| No. 15 | |
| Quarterback | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: July 16, 1974 | |
| Place of birth: Bradenton, Florida | |
| Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | Weight: 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: Nebraska | |
| Undrafted in 1996 | |
| Debuted in 1996 for the Montreal Alouettes | |
| Last played in 1996 for the Montreal Alouettes | |
| Career history | |
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| Roster status: Retired | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Tommie James Frazier, Jr. (born July 16, 1974) is a former American football player and coach in the United States. He played quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Frazier led his team to back-to-back consensus national championships in 1994 and 1995, and he remains the only quarterback to have done so since the 1950s. The 1995 Nebraska team is considered to have been one of the most dominant in the history of American college football.[1][2] In a 2006 ESPN.com poll, the results of which aired on SportsCenter, the 1995 Nebraska team was voted the best college team of all time.
In 1999 Frazier was selected by Sports Illustrated as a back-up quarterback in their "NCAA Football All-Century Team." The starting quarterback was Sammy Baugh and the other back-ups were John Lujack, Roger Staubach and Doug Flutie. Frazier was one of six Nebraska Cornhuskers on this 85 man roster; the others being Johnny Rodgers, Rich Glover, Dave Rimington, Dean Steinkuhler and Aaron Taylor.
In 2004, CollegeFootballNews.com named Frazier the #33 player on their list of the Top 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time.
Frazier was never drafted in the NFL due to a serious blood clot in his left leg, a side effect of Crohn’s disease.[3]
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Frazier grew up in Bradenton, Florida and attended Manatee High School. Frazier is married to the former Andrea Stephens, who is originally from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The couple has a son, Tommie James Frazier III, and a daughter, Ava.
Frazier is also a member of Iota Phi Theta fraternity.
When Frazier arrived in Lincoln, the Huskers had suffered years of bowl game blowouts. Head coach Dr. Tom Osborne made a strategic decision to recruit faster players at all positions in the early 1990s to compete with Miami and Florida State in the seemingly annual Orange Bowl matchups. Frazier, a prized blue-chip recruit ranked No. 3 in the country from his high school senior class by recruiting analyst Tom Lemming, was the final piece of the puzzle and led the Huskers to four straight New Year's Day bowl games. Reports were Osborne had shed some tears upon receiving the news of Frazier's verbal commitment with Nebraska.
At 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, an 18-year old true freshman Tommie Frazier joined the Nebraska football team and started off backing up senior Mike Grant for the 1992 season. Grant got Nebraska off to a 4-1 start, but an early season 27-14 loss to highly regarded Washington set up for Frazier's chance to take over as the team's starter. And he would become Nebraska's starter at Missouri on Oct. 24 as the Huskers won the game, 34-24.[4]
The two games that followed up the Missouri win would firmly place Frazier into the minds of college football fans nationwide. Both were night games nationally televised on ESPN, and they were blowout wins showcasing Frazier's talented skill set. The Colorado game on Halloween Day resulted in Frazier destroying a powerful 9-1-1, Kordell Stewart-led Colorado team, 52-7. Frazier passed sparingly going 4-for-12 for 55 yards with two TD passes, but did his damage on the ground rushing 16 times for 86 yards with his option trickery leading the way to 373 team rushing yards for the Huskers.[5]
The following week, Nov. 7, Frazier showcased his strong arm in a 49-7 win over Kansas. The playaction fake resulted in long touchdown passes of 36 and 46 yards from the true freshman. Frazier finished the game going 6-for-11 passing for 161 yards and three TD passes against the Jayhawks.[6]
In 1992, Nebraska managed a 9-2 record with Frazier registering seven starts at quarterback. He had a memorable bowl game performance against an outstanding 11-1 Florida State team led by quarterback Charlie Ward, wide receiver Tamarick Vanover, and outstanding linebacker Marvin Jones. On January 1, 1993, Florida State jumped out to a 20-0 lead by the 2nd quarter, but Frazier - who opened up the game in the shotgun formation - responded with two touchdown passes - a 41 yarder to Corey Dixon and a redzone touchdown pass to Gerald Armstrong - to cut FSU's lead to 27-14 which was the final score.[7]
