| No. 3, 13 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1970-03-19)March 19, 1970 (age 55) Goshen, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Goshen (IND) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Notre Dame | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1993: 1st round,2nd pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Richard Franklin Mirer (born March 19, 1970) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback for 12 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish and was selected by theSeattle Seahawks with thesecond overall pick of the1993 NFL draft.[1] In his first season, Mirer set the rookie records for passing yards, attempts, and completions. Unable to duplicate his success, however, Mirer was traded after four seasons to theChicago Bears. He spent the remainder of his career with theNew York Jets,San Francisco 49ers,Oakland Raiders, andDetroit Lions, mostly as a backup.
Mirer was born inGoshen, Indiana. At age eight, he competed in the National Punt, Pass and Kick Competition. His father, Ken, was head coach atGoshen High School in Goshen, Indiana but retired before Mirer made the varsity team. Mirer posted 3,973 yards and 30 touchdowns in his senior year, 2nd most in national prep history, and eclipsingJeff George's Indiana High School passing records. Earned Academy of Achievement Award as the top high school football player in the country in 1989, along with being the winner of the Atlanta Touchdown Club's Bobby Dodd Award as the nation's best high school quarterback.
Mirer attended the University of Notre Dame from 1989 to 1992, accumulating a 29–7–1 record as starter – including 3 bowl games. He began his tenure serving as backup toTony Rice, then took the reins of the Notre Dame offense in 1990 and led the team to the Orange Bowl. In 1991, Mirer set the single season touchdown record with 18 and was named co-MVP with teammateJerome Bettis leading Notre Dame past Florida in the1992 Sugar Bowl. He finished his career at Notre Dame by leading them to victory in the1993 Cotton Bowl Classic. Mirer accounted for more points running and throwing (350) than any other player in Notre Dame history. He left Notre Dame 1st in career touchdowns with 41, and 2nd all time for total offense, completions, and passing yards; he was invited to play in the East-West Shrine Bowl, andHula Bowl. Entering the 1993 Draft, he was hyped as the nextJoe Montana, who also played college football at Notre Dame and was similar in stature. In 2008, Mirer was inducted into theIndiana Football Hall of Fame.
| Notre Dame Fighting Irish | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rate | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 1989 | Notre Dame | 10 | 1 | 15 | 30 | 50.0 | 456 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 93.7 | 12 | 32 | 2.6 | 0 | |
| 1990 | Notre Dame | 12 | 9 | 110 | 200 | 55.0 | 1,824 | 9.1 | 8 | 6 | 138.8 | 98 | 198 | 2.0 | 6 | |
| 1991 | Notre Dame | 13 | 13 | 132 | 234 | 56.4 | 2,117 | 9.0 | 18 | 10 | 149.2 | 75 | 306 | 4.0 | 9 | |
| 1992 | Notre Dame | 12 | 12 | 120 | 234 | 51.3 | 1,876 | 8.0 | 15 | 6 | 134.7 | 68 | 158 | 2.3 | 2 | |
| Career | 47 | 35 | 377 | 698 | 54.0 | 5,997 | 8.6 | 41 | 23 | 139.0 | 253 | 694 | 2.7 | 17 | ||
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 216 lb (98 kg) | 32+1⁄4 in (0.82 m) | 9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[2] | ||||||||||||
Mirer was selected with the second overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft by the Seattle Seahawks.[3] He signed a five-year, $15 million contract. In his rookie year under head coachTom Flores, he set NFL rookie records for attempts, completions, and yards. In 1993 Mirer became only the third rookie quarterback since 1970 to start all of his team's games. He finished his rookie season fifth in the AFC with 274 completions and 2833 yards. He finished second foroffensive rookie of the year behind his former backfield teammate from Notre Dame,Jerome Bettis. Those rookie records were eventually broken byAndrew Luck.
On February 18, 1997, Mirer was traded with a fourth round pick in the1997 NFL draft to theChicago Bears for their first round draft pick, later packaged in a trade to theAtlanta Falcons to move up to 3rd overall that year to selectShawn Springs. Mirer signed a three-year, $11.4 million contract with the Bears, but played only seven games with three starts in the 1997 season.
Mirer requested to be released by the Bears in the beginning of the1998 season and signed with theGreen Bay Packers.[4] Mirer never played a down for Green Bay, which was led byBrett Favre, and was later traded to theNew York Jets in 1999 where he replaced an injuredVinny Testaverde as the Jets starter. In 2000, he was signed by theSan Francisco 49ers to compete withJeff Garcia.[1] In 2002, Mirer became the a backup for theOakland Raiders and became the starter for part of 2003. In 2004. Mirer was signed by theDetroit Lions, but saw no playing time. Mirer had a 63.5 passer rating, 11,969 passing yards, and 50 touchdown passes before he retired in 2004. Although playing for several teams that did make the playoffs during his career, Mirer never played a single down in the postseason.
| Year | Team | GP | Passing | Rushing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Comp | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 1993 | SEA | 16 | 486 | 274 | 2,833 | 12 | 17 | 68 | 343 | 5.0 | 3 |
| 1994 | SEA | 13 | 381 | 195 | 2,151 | 11 | 7 | 34 | 153 | 4.5 | 0 |
| 1995 | SEA | 15 | 391 | 209 | 2,564 | 13 | 20 | 43 | 193 | 4.5 | 1 |
| 1996 | SEA | 11 | 265 | 136 | 1,546 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 191 | 5.8 | 2 |
| 1997 | CHI | 7 | 103 | 53 | 420 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 78 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 1998 | GB | 0 | DNP | ||||||||
| 1999 | NYJ | 8 | 176 | 95 | 1,062 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 89 | 4.2 | 1 |
| 2000 | SF | 1 | 20 | 10 | 126 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2001 | SF | 0 | DNP | ||||||||
| 2002 | OAK | 0 | DNP | ||||||||
| 2003 | OAK | 9 | 221 | 116 | 1,267 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 183 | 4.2 | 1 |
| 2004 | DET | 0 | DNP | ||||||||
| Career | 80 | 2,043 | 1,088 | 11,969 | 50 | 76 | 242 | 1,130 | 4.7 | 9 | |
Mirer posted a 24–44 record as regular season starter in 12 seasons in the NFL. He has career single game highs of 287 yards passing and three touchdowns.