stafford left Temple, too.^[1] Belton reached the regionals in Stafford's senior season.

Highly recruited for football and baseball, Stafford accepted a scholarship offer by the University of Texas. After redshirting the 1983 season, Stafford was a back-up to Todd Dodge in 1984, before replacing him as starter midway through the 1985 season. After graduating in 1988, Stafford briefly tried to make the NFL as a safety, before ending his football career and going into private business.^[1]

In 2007, Stafford was introduced to the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame.^[1]