Michigan's Amazing NFL Quarterback String Comes to an End
Lost in the stories about the retirements of Tom Brady and Chad Henne last season is this fact: Michigan's amazing 36-season string of having a quarterback in the NFL came to an end.
Unless Chad Henne (or Dylan McCaffrey, Jake Rudock or hell, Tom Brady) sign with an NFL team this fall, this will be the first season since 1986 that there isn't a Michigan quarterback in the NFL. The string actually exists because of two people: Jim Harbaugh played from 1987 to 2000 and then Tom Brady played from 2000 to 2022. But there were a whole lot of other Michigan QBs in the league along the way, which meant that most years, there were two or more Wolverines playing QB in the league. Others who played along the way:
- Elvis Grbac - 1994-2001
- Todd Collins - 1995-2010 (damn, he played 16 seasons in the NFL and was only a full-time starter for one).
- Brian Griese - 1998-2008
- John Navarre - 2004-2005
- Drew Henson - 2004, 2008
- Chad Henne - 2008-2022
- Ryan Mallett - 2012-2017
- Jake Rudock - 2017
- (Denard Robinson played in the NFL, too, but not as a quarterback.)
I'm not sure if any other schools have a longer streak going, but 36 years straight with a QB in the NFL is pretty freaking amazing. We'll obviously have JJ starting a new streak in a year (or hopefully two) and maybe Joe Milton, too. It's looking doubtful that Henne will come out of retirement to sign with the Jets, but I'm hoping he will just to keep our streak alive.
By the way, prior to Harbaugh, there were only two Michigan quarterbacks in the NFL. Bob Ptacek got a few snaps in 1959 and Larry Cipa played from 1971-73.
September 21st, 2023 at 6:15 PM ^
It’s more of a legal definition than an emotional one. Milton is a former Michigan QB in the legal sense.
September 21st, 2023 at 9:35 PM ^
Actually, it isn’t. Milton graduated in 3 years and is a bona fide Michigan alum. Ironically it remains to be seen if he picks up his sheepskin from Tennessee. If not, he will be in some ways more of a Michigan product than Tennessee.
September 22nd, 2023 at 9:12 AM ^
Milton and Mallett both started and won games for Michigan, and weren't just backups that got garbage time snaps. It's a pretty big, obvious distinction.
Anyway I have no issue with Burrow being an OSU QB, he played there for three years and probably went to more classes on campus than Justin Fields and Cardale Jones combined. (/s on the Jones bit, I know he worked hard to recover from the play school tweet).
September 21st, 2023 at 5:59 PM ^
No mention of Scott Driesbach?
September 21st, 2023 at 6:14 PM ^
I looked closely at that. It looks like he was on a couple rosters but was never active for an NFL regular-season game, so I’m not sure he counts.
September 22nd, 2023 at 8:25 AM ^
I recall Dreisbach playing in a game or two.
September 26th, 2023 at 11:58 AM ^
And no mention of Bob Timberlake either.
September 21st, 2023 at 6:34 PM ^
I wrote a Diary on this in 2020. Will update this offseason
September 21st, 2023 at 7:09 PM ^
Just off the top of my head there's some schools who had some decent streaks but probably not close to 36 yrs.
Alabama had Starr, Namath and Stabler. Not sure if there was someone before Starr. Bama went to the triple option shortly after Stabler so doubt anyone kept the streak alive.
Miami, Fl started with Kozar and had Kelly, Torreta (sp?), Dorsey, etc.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:44 PM ^
alabama had starr from 1956 to 1971, stabler from 1970 to 1984, namath from 1965 to 1977, and jeff ruetledge from 1979 to 1992, or...37 seasons.
miami had a run, too, but it was hot and short-ish. kosar was the first in the run in 1985 (jim kelly was earlier but spent time in the usfl first), followed by testaverde in 1987, who went to 2007. brock berlin and dorsey were the last in the run, both done in 2008. only 21 years
i thought someone like george blanda (kentucky) or john hadl (kansas) might be able to bridge their schools into some longer streaks (blanca played for 26 years by himself, after all), but nope.
i think the winner is, sadly, notre dame. frank tripucka from 1949 to 1963, daryle lamonica from 1963 to 1974, terry hanratty until 1976, theismann until 1985, montana until 1994, then steve beuerlein until 2003...or 55 seasons. i may have misread nfl reference, but i think that's right.
September 21st, 2023 at 9:06 PM ^
I was wondering about ND. Didn't know if anyone was before Theisman.
