Mark Herrmann

Mark James Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for Purdue University, and was recognized as an All-American. He subsequently played professionally for five different NFL teams. After retiring as a player, he became the Associate Director of Educational Programs for the NCAA, and currently works as a broadcaster for local football after serving on the Indianapolis Colts broadcast crew for nearly a decade.

Early years

Herrmann was born and raised in Carmel, Indiana, where he played high school football for Carmel High School. He also played on Carmel's state championship basketball team in 1977.

College career

Herrmann attended Purdue University, where he played for coach Jim Young's Purdue Boilermakers football team from 1977 to 1980. Herrmann had an impressive college career; in 1980 he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, he was selected as the Big Ten Conference's Most Valuable Player, and he finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy. His 9,946 career passing yards set an NCAA record (which has since been broken). He is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start in three consecutive bowl games (Drew Brees did the same, and Kyle Orton started four straight). Herrmann won all three of his bowl games, and was selected Most Valuable Player in each of them: the 1978 Peach Bowl, the 1979 Bluebonnet Bowl, and the 1980 Liberty Bowl. He also holds the Liberty Bowl record for passing touchdowns.

Herrmann was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity while at Purdue.

He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in May 2010.

Professional career

Herrmann was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 1981, but did not play in his first year out of college. In 1982 he appeared in two games, but at the end of the season he was traded to the Baltimore Colts as part of the deal that brought John Elway to Denver. In 1983-84 Herrmann saw limited action with the Colts, first at Baltimore and then at Indianapolis. In 1985 he was traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he played for three seasons and performed well as the backup to Dan Fouts. Herrmann then played for the Los Angeles Rams in 1988-89, and returned to the Colts for three seasons before retiring in 1992.

Herrmann appeared in just 40 games during his 11 year pro career, completing 334 passes in 561 attempts (59.5%) for a total of 4015 yards. He threw 16 touchdown passes and was intercepted 36 times.