| No. 12 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1950-04-23)April 23, 1950 (age 75) Alvin, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Shreveport (LA) Woodlawn | ||||||||||||||
| College | Arkansas (1969–1972) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1973: 3rd round, 57th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Joseph Carlton Ferguson Jr. (born April 23, 1950) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback for 17 seasons in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily with theBuffalo Bills. He playedcollege football for theArkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Bills in the third round of the1973 NFL draft.
Ferguson played high school football inShreveport, Louisiana, for Woodlawn High School. He guided the Knights to theLouisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAA (the top classification at the time) state championship in 1968. Ferguson succeededTerry Bradshaw as Woodlawn's starting quarterback.
Ferguson playedcollege football at theUniversity of Arkansas, where he held the school's single game record for most completions until broken in 2012 (31 againstTexas A&M in 1971).
TheBuffalo Bills selected Ferguson in the third round of the1973 NFL draft.[1] Although he is most famous for playing with the Bills from 1973 to 1984, Ferguson also played three seasons for theDetroit Lions, two seasons for theTampa Bay Buccaneers, and one final season with theIndianapolis Colts. Ferguson's number 12 with the Bills is now retired for his successor with the team,Hall of FamerJim Kelly.
Ferguson placed in the top 10 inpass attempts five times, completions and passing yards four times, passingtouchdowns six times, andyards per pass three times. At one time he shared, withRon Jaworski, the NFL record forconsecutive starts by a quarterback with 107, until he was replaced byJoe Dufek on September 30, 1984. He has a 1–3 record in the NFLpostseason, winning against theNew York Jets in 1981. His three losses came from theCincinnati Bengals in those same 1981 playoffs, theSan Diego Chargers the year before in 1980 (a game in which he played the entire contest with a sprained ankle), and in 1974 to the Pittsburgh Steelers. He retired after the 1990 season after playing only one game with the Colts.
In 1995, Ferguson briefly came out of retirement to serve as a backup quarterback for theSan Antonio Texans of theCanadian Football League'sSouth Division.Kay Stephenson, who had coached Ferguson in his last year in Buffalo, was coach of San Antonio at the time and needed an inexpensive backup who knew Stephenson's system after starterDavid Archer was injured midseason.[2]
In 1975 Ferguson tiedFran Tarkenton for the NFL lead with 25 touchdown passes and compiled a passer rating of 81.3. Ferguson also surpassed 20 touchdown passes in three other seasons: 1980, 1981, 1983. He finished his career with 196 touchdowns thrown and 209 interceptions.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Sacks | Drives | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | TD% | Int | Int% | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | Rtg | Sck | SckY | Sck% | 4QC | GWD | ||
| 1973 | BUF | 14 | 14 | 9−5 | 73 | 164 | 44.5 | 939 | 4 | 2.4 | 10 | 6.1 | 42 | 5.7 | 67.1 | 45.8 | 20 | 164 | 10.9 | 2 | 1 |
| 1974 | BUF | 14 | 14 | 9−5 | 119 | 232 | 51.3 | 1,588 | 12 | 5.2 | 12 | 5.2 | 55 | 6.8 | 113.4 | 69.0 | 32 | 235 | 12.1 | 3 | 3 |
| 1975 | BUF | 14 | 14 | 8−6 | 169 | 321 | 52.6 | 2,426 | 25 | 7.8 | 17 | 7.6 | 77 | 7.6 | 173.3 | 81.3 | 20 | 153 | 5.9 | 1 | 3 |
| 1976 | BUF | 7 | 7 | 2−5 | 74 | 151 | 49.0 | 1,086 | 9 | 6.0 | 1 | 0.7 | 58 | 7.2 | 155.1 | 90.0 | 11 | 80 | 6.8 | 1 | 1 |
| 1977 | BUF | 14 | 14 | 3−11 | 221 | 457 | 48.4 | 2,803 | 12 | 2.6 | 24 | 5.3 | 42 | 6.1 | 200.2 | 54.2 | 36 | 273 | 7.3 | 1 | 1 |
| 1978 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 5−11 | 175 | 330 | 53.0 | 2,136 | 16 | 4.8 | 15 | 4.5 | 92 | 6.5 | 133.5 | 70.5 | 29 | 243 | 8.1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1979 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 7−9 | 238 | 458 | 52.0 | 3,572 | 14 | 3.1 | 15 | 3.3 | 84 | 7.8 | 223.3 | 74.4 | 43 | 387 | 8.6 | 2 | 3 |
| 1980 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 11−5 | 251 | 439 | 57.2 | 2,805 | 20 | 4.6 | 18 | 4.1 | 69 | 6.4 | 175.3 | 74.5 | 13 | 129 | 2.9 | 2 | 4 |
| 1981 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 10−6 | 252 | 498 | 50.6 | 3,652 | 24 | 4.8 | 20 | 4.0 | 67 | 7.3 | 228.3 | 74.1 | 15 | 137 | 2.9 | 2 | 2 |
| 1982 | BUF | 9 | 9 | 4−5 | 144 | 264 | 54.5 | 1,597 | 7 | 2.7 | 16 | 6.1 | 47 | 6.0 | 177.4 | 56.3 | 11 | 105 | 4.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1983 | BUF | 16 | 16 | 8−8 | 281 | 508 | 55.3 | 2,995 | 26 | 5.1 | 25 | 4.9 | 43 | 5.9 | 187.2 | 69.3 | 27 | 266 | 5.0 | 3 | 3 |
| 1984 | BUF | 12 | 11 | 1−10 | 191 | 344 | 55.5 | 1,991 | 12 | 3.5 | 17 | 4.9 | 68 | 5.8 | 165.9 | 63.5 | 35 | 357 | 9.2 | — | — |
| 1985 | DET | 8 | 1 | 0−1 | 31 | 54 | 57.4 | 364 | 2 | 3.7 | 3 | 5.6 | 38 | 6.7 | 45.5 | 67.2 | 4 | 35 | 6.9 | — | — |
| 1986 | DET | 6 | 4 | 2−2 | 73 | 155 | 47.1 | 941 | 7 | 4.5 | 7 | 4.5 | 73 | 6.1 | 156.8 | 62.9 | 10 | 101 | 6.1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1988 | TB | 2 | 1 | 0−1 | 31 | 46 | 67.4 | 368 | 3 | 6.5 | 1 | 2.2 | 34 | 8.0 | 184.0 | 104.3 | 1 | 8 | 2.1 | — | — |
| 1989 | TB | 5 | 2 | 0−2 | 44 | 90 | 48.9 | 533 | 3 | 3.3 | 6 | 6.7 | 69 | 5.9 | 106.6 | 50.8 | 5 | 37 | 5.3 | — | — |
| 1990 | IND | 1 | 0 | 0−0 | 2 | 8 | 25.0 | 21 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 25.0 | 13 | 2.6 | 21.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | — | — |
| Career[3] | 186 | 171 | 79−92 | 2,369 | 4,519 | 52.4 | 29,817 | 196 | 4.3 | 209 | 4.6 | 92 | 6.6 | 160.3 | 68.4 | 312 | 2,710 | 6.5 | 20 | 24 | |
In May 2005, Ferguson was diagnosed withBurkitt's lymphomacancer and underwent treatment atThe University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center inHouston, Texas. In January 2008, Ferguson was diagnosed withacute myeloid leukemia. In February 2008, he was treated at M.D. Anderson in theintensive care unit forpneumonia. In July 2009, it was reported that Ferguson had recovered from his battles withcancer.[6]
| International | |
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| National | |
