 Gannon in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1965-12-20)December 20, 1965 (age 59) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school | St. Joseph's Preparatory (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||||||||||||
| College | Delaware (1984–1986) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1987: 4th round, 98th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Subsequently, he was asports commentator withCBS Sports for 16 years.[1]
Gannon was born inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania and playedcollege football for theDelaware Fightin' Blue Hens in coachTubby Raymond'sWing-T offense. He recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and wasYankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. In the1987 NFL draft, theNew England Patriots selected Gannon in the fourth round intent upon converting Gannon to running back. He was soon traded to theMinnesota Vikings and would play with the Vikings until 1992. Gannon began his career as a backup forWade Wilson. Gannon started his first games in 1990 in relief of an injured Wilson and would start many games in 1991. In 1992, he formally became the starting quarterback for the Vikings and led the Vikings to an 11–5 season and the playoffs after two consecutive losing seasons.
Gannon played for theWashington Redskins in 1993, theKansas City Chiefs from 1995 to 1998, and theOakland Raiders from 1999 to 2004. With the Raiders, he achieved his greatest successes, including four consecutive seasons making thePro Bowl (1999–2002), three consecutive postseason appearances for the Raiders (2000–2002), twoAll-Pro selections (2000, 2002), oneMVP, and an appearance inSuper Bowl XXXVII. However, Gannon spent much of his final two seasons (2003 and 2004) with injuries, and the Raiders had losing records in those seasons. After retiring from football before the 2005 season, Gannon began a career in sports broadcasting. He served as a sports analyst forNFL on CBS through the2020 NFL season.
Gannon attendedSaint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and won threevarsity letters each infootball andcrew and twice inbasketball. In his senior season, he earned first team All-City as apunter and quarterback, passing for 1,567 yards.
Gannon attended theUniversity of Delaware where he was a member ofSigma Phi Epsilon. In football, he was coached byTubby Raymond and played within Raymond'swing T offense.[2][3] With theDelaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team, Gannon first played as a punter before switching toquarterback in his sophomore year. Gannon set 21 school records, including total offense (7,432 yards), passing yards (5,927), pass attempts (845), and completions (462) and was the only Delaware player at the time to achieve at least 2,000 yards of offense three years in a row. As a sophomore, Gannon won theEastern College Athletic Conference Division I-AA Rookie of the Year award in 1984. In 1986, during his senior season, Gannon wonYankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and was an honorable mention All-American selection.[4]
When he led the Raiders toSuper Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he was the second player from the University of Delaware to go to theSuper Bowl.[5]
| Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
| Cmp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | QB rating | Att | Yds | ||||
| 1984 | 126 | 239 | 1,555 | 12 | 11 | 114.7 | 147 | 529 | |||
| 1985 | 134 | 244 | 1,576 | 7 | 10 | 110.4 | 149 | 443 | |||
| 1986 | 201 | 361 | 2,795 | 16 | 11 | 129.2 | 190 | 537 | |||
| Career | 461 | 844 | 5,926 | 35 | 32 | 119.7 | 486 | 1,509 | |||
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft2+1⁄4 in (1.89 m) | 193 lb (88 kg) | 30 in (0.76 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 4.58 s | 1.60 s | 2.64 s | 4.11 s | 32.5 in (0.83 m) | 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) | 7 reps | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[6] | ||||||||||||
Gannon was selected in the fourth round (98th overall) of the1987 NFL draft by theNew England Patriots, who envisioned converting him to arunning back,defensive back, orwide receiver.[7] Gannon balked at the idea, and he was quickly traded to theMinnesota Vikings.[8] Gannon began his career with the Vikings as a backup to starting quarterbackWade Wilson. Gannon played four regular and one postseason games in his rookie season of 1987 and accumulated statistics in the Week 10 (November 22) game, a 24–13 victory over theAtlanta Falcons where he completed 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards.[9] Despite the Vikings finishing just above .500 on the season at 8–7, they unexpectedlywon their first two postseason games, though Gannon was lightly used in the playoffs, rushing for 3 yards in the Vikings'Wild Card game, a 44–10 win over theNew Orleans Saints on the road.[9] That game was thefirst playoff game in Saints team history.[10] TheCinderella Vikings eventually lost theNFC championship game to the eventualSuper Bowl XXII championWashington Redskins.[11]
