 Phipps from 1969 Purdue yearbook | |||||||||
| No. 15 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1947-01-09)January 9, 1947 (age 78) Shelbyville, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 208 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Columbus North(Columbus, Indiana) | ||||||||
| College: | Purdue | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1970: 1st round, 3rd pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback for 12 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL) during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps playedcollege football for thePurdue Boilermakers, and was recognized as anAll-American. He was the third overall pick in the1970 NFL draft, and played professionally for theCleveland Browns andChicago Bears of the NFL.
Phipps was born inShelbyville, Indiana. He attendedColumbus High School inColumbus, Indiana, and played for the Columbus Bulldogshigh school football team.[1]
Phipps attended Purdue University, where he played for thePurdue Boilermakers football team. He began his college career when he replaced All-American Boilermakers quarterbackBob Griese. His first major victory was a 28–21 upset of defending national championNotre Dame Fighting Irish on September 30, 1967. Combining strong passing skills with excellent mobility helped Phipps establish a new school single-season record for total offense and earn the Boilermakers a share of theBig Ten Conference title.[2]
The following year, Phipps suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of two games, and was overshadowed by teammateLeroy Keyes, a running back who spent all season in contention for theHeisman Trophy. The Boilermakers were the top-ranked team in the country until theOhio State Buckeyes upset them 13–0 on October 12.
In 1969, Phipps became the focal point of Purdue's offense, throwing for five touchdowns in a 36–35 thriller overStanford University on October 4, including throwing for a two-point conversion with three minutes left. He also defeated Notre Dame for the third consecutive year. Phipps finished second in the voting for theHeisman Trophy toOklahoma Sooners running backSteve Owens.[2]He was awarded the 1969Sammy Baugh Trophy. Phipps declined aRhodes Scholarship to concentrate on a professional football career.
Phipps was picked third in the1970 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns, who had traded All Pro wide receiverPaul Warfield to the Miami Dolphins for their first round pick.[3] Phipps saw limited action during his first two seasons. In the team's third game of the1970 NFL season, Phipps came off the bench to lead a 15–7 comeback victory over thePittsburgh Steelers. However, his lone start of the year would be a 14–10 loss to theCincinnati Bengals on November 15, 1970, as the rookie finished with 529 passing yards on the season. The following year, Phipps threw for only 179 yards and started just one contest: a 13–7 defeat to theKansas City Chiefs on November 14.
In 1972, Phipps again began the season on the sidelines, but became the team's starting quarterback after a disappointing 26–10 opening game loss to theGreen Bay Packers on September 17. He threw for 13 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 yards, helping the Browns reach the NFL playoffs. In the November 13 game against theSan Diego Chargers, he led a last-minute drive to win the 21–17 contest. In the team's playoff clash against the undefeatedMiami Dolphins on December 24, Phipps had led the team to a 14–13 fourth quarter lead, but his five interceptions helped end hopes of a possible upset.
The following year, he threw for nine touchdowns, but was intercepted 20 times. Despite these struggles, he engineered two late-season comebacks in a win over the Steelers and a tie against theKansas City Chiefs. However, the Browns missed the playoffs with a 7–5–2 record. In 1974, the team collapsed with a 4–10 record, and Phipps was briefly replaced byBrian Sipe at mid-season.
The 1975 season was even more disastrous as the Browns dropped their first nine games. However, Phipps went 23 of 36 in the team's first victory, a 35–23 win over theCincinnati Bengals on November 23 in Cleveland. Phipps threw for a personal high of 298 yards with 2 TD passes and no interceptions. Two other victories helped give hope for a turnaround the following season.
In the team's 1976 opener against theNew York Jets, Phipps started the game, but suffered a separated shoulder after being tackled by the Jets'Shafer Suggs. By the time he had recovered from the injury, Sipe had established himself as the team's new leader and Phipps' time in Cleveland was soon to come to an end.
