 Rypien in 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 11, 16 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1962-10-02)October 2, 1962 (age 62) Calgary,Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 225 lb (102 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Shadle Park(Spokane, Washington) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Washington State (1981–1985) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1986: 6th round, 146th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962) is a Canadian-American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He playedcollege football for theWashington State Cougars and was selected by theWashington Redskins in the sixth round of the1986 NFL draft. He was the first Canadian-born quarterback to both start in the NFL and be namedSuper Bowl MVP, doing so inSuper Bowl XXVI with the Redskins. He also played for several other NFL teams. His nephewBrett plays in the NFL for theMinnesota Vikings.
Born inCalgary,Alberta on October 2, 1962, Rypien's family moved to theUnited States when he was three, settling inSpokane, Washington. He was a star three-sport athlete atShadle Park High School.[1] All three of his varsity numbers (football, basketball, and baseball) were later retired by the school.[2][3]
He earned Parade All-American honors as a high school senior and received scholarship offers from across the country before accepting afootballscholarship toWashington State University inPullman,[4] and joined theDelta Tau Deltafraternity. A knee injury in spring drills in 1982redshirted him for that season[5] and he nearly left football and WSU in November 1983 but stayed and earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 1984 and led WSU's fabled RPM offense in 1985. He was inducted into WSU's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993.[6][7] He played in the 1986Senior Bowl.[8]
Rypien was selected by theWashington Redskins in the sixth round (146th overall) of the1986 NFL draft.[9] He spent his first two years as a professional on the injured reserved list, first with a bad knee in1986, then a bad back in1987. He watched from the sidelines as the Redskins wonSuper Bowl XXII under coachJoe Gibbs in January 1988 behind the quarterbacking of veteranDoug Williams.[10]
Rypien became the second stringer afterJay Schroeder, who lost his job to Williams late in the 1987 season, was traded to theLos Angeles Raiders. In Week 4 against the newly relocatedPhoenix Cardinals, Rypien got his first chance to start for an injured Williams and threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns in a 30–21 loss. In six starts, he went 3–3 and he appeared in nine games overall, including a four-touchdown game in a rematch against the Cardinals. He threw for 1,730 yards in those games and finished with three more touchdowns than Williams had, by a count of 18–15.[11]
Rypien was named the starter for1989 ahead of the injured and aging Williams, Rypien emerged as a star quarterback as he threw for 3,768 yards and 22 touchdowns, leading the Redskins to a 10–6 record. The team missed the playoffs but Rypien received a bid as an injury replacement forJoe Montana andDon Majkowski in that year'sPro Bowl (NFC coach John Robinson elected to bring only one injury replacement for his intended starter and #2 quarterback).[citation needed]
Rypien was best known for his phenomenal accuracy as a deep passer.[12][13][14] He made the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter, doing so as an injury replacement.[15]
The 1991 season was Rypien's best: he threw for 3,564 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, leading the Redskins toSuper Bowl XXVI after recording a 14–2 regular season record. He was named theMVP (Most Valuable Player) of the game, passing for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and leading his team to a 37–24 win over theBuffalo Bills. Rypien, a native ofCalgary,Alberta,Canada, became the first foreign-born player to earn the honor. Rypien was named to thePro Bowl in both 1989 and 1991.[16]
Rypien was one of several players to benefit from the team's success following their championship season. The Redskins signed him to a 3-year, $9 million deal entering the 1992 season. However, the team battled age and injuries and finished the regular season with a 9–7 record, barely making the playoffs. His passing yardage was a respectable 3,282 yards, but his passer rating fell from 97.9 in 1991 to 71.7 in 1992 and his interceptions outnumbered his touchdowns 17–13. Although a dominant team performance in the playoffs brought victory over theMinnesota Vikings in an NFC Wild Card away game, the Redskins eventually lost on a rainy, muddy field in a bruising game against theSan Francisco 49ers, and the Rypien era was essentially over. Under new head coachRichie Petitbon, Rypien had his best training camp in 1993 and expectations were high following a Monday Night win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. However, Rypien injured his knee in Week 2 against theArizona Cardinals[17] and the team began a precipitous slide toward a 4–12 season finish.[18]
When he was healthy enough to return, Rypien performed spot duty, sharing time with the newly acquiredRich Gannon. The Redskins hiredNorv Turner as their head coach in 1994. Rypien participated in offseason workouts, but the team later released him.
On May 11, 1994, Rypien signed with theCleveland Browns to backupVinny Testaverde.[19][20] He played in six games for the Browns that year, starting three of them. In those three games he went 2–1, including a 26–7 win over the Eagles.[21]
On May 6, 1995, Rypien signed with theSt. Louis Rams, this time to backupChris Miller.[22] He started the final three games of the season, going 0–3 in that span to finish a disappointing season for the team. He had his best performance against theBuffalo Bills in his first start where he went 31 of 55 for 372 yards and two touchdowns despite the team's 45–27 loss toJim Kelly.[23]
On October 3, 1996, Rypien signed with thePhiladelphia Eagles due to an injury to starterRodney Peete.[24] His last NFL touchdown pass came in relief of Eagles quarterbackTy Detmer, an 8-yarder toIrving Fryar with five seconds remaining in a 37–10 loss to theIndianapolis Colts.[25]
On March 4, 1997, Rypien re-signed with the Rams.[26] He played in five games and did not score any touchdowns.
