 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jeff Kemp" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1959-07-11)July 11, 1959 (age 66) Santa Ana, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 201 lb (91 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Winston Churchill(Potomac, Maryland) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Dartmouth (1977–1980) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1981: undrafted | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Jeffrey Allan Kemp (born July 11, 1959) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for theLos Angeles Rams,San Francisco 49ers,Seattle Seahawks, andPhiladelphia Eagles. He playedcollege football for theDartmouth Big Green in theIvy League,[1] and was not selected in the1981 NFL draft. In1984, Kemp led the Rams with thirteen touchdown passes and a trip to theplayoffs. As a back-up to the injuredJoe Montana in1986, he threw eleven touchdown passes for the 49ers.
Kemp is the son of late formerAFL quarterback andAmerican politicianJack Kemp (1935–2009),[1] and brother of formerCanadian Football League quarterbackJimmy Kemp (b. 1971). Kemp and his wife, Stacy, have four sons: Kyle, Kory, Kolby, and Keegan. He graduated fromWinston Churchill High School inPotomac, Maryland.[2]
AtDartmouth College in 1979, Jeff Kemp was named the starting quarterback for theBig Green, winning the job over Joe McLaughlin. That season, Dartmouth, led by head coachJoseph Yukica went 4–3 in Ivy League play (4–4–1 overall). Dartmouth finished fifth in the Ivy League, just behind Cornell and ahead of Harvard. Playing in all nine games that season, Kemp completed 81 passes on 182 attempts for 915 yards. He threw six touchdown passes and five interceptions. His primary target was wide receiverDave Shula, who was the son of then Dolphins head coachDon Shula.[2]
The 1980 season started with a 40–7 win over a very weakUniversity of Pennsylvania team.[3] Dartmouth would also score a decisive win over Columbia as well, 48–0. While Dartmouth, led by Kemp scored 207 points, they yielded 170 and ended up going 4–3 in the league, and 4–6 overall. Kemp's college career ended with a 27–24 loss to Princeton.[4]
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jeff Kemp" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 1981, Kemp signed withthe Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent. Kemp was one of four quarterbacks the Rams carried on the roster that season. When former starterVince Ferragamo bolted the Rams to sign with Montreal of theCanadian Football League, the Rams insertedPat Haden as the full time starter, with Raiders cast offDan Pastorini as the second string and former draft pickJeff Rutledge as the third stringer quarterback. Pastorini drew the start againstthe Washington Redskins and was ineffective, going 8 for 21 and two interceptions. With the Rams down 30–7, Kemp made his NFL debut late in the game. He went two for six with an interception.[5]
Kemp would not see the field at all during the strike shortened 1982 season and made a handful of appearances during the 1983 season. One of those was a token appearance to do a kneel down during the Rams 41–17 blow out win againstthe Buffalo Bills, a team his father starred for and won a championship with in the American Football League during the 1960s. That season the Rams made the playoffs and faced the Redskins in the Divisional playoff game. Ferragamo played one of the worst games of his career, throwing three interceptions. He was benched in favor of Kemp later in the eventual 51–7 loss. In 1984, after Ferragamo went 1–3 as a starter to begin the season, head coachJohn Robinson made the switch, benching the one-time Rams star in favor of Kemp. Kemp started the rest of the season, and finished with a 9–4 record as a starter, completing 143 passes out of 284 attempts for 2,021 yards, with thirteen touchdown passes against seven interceptions. The Rams finished 10–6 but lost tothe New York Giants in the Wild Card Round.
The following season, the Rams traded Ferragamo tothe Buffalo Bills for tight end Tony Hunter. Despite Ferragamo being gone, Kemp was not assured to be the starter. Despite the poise and ability to start he showed during the 1984 season, the Rams signed Canadian League starDieter Brock to be the team's starting quarterback. Kemp only made one start that season, a 24–17 loss to the Giants. The Rams cast their luck with Brock, who did manage to lead the team to the playoffs, where they were trounced bythe Chicago Bears and their vaunted 4–6 defense in the NFC Championship. The following season, the Rams revamped their quarterback rotation again as Brock suffered an injury during preseason that later led to him retiring, while the Rams signed formerFalcon starSteve Bartkowski and acquiredJim Everett fromthe Houston Oilers. Kemp was not re-signed and played the 1986 season with the Rams rivalSan Francisco 49ers, where he backed-upJoe Montana. When Montana was injured, Kemp started six games, going 3–2–1 during that period. One of those games was a 31–16 win overthe Miami Dolphins, coached byDon Shula, father ofDave Shula, one of Kemp's teammates at Dartmouth.
The next season, Kemp was withthe Seattle Seahawks and was one of the players who crossed the picket lines. He won his only start that year, a 32–17 victory over aDetroit Lions team made up of mainly replacement players. Kemp would play with the Seahawks for the bulk of his remaining years in the NFL. He was released during the 1991 season, but quickly found a job withthe Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles struggled at quarterback that season, mainly with injuries. StarterRandall Cunningham went down, followed by backupJim McMahon. RookieBrad Goebel was inserted, but quickly too was a victim of the injury bug. The Eagles signed Kemp, and then coaxed formerNew York Jets quarterbackPat Ryan out of retirement. Kemp started two games for the Eagles, going one and one.
The 1991 season was Kemp's last as an NFL player. He finished with a 16–12–1 record as a starter, and 39 touchdowns versus 40 interceptions.[6]
In the years following the conclusion of his playing career, Jeff Kemp became a motivational speaker and wrote a book called "Facing the Blitz".[7]
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