For the 1988 season, Gannon was third-string after Wade Wilson andTommy Kramer. Gannon played three games in 1988. In a Week 5 (October 2) 24–7 loss to theMiami Dolphins, Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 90 yards but was sacked twice for 15. He also rushed twice for 15 yards. Gannontook a knee in the Vikings' Week 8 (October 23) victory over theTampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 10 (November 6), Gannon was sacked for 7 yards and rushed for 15 yards in a 44–17 win over theDetroit Lions.[12] Improving from 1987, the 1988 Vikings finished 11–5 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs.[13]
Gannon did not play at all during the regular season, during which the Vikings went 10–6.[4][14] In the Vikings'postseason divisional playoff game, a 41–13 loss to theSan Francisco 49ers, the Vikings used all three quarterbacks (Wilson, Kramer, and Gannon), and Gannon was 13 of 18 passing for 144 yards and 1 interception. He rushed for 7 yards and was sacked twice for a total 20 yards.[15][16]
Gannon started his first game in Week 4 (September 30) of 1990 after Wade Wilson had torn thumbligaments.[17] The Vikings lost that game to theTampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime 23–20.Steve Christie kicked the winning field goal for Tampa in a drive started from aWayne Haddix interception of a Gannon pass.[18] Gannon would play 14 games in 1990 and start 12.[19]
Gannon won his first career start in Week 9 (November 4) with a 27–22 win over theDenver Broncos.John Elway, starting quarterback for the Broncos, left the game due to injury after building a 16–0 first-half lead for Denver. Gannon made the winning touchdown drive on a 56-yardtrick play pass: first toHerschel Walker, who pitched back to Gannon, who made a deep pass toAnthony Carter for the touchdown.[20] Minnesota won despite Gannon completing less than half of his passes (6-for-13) and being sacked 7 times.[21] The following week against theDetroit Lions, Gannon rushed for a one-yard touchdown and passed for 147 yards completing 12 of 17 passes as the Vikings won 17–7.[22] These games began a five-game winning streak for Minnesota after a 1–6 start. However, the Vikings would finish 6–10 after losing the last four games of the year. For the season, he was 182 of 349 passing for 2,278 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions. He was sacked 34 times and rushed 52 times for 268 yards.[21]
In the 1991 preseason, Vikings coachJerry Burns demoted Gannon to third-string and elevatedSean Salisbury to second-string behind Wade Wilson.[23] Gannon played his first game of the year in Week 5 (September 29) against the Denver Broncos, replacing Wade Wilson with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter after Wilson threw three interceptions. Onfourth down at Denver's 13-yard line with 43 seconds left, a wide-openHassan Jones dropped Gannon's pass, and Minnesota lost 13–6.[24] Gannon would replace Wilson as starter for the last 11 games of 1991, and the Vikings went 6–5 with Gannon as starter for an overall 8–8 season. Gannon was 211 of 354 in completed passes for 2,166 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 19 times for 91 yards and rushed 43 times for 236 yards, including two rushing touchdowns.[25]
Competing withSean Salisbury for the starting job,[26] Gannon ultimately became the Vikings' starting quarterback for 1992. In the final exhibition game of 1992, and with first-year coachDennis Green, he led the Vikings to a 30–0 defeat ofdefending Super Bowl championsWashington Redskins in the Redskins' home field, completing 14 of 21 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns.[27]
In the fourth quarter of the Week 5 (October 4) home game against theChicago Bears, Gannon led a Vikings rally from a 20–0 deficit to a 21–20 victory. Following a touchdown off an interception byTodd Scott, Gannon led a touchdown drive with four consecutive passes, the last one toCris Carter in the end zone. With 6:40 left in the fourth quarter, Gannon led a 78-yard touchdown drive that included the Vikings' seventh straight first-down play of the game. The drive began with Gannon handing off to running backTerry Allen for a 21-yard rush, followed by a 22-yard rush byRoger Craig, who would make the tying 1-yard touchdown run, followed by the winningextra point kick.[28]
In Week 7 (October 15), Gannon started against theDetroit Lions and completed 8 of 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns for a 24–0 lead. Salisbury took over in the second quarter after Gannon suffered a hyperextended left knee, and the Vikings beat the Lions 31–14. The Vikings now were a surprising 5–1 after going a combined 14–18 in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.[29]
With Minnesota leading the NFC Central with an 8–3 record, Dennis Green benched Gannon in favor of Salisbury following the Week 12 (November 23) win over theCleveland Browns.[30][31]