He signed with theAtlanta Falcons for the 1998 season but never played in Atlanta. His son's death from a malignant brain tumor that August caused Rypien to retire.[27]
After a three-year hiatus, Rypien unretired and signed with theIndianapolis Colts on August 1, 2001.[28] He would appear in four games for the Colts. He made his first appearance in week three against theNew England Patriots in relief ofPeyton Manning. He would attempt his only passes of the season that game going five of nine for 57 yards in the 44–13 loss.[29]
On August 19, 2002, Rypien signed with theSeattle Seahawks to be the backup forMatt Hasselbeck andTrent Dilfer. He played in two preseason games and finished 13 of 21 passing for 97 yards, but was ultimately cut on September 3, 2002.[30]
Rypien's last professional game was on June 10, 2006; as part of a promotional gig for theRochester Raiders of theGreat Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL).[31]
In 11 NFL seasons, Rypien completed 1,466 of 2,613 passes for 18,473 yards, 115 touchdowns, and 88 interceptions. He rushed 127 times for 166 yards and 8 touchdowns.[32]
Rypien had a brief stint inNASCAR racing as a team owner, and was the original owner of the2004Nextel Cup championship-winning No. 97 team driven byKurt Busch, having sold it toJack Roush'sRoush Racing in 1997.[33]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Super Bowl MVP | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | ||
| 1988 | WAS | 9 | 6 | 3−3 | 114 | 208 | 54.8 | 1,730 | 8.3 | 18 | 13 | 85.2 |
| 1989 | WAS | 14 | 14 | 9−5 | 280 | 476 | 58.8 | 3,768 | 7.9 | 22 | 13 | 88.1 |
| 1990 | WAS | 10 | 10 | 7−3 | 166 | 304 | 54.6 | 2,070 | 6.8 | 16 | 11 | 78.4 |
| 1991 | WAS | 16 | 16 | 14−2 | 249 | 421 | 59.1 | 3,564 | 8.5 | 28 | 11 | 97.9 |
| 1992 | WAS | 16 | 16 | 9−7 | 269 | 479 | 56.2 | 3,282 | 6.9 | 13 | 17 | 71.7 |
| 1993 | WAS | 12 | 10 | 3−7 | 166 | 319 | 52.0 | 1,514 | 4.7 | 4 | 10 | 56.3 |
| 1994 | CLE | 6 | 3 | 2−1 | 59 | 128 | 46.1 | 694 | 5.4 | 4 | 3 | 63.7 |
| 1995 | STL | 11 | 3 | 0−3 | 129 | 217 | 59.4 | 1,448 | 6.7 | 9 | 8 | 77.9 |
| 1996 | PHI | 1 | 0 | — | 10 | 13 | 76.9 | 76 | 5.8 | 1 | 0 | 116.2 |
| 1997 | STL | 5 | 0 | — | 19 | 39 | 48.7 | 270 | 6.9 | 0 | 2 | 50.2 |
| 2001 | IND | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 9 | 55.6 | 57 | 6.3 | 0 | 0 | 74.8 |
| Total | 104 | 78 | 47−31 | 1,466 | 2,613 | 56.1 | 18,473 | 7.1 | 115 | 88 | 78.9 | |
On June 8, 2006, Rypien was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.[34]
Rypien's cousins includeNHL playersRick Rypien andShane Churla, and his nephew is NFL quarterbackBrett Rypien.[35][36][37][38]
Rypien's daughter,Angela, played in the 2011 season for theSeattle Mist of theLingerie Football League.[39][40]
An avid golfer, Rypien has been known to participate in charity tournaments at various locations across the nation. He has played in onePGA Tour event (Kemper Open in1992),[41][42][43] and oneWeb.com Tour event (Buy.comTri-Cities Open in2000), and missed the 36-hole cut by a substantial margin both times.[43]
He has been a regular competitor at theAmerican Century Championship, the annual competition atLake Tahoe to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. Rypien won the inaugural event in 1990,[44] and won his second crown 24 years later in 2014;[45] he has a total of 11 top ten finishes.[46] Televised byNBC in July, the tournament is played at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course inStateline, Nevada.[citation needed]
In a 2018 interview with the SpokaneSpokesman-Review, Rypien's wife stated that she believes he is suffering fromchronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from football, with bizarre behavior occurring from time to time.[47] Rypien himself confirmed that he has struggled with mental health issues since his retirement from football, even attempting suicide by overdosing on pills before his wife stopped him.[48][47] On June 30, 2019, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and charged with fourth-degree assault.[49] The charge was dismissed on August 30, 2019.[50]
In 2020, he was featured in the documentary "Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain" produced and directed byJerri Sher.[51][52]
For season three, the LFL has two stars in the making: Seattle Mist quarterback Angela Rypien, the daughter of Super Bowl MVP quarterback Mark Rypien, and Toronto Triumph linebacker Krista Ford, niece of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and daughter of City Councillor Doug Ford. They're relatives of sports and political figures, so that gives news writers a hook to cover the games. So far, the LFL has gotten scant coverage from the mainstream media, which treats it like a peep show. Adding stars can only help the fledgling league.
