| No. 7 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1944-04-06)April 6, 1944 (age 81) Anaheim, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Notre Dame (1962–1964) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1965: 6th round, 76th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| AFL draft | 1965: 2nd round, 12th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career AFL/NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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John Gregory Huarte (/ˈhjuərt/HYOO-ərt); born April 6, 1944) is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played with several teams in theAmerican Football League (AFL), theNational Football League (NFL), and in theWorld Football League (WFL) between 1965 and 1975. He playedcollege football for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish, where he won the 1964Heisman Trophy. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
Huarte was born and raised inOrange County, California; his father Joseph was a formerminor league baseball player ofBasque descent.[1][2] The family ran an orange and avocado ranch and he graduated fromMater Dei High School inSanta Ana in 1961.[1]
Huarte playedcollege football for theNotre Dame Fighting Irish. During his sophomore and junior seasons, he averaged only a few minutes per game due to injuries and the Irish went 5–5 and 2–7, respectively. As a senior in 1964 under new Irish head coachAra Parseghian however, he became thestarting quarterback as the Irish won all but one game during the1964 season, in which he was selected as anAll-American and won theHeisman Trophy.[1][3] By the end of the season, Huarte threw for 2,062 yards with only 205 passes, an average of over ten yards per pass attempt, many to receiverJack Snow.[4]
Huarte was a member of theCollege All-Star team in the annual pre-season game against the defending NFL champions atChicago'sSoldier Field. The 1965 game was in early August against theCleveland Browns and Huarte was named the game's most valuable player.
| Season | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1962 | Notre Dame | 10 | 4 | 8 | 50.0 | 38 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 89.9 | 3 | -14 | -4.7 | 0 |
| 1963 | Notre Dame | 9 | 20 | 42 | 47.6 | 243 | 5.8 | 1 | 0 | 104.1 | 11 | -53 | -4.8 | 0 |
| 1964 | Notre Dame | 10 | 114 | 205 | 55.6 | 2,062 | 10.1 | 16 | 11 | 155.1 | 37 | 7 | 0.2 | 3 |
| Total | 29 | 138 | 255 | 54.1% | 2,343 | 9.2 | 17 | 11 | 144.7 | 51 | -60 | -1.2 | 3 | |
Huarte wasdrafted in 1965 by both pro football leagues: he was the twelfth overall selection of theAFL draft and the 76th pick of theNFL draft. He signed with the AFL'sNew York Jets over the NFLPhiladelphia Eagles, but was beaten out for the starting position by fellow-rookieJoe Namath, the first pick of the AFL draft, who had finished eleventh in the Heisman voting as a senior atAlabama.[1] The AFL Jets thus signed both the Heisman Trophy winner and the Alabama star away from the NFL. Huarte was third on the depth chart behind co-starters Namath andMike Taliaferro and was on thetaxi squad. Following the 1965 season, Huarte was traded to theBoston Patriots forJim Colclough and the draft rights toWichita State linebacker/centerJim Waskiewicz.[5]
Subsequently, Huarte did see action as a back-up quarterback for several other professional teams from 1966 to 1972.[6][7][8] Out of the NFL in 1973, he played his final two seasons of professional football as the starting quarterback of theMemphis Southmen of theWorld Football League,[4][9] which folded before the completion of the1975 season.[10]
Huarte is the founder and Owner of Arizona Tile.[11] In 2005, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[12][13]
Huarte is married to Eileen Devine from Woodside, New York. They have 5 children and 14 grandchildren and live in Pacific Palisades, Ca. In 1977, he started a tile/granite store in San Diego. It has now grown to 30 locations, with over 1000 employees throughout the United States. It is still family owned and operated by John and Eileen Huarte and their children.