On August 19, 1993, the Vikings traded Gannon to theWashington Redskins for a conditional1994 fifth-round draft pick. Gannon was the third-stringer behind starterMark Rypien and backupCary Conklin.[32] With the Redskins, Gannon played in eight games and started the four games from Weeks 12 to 15.[33]
Gannon played his first game of 1993 in Week 5 (October 4), aMonday night game, taking over forCary Conklin against theMiami Dolphins andDan Marino. Gannon could only lead one touchdown drive that brought Washington within a 14–10 deficit behind Miami. With 59 seconds left, Gannon threw an interception to the Dolphins'Troy Vincent to seal the Dolphins' 17–10 victory.[34] Gannon injured his foot during the game.[35] However, Gannon would play in limited roles in Weeks 6 and 7.[33] After a 2–7 start, Redskins coachRichie Petitbon announced he would bench Mark Rypien and start Rich Gannon once Gannon recovered from the injury.[36]
In Week 12 (November 21) against theLos Angeles Rams, Gannon completed 24 of 39 passes for 170 yards, was sacked three times for 11 yards, and rushed twice for 18 yards. With Los Angeles leading 10–6 and 3:10 left in the game, Gannon missed an opportunity for a game-winning drive. At the Rams' 27, Gannon's 23-yard pass intended forArt Monk bounced off Rams safetyAnthony Newman's hands and intoMichael Stewart's hands for an interception, sealing the victory for the Rams.[37]
The following week (November 28), Gannon threw two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins a 14–10 lead over thePhiladelphia Eagles. However, Philadelphia would win 17–14 on a touchdown reception byJames Joseph.[38] On 20-for-31 passing for 279 yards, Gannon threw two interceptions and two touchdowns that game. He was sacked five times for 27 yards and rushed four times for 25 yards.[33]
Gannon led the Redskins to a Week 14 (December 5) victory over theTampa Bay Buccaneers, 23–17, starting with a cumulative 17–0 lead by the third quarter. Gannon completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards and rushed 7 times for 12 yards.[39] Gannon's one interception that game came when Buccaneers defensive tackleSantana Dotsondeflected the pass from the Redskins 8 andRay Seals caught the ball in the Redskins' end zone for a touchdown. The score was 17–10 Redskins as the Buccaneers rallied with 10 unanswered points.[40]
In the Redskins' 3–0 loss to theNew York Jets in Week 15 (December 12), Gannon was benched in the fourth quarter in favor ofMark Rypien, but the Redskins could not handle the Jets' defense.[41] Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 62 yards (including one 50-yarder).[42]
On 74 of 125 passing (59.2 percent), Gannon passed for 704 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and one touchdown. The Redskins finished 1993 with a 4–12 record, and Gannon was 1–3 as a starter, with the three losses all being within margins four points or less.[33]
Gannon sat out the 1994 season after shoulder surgery.[43] In 1995, Gannon signed with theKansas City Chiefs. For two years he served as a backup toSteve Bono. In1997, aquarterback controversy was created when the Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injuredElvis Grbac. In theplayoffs, coachMarty Schottenheimer elected to play Grbac instead of Gannon, and the Chiefs lost 14–10. The two ended up splitting snaps in1998, after Grbac was injured in Week 1.
In mid-February1999, Gannon was signed as afree agent by theOakland Raiders, agreeing to a reportedly four-year, $16-million deal.[44] He excelled in head coachJon Gruden'sWest Coast offense and was voted to thePro Bowl in his first year as a Raider – the first of four straight selections. In 2001 and 2002, he won thePro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player.
Gannon won theNFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting2002 season, throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns and recording a career-high 97.2 passer rating,[45] which helped the Raiders advance toSuper Bowl XXXVII, making him the first former Blue Hens quarterback to start a Super Bowl.[46] He was passing at a record pace with more passing yards than any quarterback in history through 14 games at the time but fell off the pace in the last few weeks.[47] He led the league with 418 completions on 618 attempts.
In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl-record fiveinterceptions – three of which were run back for touchdowns – in a 48–21 loss to theTampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers' defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden, who had knowledge of the Raiders' playbook as well as Gannon's mannerisms and even someaudibles, which Raiders head coachBill Callahan had left unchanged after Gruden's departure.[48]
Gannon's2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury in Week 7 after a 2–5 start. A serious neck injury in2004 effectively ended his career. Gannon was hurt in Week 3 when hescrambled, and slid into ahelmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa BaylinebackerDerrick Brooks.