That finish came on May 3, 1977, when Phipps was traded to the Bears for a first-round draft pick in 1978, which turned out to be Hall of Fame tight endOzzie Newsome. He saw minimal action during the1977 NFL season, threw for two touchdowns (along with 10 interceptions) the next year, but saw his most extensive action in 1979. During that year, he threw for 1,535 yards and nine touchdowns, as he battled teammatesBob Avellini andVince Evans for playing time.
Phipps threw for a pair of touchdowns in each of the next two seasons, but his limited role and the arrival of both quarterbackJim McMahon in the 1982NFL draft and new coachMike Ditka resulted in his release.
Phipps was elected to theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2006.[4]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | Yds | ||
| 1970 | CLE | 14 | 1 | 0-1 | 29 | 60 | 48.3 | 529 | 8.8 | 53 | 1 | 5 | 49.9 | 11 | 94 | 8.5 | 26 | 0 | 7 | 86 |
| 1971 | CLE | 14 | 1 | 0-1 | 13 | 47 | 27.7 | 179 | 3.8 | 39 | 1 | 4 | 14.6 | 6 | 35 | 5.8 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1972 | CLE | 14 | 13 | 10-3 | 144 | 305 | 47.2 | 1,994 | 6.5 | 80 | 13 | 16 | 61.0 | 60 | 256 | 4.3 | 18 | 5 | 23 | 183 |
| 1973 | CLE | 14 | 14 | 7-5-2 | 148 | 299 | 49.5 | 1,719 | 5.7 | 51 | 9 | 20 | 49.4 | 60 | 395 | 6.6 | 27 | 5 | 44 | 362 |
| 1974 | CLE | 14 | 9 | 2-7 | 117 | 256 | 45.7 | 1,384 | 5.4 | 55 | 9 | 17 | 46.7 | 39 | 279 | 7.2 | 19 | 1 | 33 | 280 |
| 1975 | CLE | 14 | 11 | 3-8 | 162 | 313 | 51.8 | 1,749 | 5.6 | 48 | 4 | 19 | 47.5 | 18 | 70 | 3.9 | 12 | 0 | 28 | 261 |
| 1976 | CLE | 4 | 2 | 2-0 | 20 | 37 | 54.1 | 146 | 3.9 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 90.6 | 4 | 26 | 6.5 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 1977 | CHI | 3 | 0 | 0-0 | 3 | 5 | 60.0 | 5 | 1.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 64.6 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 26 |
| 1978 | CHI | 6 | 4 | 3-1 | 44 | 83 | 53.0 | 465 | 5.6 | 35 | 2 | 10 | 38.1 | 13 | 34 | 2.6 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 55 |
| 1979 | CHI | 12 | 10 | 9-1 | 134 | 255 | 52.5 | 1,535 | 6.0 | 68 | 9 | 8 | 69.6 | 27 | 51 | 1.9 | 12 | 0 | 15 | 145 |
| 1980 | CHI | 7 | 6 | 2-4 | 61 | 122 | 50.0 | 630 | 5.2 | 56 | 2 | 9 | 40.0 | 15 | 38 | 2.5 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 69 |
| 1981 | CHI | 3 | 0 | 0-0 | 11 | 17 | 64.7 | 171 | 10.1 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 137.1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 41 |
| Career | 119 | 71 | 38-31-2 | 886 | 1,799 | 49.2 | 10,506 | 5.8 | 80 | 55 | 108 | 52.6 | 254 | 1,278 | 5.0 | 27 | 13 | 172 | 1,514 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | Yds | ||
| 1971 | CLE | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 3 | 6 | 50.0 | 27 | 4.5 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 62.5 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1972 | CLE | 1 | 1 | 0-1 | 9 | 23 | 39.1 | 131 | 5.7 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 33.3 | 8 | 47 | 5.9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| 1979 | CHI | 1 | 1 | 0-1 | 13 | 30 | 43.3 | 142 | 4.7 | 31 | 0 | 2 | 30.1 | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | 3 | 2 | 0-2 | 25 | 59 | 42.4 | 300 | 5.1 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 24.6 | 9 | 50 | 5.6 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 14 | |