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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1957-05-31)May 31, 1957 (age 68) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 197 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Sto-Rox(McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Penn State (1975–1978) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1979: 5th round, 133rd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Charles Anthony Fusina (born May 31, 1957) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback for seven seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) andUnited States Football League (USFL) from 1979 to 1986. He playedcollege football for thePenn State Nittany Lions, and was recognized as aunanimous All-American in 1978. Fusina played for theTampa Bay Buccaneers and theGreen Bay Packers of the NFL, and thePhiladelphia / Baltimore Stars of the USFL.
Fusina was born inPittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played quarterback for the Pittsburgh areaSto-Rox High School inMcKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, where his old football jersey is on display outside of the gymnasium.
Fusina capped an outstanding career atPenn State University by winning the1978Maxwell Award,All-America honors, and was the runner-up in theHeisman Trophyballoting. He led theNittany Lions to a 29–3 (.906) mark as a starter, including an 11–0 regular season in1978.[1] He passed for 1,859 yards and 11touchdowns.
Fusina earned aBachelor of Science inMarketing from Penn State in 1979. He also earned anMBA fromLa Salle University in 1988.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led Independents | |
| NCAA record | |
| Led the NCAA | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Penn State Nittany Lions | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 1975 | Penn State | 3 | 4 | 9 | 44.4 | 42 | 0 | 1 | 61.4 | 8 | 37 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 1976 | Penn State | 11 | 88 | 167 | 52.7 | 1,260 | 11 | 10 | 125.8 | 31 | -88 | -2.8 | 3 |
| 1977 | Penn State | 11 | 142 | 246 | 57.7 | 2,221 | 15 | 9 | 146.4 | 29 | -53 | -1.8 | 1 |
| 1978 | Penn State | 11 | 137 | 242 | 56.6 | 1,859 | 11 | 12 | 126.2 | 51 | -116 | -2.3 | 2 |
| Career[2] | 36 | 371 | 664 | 55.9 | 5,382 | 37 | 32 | 132.7 | 119 | -220 | -1.8 | 6 | |
* Includes bowl games.
At 6'1" 195-lb., Fusina was a 5th rounddraft pick (#133 overall) of theTampa Bay Buccaneers in the1979 NFL draft.[3] He spent his first three professional seasons as back-up toDoug Williams. In 1983, he left for the fledglingUSFL. Fusina signed with thePhiladelphia/Baltimore Stars where he blossomed undercoachJim Mora. In his three seasons with the team, he passed for over 10,000 yards In The USFL with 66touchdowns and aQB rating of 88.6 and led theStars to back-to-back USFL titles in 1984 and 1985. He was namedMVP of the 1984USFL Championship Game. When the league folded in August 1986, Fusina returned to the NFL for one season with theGreen Bay Packers.
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | ||
| 1983 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 18 | 15–3 | 238 | 421 | 56.5 | 2,718 | 6.5 | 15 | 10 | 78.1 |
| 1984 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 18 | 16–2 | 302 | 465 | 64.9 | 3,837 | 8.3 | 31 | 9 | 104.7 |
| 1985 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 18 | 10–7-1 | 303 | 496 | 61.1 | 3,496 | 7.0 | 20 | 14 | 84.0 |
| Career | 54 | 41-12-1 | 843 | 1,382 | 61.0 | 10,051 | 7.3 | 66 | 33 | ||
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | ||
| 1983 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 2 | 1–1 | 47 | 80 | 58.75 | 446 | 5.6 | 5 | 4 |
| 1984 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 3 | 3-0 | 36 | 58 | 6.1 | 414 | 7.1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1985 | Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars | 3 | 3–0 | 35 | 62 | 56.5 | 463 | 7.5 | 4 | 4 |
| Career | 8 | 7–1 | 118 | 200 | 59.0 | 1323 | 6.6 | 10 | 9 | |
Fusina has been an instructor at theGus Purcell Quarterback School inCharlotte, North Carolina. He and his wife, Jacquelyn live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, and his children Matt and Shannon currently live inWashington, DC.
In 2015 Fusina was elected to thePennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame (PSHF) along with his head coachJoe Paterno and teammate, kickerMatt Bahr.