| No. 17 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1967-05-19)May 19, 1967 (age 58) Missoula, Montana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Coeur d'Alene (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Idaho (1986–1989) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1990: 6th round, 138th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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John Melvin "Deep" Friesz (FREEZE; born May 19, 1967) is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for four teams. He playedcollege football for theIdaho Vandals and was drafted in the1990 NFL draft by theSan Diego Chargers, he later played for theWashington Redskins, theSeattle Seahawks, and theNew England Patriots.
Born inMissoula, Montana, Friesz moved with his family in 1975 toCoeur d'Alene, Idaho;[1] he attendedCoeur d'Alene High School and graduated in 1985. Friesz spent two seasons as a back-up; as a sophomore, he was third-string behind senior Steve Halliday and junior Scott Wellman as the Vikings won their first state title in 1982. The next year, CDA was state runner-up behindWellman;[2]Friesz became the starter in his senior season in 1984.[1][3]
His first game was against perennial state powerBorah inBoise, who had beaten the Vikings27–23 at Coeur d'Alene in 1983.[4] The #2-ranked CDA Vikings returned the favor and beat the Lions 19–14 on the then-greenAstroTurf ofBronco Stadium. Friesz completed 21 of 40 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns in his starting debut.[5] The Vikings took over the top spot in the state poll and beatRogers of Spokane 46–0 the following week.[6] They won their first ten games, but lost in the state semifinals 25–20 toCapital, who also had handed them their last loss, at the finals in 1983.[7] The game was played at a neutral site, theKibbie Dome inMoscow, Friesz's future home field. He finished the season with over 1,900 yards passing and 19 touchdowns in eleven games,[8] and was second-teamall-state.[9] (CDA won the state title the following year withDuane Halliday at quarterback.)[2]
Friesz enrolled at theUniversity of Idaho,[3] recruited byhead coachDennis Erickson,[8] after attending the coach's Vandal football camp in the summer of 1984. Lightly recruited, his only other offer was fromNew Mexico, at the time a struggling program in theWestern Athletic Conference. Friesz had been turned down by Big Sky memberWeber State,[3] then coached byMike Price.
Frieszredshirted in1985 as the Vandals won their first outrightBig Sky Conference title since1971.[3] In1986, under new head coachKeith Gilbertson, he served as the backup toScott Linehan, who would go on to become head coach of theSt. Louis Rams.
Friesz was the Vandals starting quarterback for three years, beginning in1987, when he threw 28 touchdown passes as a sophomore and was named player of the year in theBig Sky and second-teamAll-American (Division I-AA). In his junior season of1988, he guided the Vandals to a 9–1 regular season and two playoff wins, ending the season with a road loss in the Division I-AA semi-finals. He was a consensus All-American selectionat quarterback.[10]
In his senior season in1989, Friesz threw 31 touchdowns and for over 4,000 yards in guiding the Vandals to their third consecutive conference championship. Idaho went undefeated in conference play (8–0), the only time in school history. Friesz averaged over 360 yards per game and passed for over 300 yards in ten consecutive games. He received theWalter Payton Award as the outstanding player in the nation in Division I-AA.[3][11]
In his college career, #17 passed for over 10,000 yards and was the conference player-of-the-year for three consecutive years. The Vandals' annualMVP award has been renamed theJohn Friesz Award in his honor.
In August 2006, Friesz was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame inSouth Bend, Indiana.[3][12] His #17 was officially retired by theUniversity of Idaho in October 2006.[13] The same number was retired by his high school in 1991.[14]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft4+1⁄4 in (1.94 m) | 209 lb (95 kg) | 31+5⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 8+3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | 5.29 s | 1.82 s | 3.11 s | 4.57 s | 22.0 in (0.56 m) | ||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[15] | ||||||||||||
In the1990 NFL draft, Friesz was the tenthquarterback selected, taken in the sixth round (138th overall) by theSan Diego Chargers.[16][17][18][19][20][21] Other quarterbacks in this draft wereJeff George (#1 overall pick),Heisman Trophy winnerAndre Ware, futureSuper Bowl starterNeil O'Donnell, andScott Mitchell.
Friesz became thestarting quarterback for the Chargers in1991, his second season. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in a pre-season game in1992. The Chargers then acquired QBStan Humphries from theWashington Redskins, who was drafted by then Redskins GMBobby Beathard, who was the Chargers GM at that time. Humphries became the starting QB and led the Chargers, who were winless in their first four games, to an 11–5 record, ending a ten-year playoff drought and winning their firstAFC West Division title since1981 under rookie coachBobby Ross. Friesz returned to the Chargers thenext season as the backup quarterback and left the Chargers as a free agent prior to the 1994 season.
Friesz passed for over 8,600 yards and 45 touchdowns in his professional career.[22]
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | SD | 1 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 50.0 | 98 | 1 | 1 | 58.5 | ||
| 1991 | SD | 16 | 16 | 262 | 487 | 53.8 | 2,896 | 12 | 15 | 67.1 | ||
| 1992 | SD | 0 | 0 | DNP | ||||||||
| 1993 | SD | 12 | 6 | 128 | 238 | 53.8 | 1,402 | 6 | 4 | 72.8 | ||
| 1994 | WAS | 16 | 4 | 105 | 180 | 58.3 | 1,266 | 10 | 9 | 77.7 | ||
| 1995 | SEA | 6 | 3 | 64 | 120 | 53.3 | 795 | 6 | 3 | 80.4 | ||
| 1996 | SEA | 8 | 6 | 120 | 211 | 56.9 | 1,629 | 8 | 4 | 86.4 | ||
| 1997 | SEA | 2 | 1 | 15 | 36 | 41.7 | 138 | 0 | 3 | 18.1 | ||
| 1998 | SEA | 6 | 1 | 29 | 49 | 59.2 | 409 | 2 | 2 | 82.8 | ||
| 1999 | NE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||
| 2000 | NE | 1 | 0 | 11 | 21 | 52.4 | 66 | 0 | 1 | 39.0 | ||
| Career | 69 | 38 | 745 | 1,364 | 54.6 | 8,699 | 45 | 42 | 72.3 | |||