Stanford had a long stretch with Plunket (early 70s) through Elway ((late 90s). Not sure before Plunket and after Elway.
Looked up Stanford, they went from 1954 - 2003. John Brodie entered the nfl in '57 and overlapped with Plunkett. A guy I never heard of was in the nfl in '54-'56.
September 22nd, 2023 at 10:31 AM ^
i've been thinking about this for about twelve solid hours.
SO, the notre dame thing is incorrect, sorta. frank tripucka's career started in 1949, yes, but he was in the CFL from 1953 to 1959, so he doesn't count, really. however:
- angelo bertelli, 1946 - 1948
- george ratterman, 1947 - 1956
- ralph gugielmi, 1955 - 1963
- ...which leads to lamonica, et al
so notre dame is 1946 to 2003, actually. 58 seasons!
funkywolve brings up stanford, and they're close.
- frankie albert, 1946 - 1952. great player.
- gary kerkorian, 1952 - 1956...although he didn't register any stats in 1953. it's unclear if he was on the bench - five players threw passes for the colts that season, and he wasn't one of them.
- john brodie, 1957 - 1973
- plunkett, 1971 - 1986
- elway, 1983 - 1998
- stenstrom, 1996 - 1999
- todd husak (who?!), 2000.
56 seasons if you count kerkorian in 1953, 47 if you don't.
i could happily do this all day. i need to win the lottery, or something.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:18 PM ^
might also include matt guttierez (who got chad henne-ed before going to idaho state and getting a few snaps in the nfl regular season) and scott dreisbach (who was on active rosters but never got game time)
September 21st, 2023 at 8:25 PM ^
SHIT. Yes, Matt Gutierrez technically belongs on this list.
September 21st, 2023 at 7:43 PM ^
there were only two Michigan quarterbacks in the NFL. Bob Ptacek got a few snaps in 1959 and Larry Cipa played from 1971-73.
What about Bob Timberlake, arguably Benny Friedman...?
September 21st, 2023 at 8:22 PM ^
Timberlake had one unsuccessful season with the Giants in ‘65.
He’s gone on to a great career in another field though:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Timberlake_(American_football)
September 21st, 2023 at 8:36 PM ^
Don’t forget Zach Gentry! A UM quarterback converted to TE and played for the Steelers.
September 21st, 2023 at 9:14 PM ^
A Maize-ing streak!
September 21st, 2023 at 10:11 PM ^
We gotta stop categorizing Joe Milton as a Michigan QB. It's the same thing as OSU fans taking ownership of Joe Burrow, though obviously one of those guys is a lot better than the other.
September 21st, 2023 at 10:12 PM ^
Thanks, Fred Flintstone
September 21st, 2023 at 11:19 PM ^
Scott Dreisbach?
September 22nd, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
Yes, Dreisbach is missing. I was just going to post that.
September 22nd, 2023 at 8:10 AM ^
So Brady and Harbaugh were in the NFL together for 1 year?
What year(s) did we have the most QB's in the NFL at one time?
September 22nd, 2023 at 9:16 AM ^
Based on the OP, it looks like 2008. Collins, Griese, Brady, Henson, and Henne all overlapped. EDIT: football-reference shows that Collins had no stats in 2008, though he was on the roster as the backup it appears.
September 22nd, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
Milton won't count for UM. Also if somehow McCaffrey makes it to the NFL he won't count for UM.
September 22nd, 2023 at 9:21 AM ^
We don't get to claim Mallet. Makes us look like those pitiful OSU fans who claim Burrow.
September 22nd, 2023 at 10:08 AM ^
Jay Riemersma also played in the NFL, but not as a QB
September 22nd, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
I don’t mean to divert this thread to a different topic, so feel free to ignore me. We’ve got another QB streak going on that JJ will likely put an end to: every QB that’s started a game for Michigan under Harbaugh has either transferred in or transferred out. Kind of amazing, or otoh not, because the college QB that doesn’t transfer at some point seems to be the exception.
September 22nd, 2023 at 11:08 PM ^
I remember watching a Monday Night Football game back when I was a teenager and the broadcast put some graphic on the screen about how Michigan had never had a QB drafted or something to that basic effect.
Years later I learned that Schembechler was watching that same broadcast. But he was watching it from the living room of some big-time QB recruit—I am not positive but I think it might have been Rick Mirer, who starred for Notre Dame. Whoever that recruit was, he didn’t go to Michigan, unsurprisingly.
September 26th, 2023 at 12:03 PM ^
And Rick Mirer ended up being very meh.