Frazier's statistics in nine games for the 1992 season included him completing 44-of-100 passing attempts for 727 yards with only one interception while rushing for 399 yards and finishing with 17 rushing and passing touchdowns. He had a longest run of 52 yards against Iowa State on Nov. 14.[8]
On January 1, 1994 as a sophomore, Frazier kept pace with Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward of Florida State in the Orange Bowl in a rematch from the season before, but fell just short of leading the Huskers to the National Championship because of a last minute drive by Ward and field goal by the Seminoles. Amazingly, Frazier still got his team in position for a game-winning 45 yard field goal attempt. He did this by throwing a perfect 29 yard spiral downfield to his split end Trumaine Bell - leaving just 0:01 left on the game clock. However, the field goal attempt sailed wide left giving FSU an 18-16 win. Frazier was still named MVP of the National Title game despite the loss as he was 13-of-24 passing for 206 yards with a 34 yard TD pass while rushing 14 times for 77 yards including a 32 yard run.[9]
That season - 1993, Frazier led Nebraska to an 11-1 mark and rushed for slightly more than 1,000 yards when his sack yards are removed and the bowl performance against Florida State is added. The option quarterback had nine rushing touchdowns and recorded a longest run of 58 yards. Frazier completed right at 50 percent of his passes as a sophomore if a 5-of-17, 57 yards passing performance in a snow storm against Oklahoma on Nov. 26 is removed from his accumulative passing statistics' totals. A wind chill of minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded that day.[10] Frazier passed for 1,159 yards on 77-of-162 passes with 12 touchdowns and four interceptions in 11 games.[11] His longest pass play was a 60 yard strike to Corey Dixon against Colorado on Oct. 30, 1993.
Remarkably, Frazier, with help from reserves Brook Berringer and Matt Turman, would put together three straight undefeated regular seasons from 1993 to 1995, but none of this would have been possible if he had not put forth the fine individual performance at UCLA when the Husker signal caller completed 13-of-19 passes for 145 yards with an 11 yard TD pass - as he did just enough to help Nebraska escape, 14-13, on September 18, 1993.[12]
The following year was trying for Frazier as he battled a blood clot in his leg which held him out of the second half of the season. He had a remarkable start that year giving him much Heisman Trophy consideration in the early part of the season as on Aug. 28, 1994, Frazier exploded on West Virginia in a Husker win, 31-0. That game, Frazier finished 8-of-16 passing for 100 yards with an 11 yard TD pass and ran 12 times for 130 yards while scoring on touchdown runs of 25, 27, and 42 yards.[13]
All of the early season successes of 1994 came to end for Frazier when on Sept. 24, he began experiencing difficulties in the calf of his right leg - which was the result of blood clotting. Nebraska beat Pacific, 70-21, but Frazier played sparingly completing 1-of-2 passes for 26 yards as this game would be the last he would play in for the regular season.[14]
The rest of the season resumed as dropback passer Berringer, I-back Lawrence Phillips, wingback Abdul Muhammad, offensive tackle Zach Wiegert and the talented Blackshirts picked up the slack. Without Frazier, the Nebraska defense rose to the occasion on Oct. 29, 1994 when a splendid 11-1 Colorado team, led by Stewart and Heisman Trophy winner Rashaan Salaam, came to Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska won the contest, 24-7.[15]
The Huskers got back to the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1995 with a 12-0 record and played the Miami Hurricanes (10-1) for a shot at the National Championship. In the game, Coach Osborne started Frazier but then pulled him for backup Berringer after a botched deep throw into the endzone on Nebraska's initial drive resulted in a turnover. All momentum had shifted Miami's way as the Hurricanes led by as much as 17-7 early in the 3rd quarter. In the fourth quarter and trailing, 17-9, Nebraska's offense had clearly stalled even though Berringer had succeeded in completing a 19 yard TD pass to tightend Mark Gilman midway through the 2nd quarter.