When the Raiders signedKerry Collins prior to the 2004 season, some thought that Gannon would be cut in favor of the strong-armed Collins, whom skeptics thought was a better fit in new head coachNorv Turner's vertical offense. Gannon not only kept his starting quarterback spot, but thrived. He threw for 305 yards in the season opener against thePittsburgh Steelers, including a 40-yard touchdown strike toDoug Gabriel. The Raiders nearly won the game over a Steelers team that finished the 2004 season with 15 victories. The Raiders were a competitive team with Gannon as their quarterback, going 2–1 when he started and 3–10 after his injury.[citation needed]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| APNFL MVP | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
| 1987 | MIN | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 6 | 33.3 | 18 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 2.8 |
| 1988 | MIN | 3 | 0 | — | 7 | 15 | 46.7 | 90 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 66.0 |
| 1989 | MIN | 0 | 0 | — | DNP | ||||||||
| 1990 | MIN | 14 | 12 | 5–7 | 182 | 349 | 52.1 | 2,278 | 6.5 | 16 | 16 | 78 | 68.9 |
| 1991 | MIN | 15 | 11 | 6–5 | 211 | 354 | 59.6 | 2,166 | 6.1 | 12 | 6 | 50 | 81.5 |
| 1992 | MIN | 12 | 12 | 8–4 | 159 | 279 | 57.0 | 1,905 | 6.8 | 12 | 13 | 60 | 72.9 |
| 1993 | WAS | 8 | 4 | 1–3 | 74 | 125 | 59.2 | 704 | 5.6 | 3 | 7 | 54 | 59.6 |
| 1995 | KC | 2 | 0 | — | 7 | 11 | 63.6 | 57 | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 76.7 |
| 1996 | KC | 4 | 3 | 1–2 | 54 | 90 | 60.0 | 491 | 5.5 | 6 | 1 | 25 | 92.4 |
| 1997 | KC | 9 | 6 | 5–1 | 98 | 175 | 56.0 | 1,144 | 6.5 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 79.8 |
| 1998 | KC | 12 | 10 | 5–5 | 206 | 354 | 58.2 | 2,305 | 6.5 | 10 | 6 | 80 | 80.1 |
| 1999 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 8–8 | 304 | 515 | 59.0 | 3,840 | 7.5 | 24 | 14 | 50 | 86.5 |
| 2000 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 12–4 | 284 | 473 | 60.0 | 3,430 | 7.3 | 28 | 11 | 84 | 92.4 |
| 2001 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 10–6 | 361 | 549 | 65.8 | 3,828 | 7.0 | 27 | 9 | 49 | 95.5 |
| 2002 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 11–5 | 418 | 618 | 68.0 | 4,689 | 7.6 | 26 | 10 | 75 | 97.3 |
| 2003 | OAK | 7 | 7 | 2–5 | 125 | 225 | 55.6 | 1,274 | 5.7 | 6 | 4 | 46 | 73.5 |
| 2004 | OAK | 3 | 3 | 2–1 | 41 | 68 | 60.3 | 524 | 7.7 | 3 | 2 | 58 | 86.9 |
| Career[49] | 157 | 132 | 76–56 | 2,533 | 4,206 | 60.2 | 28,743 | 6.8 | 180 | 104 | 84 | 84.7 | |
On August 6, 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joinedCBS television as an NFL analyst.[43] He was inducted into theUniversity of Delaware athletics hall of fame that same year.
For his career accolades, Gannon was named the 28th greatest quarterback of the modern era by Football Nation.[51]
Gannon joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005 alongsideKevin Harlan. He also works as a game analyst forLas Vegas Raiders preseason games.
On February 22, 2021, Gannon was let go as a game commentator for CBS.
Gannon's father-in-law was formerMinnesota Vikings running backBill Brown. Gannon and his wife, Shelley, have two daughters. One daughter was diagnosed withceliac disease and her parents serve as national spokespeople for the Celiac Disease Foundation and organize an annual Celiac Walk atHoly Family Catholic High School inVictoria, Minnesota.[52] Gannon is a practicingRoman Catholic.[53]