With only seven minutes left in the game, Osborne went back to Frazier, his starting quarterback. Frazier responded with two touchdown drives giving Nebraska its 24-17 victory. The tired Miami defense led by defensive tackle Warren Sapp and linebacker Ray Lewis could not keep up with the Nebraska option as fullback Cory Schlesinger scored from 15 and 14 yards out off Frazier's fake of the option play as the Huskers celebrated their first national title since 1971 and the first of Coach Osborne's career. Frazier was once again named MVP as he was 3-for-5 passing for 25 yards and ran the ball seven times for 31 yards including a 25 yard option keeper - performing to this level after not having played in a game for three months.[16]
In 1995, Frazier was finally healthy and led the Huskers on a dominating march through the college football landscape. Despite always having great arm strength, Frazier was never known for his passing accuracy. Frazier consistently improved his passing - particularly when throwing touch passes - and by his senior year completed 56.4 percent of his passes for 17 touchdowns and a pass efficiency rating of 156.1.[17]
Frazier's finest game passing that year came in the form of a 44-21 victory on Oct. 28 at Boulder, Colorado where he threaded the needle against a 10-2 Buffaloes team by completing 14-of-23 passes for 241 yards which included two touchdown passes and one of those covering 52 yards to wingback Clester Johnson.[18] This game also gave Frazier much consideration for the Heisman Trophy. However on Dec. 2, Ohio State's running back, Eddie George, wound up winning the award while Frazier finished as the runner-up.
Frazier teamed up with Phillips, Aaron Taylor, Ahman Green, Damon Benning, Clinton Childs, Jeff Makovicka, Chris Dishman, Aaron Graham, Matt Vrzal, Eric Anderson, and Steve Ott that season to form one the most punishing rushing attacks in college football history, setting an NCAA record for averaging 7.0 yards per rushing attempt. The Huskers averaged 399.8 rushing yards and 52.4 points per game. Frazier's regular season statistics had him completing 92-of-163 passes for 1,362 yards with four interceptions and rushing 97 times for 604 yards with 14 touchdowns. He was never sacked the entire season. Frazier's longest pass play was a 76 yarder to split end Reggie Baul against Oklahoma State on Aug. 31.[19]
The Huskers finished the regular season undefeated at 11-0 and were matched with the also undefeated Florida Gators (12-0) in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1996. Nebraska defeated coach Steve Spurrier's Fun 'n' Gun juggernaut by the score of 62-24, and Frazier garnered his third straight national championship game MVP award. He finished with 16 rushes for 199 yards while completing 6-of-14 passes for 105 yards which included a 16 yard TD pass to Phillips.[20] The highlight of the game came on what appeared to be a short yardage routine option play sweeping to the right sideline - which happened in the closing seconds of the 3rd quarter. Frazier ran the play with the decision to keep the ball and turned upfield. The result was several exhausted defenders hanging onto and clinging to Frazier as, one by one, each defender fell off - a total of seven broken tackles. The last defender was Florida's cornerback Fred Weary as Frazier kept his balance and raced 75 yards down the sideline to paydirt in what was the longest run of his career. Sports Illustrated named it one of college football's greatest plays.[21]
At the conclusion of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, there was a postgame celebration that involved a large gathering at midfield. CBS' reporter Michele Tafoya had a microphone and was asking Coach Osborne a series of questions. She then turned to Frazier looking for his response. "Oh listen, I had a great career at Nebraska," Frazier explained with gratitude as he gave back to the Cornhusker fan base. "There is no better way to end it; I want to thank all the fans for all the support, and I want to thank all my teammates - most of all important, I want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ above, because without him, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything I have."
Frazier had a good start at setting himself up for the 1996 NFL Draft by winning the MVP award for his 34-18 victory in the East-West Shrine Game which was nationally televised on ESPN on January 13, 1996.[22] After the college all-star football game, West Coach Terry Donahue said there was no doubt Frazier improved his stock with his performance. "I think he came here with all kinds of doubts," the former UCLA head football coach added. "This game really helped him and somebody is going to invest in him. I am really high on him. When I did the Fiesta Bowl, I said the guy was the most dangerous player in college football and I mean it more now. This guy's dangerous. He's great." Frazier finished that afternoon going 11-for-20 passing for 163 yards and rushed six times for 33 yards while scoring on a five yard keeper and throwing a 52 yard touchdown pass to teammate Kevin Jordan with 5:57 left in the contest.
The East-West Shrine Game showcased Frazier's skill set for the many NFL scouts that were in attendance. Unfortunately, leading up to the NFL Scouting Combine, Frazier started experiencing more problems with blood clots. Results from recruiting analyst Forrest Davis' publication had Frazier listed at 4.50 seconds in the 40 yard dash coming out of high school, and his test results at Nebraska from 1992-1995 had been very similar. However, Frazier's performance in late February 1996 at the NFL Scouting Combine was reported as being pedestrian-like by the Atlanta Journal Constitution from its March 3, 1996 edition.
As a result of the combination of many factors - primarily health issues, Frazier was not drafted in the NFL. However, the Montreal Alouettes from the CFL went after the rights to acquire Frazier away from the NFL as he was still a free agent option for the many NFL franchises. Montreal succeeded and began making offers to Frazier as early as May 1996.
Frazier signed a contract with the Alouettes on July 15, 1996 and became a backup quarterback behind starter Tracy Ham and top reserve Jim Kemp. Frazier only played in one game on August 30 in which his team lost to the Ottawa Rough Riders, 17-6.[23] Frazier came off the bench in the 4th quarter of this contest and completed 6-of-17 passes for 55 yards.
However, his brief professional football career came to an end with a life-threatening scare. On September 4, 1996, Frazier was admitted to Montreal General Hospital because of pneumonia.[24] He was put on blood thinners as a precaution because of two previous blood clots in his right leg while at Nebraska and after Frazier spit up blood the day he was hospitalized. It would take Frazier two weeks to recover as he was released from the hospital on Sept. 17. It was after this that Frazier decided to give up football and try other options in life.
Frazier served as assistant football coach at Baylor University and as assistant director of athletic development at Nebraska. At Baylor, Frazier joined the coaching staff, led by head coach Kevin Steele, as a graduate assistant and worked with the quarterbacks in 1999.[25] Frazier was quickly promoted to a full-time position and became Baylor's running backs coach from 2000 to 2002. This assignment he and Steele inherited was tough considering the Bears' lack of success as Baylor had suffered through three losing seasons in a row going 8-25 from 1996-1998. Steele's record was 9 wins, 36 losses, and 0 ties while Frazier was an assistant. Steele was fired on Nov. 3, 2002 as Baylor finished 3-9 that season.
In 2005, Frazier became the 32nd head football coach for the Doane College Tigers located in Crete, Nebraska, and he held that position for two seasons, 2005 and 2006. His coaching record at Doane was 3 wins, 17 losses, and 0 ties. As of the conclusion of the 2007 season, this ranks him 22nd at Doane in total wins and 33rd at Doane in winning percentage (.150).[26]
| Passing | Rushing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YEAR | CMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | ATT | YDS | TD |
| 1992 | 54 | 121 | 44.6 | 873 | 12 | 3 | 93 | 400 | 7 |
| 1993 | 90 | 186 | 48.4 | 1365 | 13 | 6 | 140 | 781 | 9 |
| 1994 | 22 | 49 | 44.9 | 298 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 279 | 6 |
| 1995 | 98 | 177 | 55.4 | 1467 | 18 | 6 | 113 | 803 | 16 |
| Total | 250 | 509 | 49.1 | 4003 | 47 | 18 | 386 | 2263 | 36 |
Notes - Statistics from the wikitable include bowl game performances.
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