 McDonald in 1985 | |||||||||||
| No. 16, 14 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1958-02-23)February 23, 1958 (age 67) Montebello, California, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 184 lb (83 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Bishop Amat Memorial (La Puente, California) | ||||||||||
| College | USC | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1980: 4th round, 109th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Paul Brian McDonald (born February 23, 1958) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for theCleveland Browns andDallas Cowboys. He playedcollege football for theUSC Trojans, earning second-teamAll-American honors in 1979.
McDonald attendedBishop Amat Memorial High School. He received All-state honors in football as a senior. He accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Southern California. As a true freshman, he was the third-string quarterback behindVince Evans andRob Hertel. As a sophomore, he was promoted to backup quarterback behind Hertel after Evans graduated.
As a junior, he was named the starter at quarterback after Hertel graduated. He was part of a backfield that includedrunning backCharles White andLynn Cain, which helped the team capture a share of thenational championship with theUniversity of Alabama in the1978 season. He passed for 1,690 yards (led the Pac-10), 19 touchdowns (tied school record), 7 interceptions and led the NCAA in pass efficiency with a rating of 152.8. His only loss in his two years as a starter was againstArizona State University in 1978. Injuries to the Trojans' top twocenters led to several fumbled snaps that opened the door for Sun Devil and futureNFL quarterbackMark Malone to win 20–7.
He was a senior in1979, and he played in a backfield that included futureHeisman Trophy winners White andMarcus Allen. He posted 2,223 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He led the team to a 17–16 win againstOhio State University, after it entered the1980 Rose Bowl as the number one ranked team in the nation. He finished sixth in the 1979Heisman Trophy voting.[1]
He was known for his poise and as a winner, finishing his college career with a 22-1-1 record, holding theNCAA mark for the lowest interception percentage in a career at 2.3% (13 interceptions in 561 attempts) and thePac-10 record of 143 straight passes without an interception.[2] In 2005, he received theNCAA Silver Anniversary Award.[3]
McDonald was selected by theCleveland Browns in the fourth round (109th overall) of the1980 NFL draft. He was a backup behind quarterbackBrian Sipe in his first 4 seasons.
In1982, he replaced Sipe (who was suffering from a sore throwing arm) in the last three games of the strike-shortened season, posting a 2–1 record and helping the team make the playoffs that had been expanded to 16 teams. He started in the first round of the playoffs, which resulted in a 27–10 loss against theOakland Raiders, after throwing for 281 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions.[4] Sipe won back the starting job the next season.
In1983, Sipe regained his starting job and McDonald returned to his backup role.
In1984, Sipe signed with theNew Jersey Generals of theUnited States Football League and the Browns gave the starting job to McDonald, who decided to stay in theNFL, despite also receiving offers to move.Defensive coordinatorMarty Schottenheimer took over the Browns head coaching job halfway through the season. McDonald had a 5–11 record after enduring 53 sacks and registering 3,472 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Against theNew England Patriots, he had a career-high 320 passing yards on 23 out of 37 attempts (62.2%) and one touchdown. Against theNew Orleans Saints, he tallied a career-high 75% completion percentage (18 out of 24). Against theHouston Oilers, he completed 13 straight passes.[1]
In1985, the team traded for veteranGary Danielson and selectedBernie Kosar in the first round of theNFL supplemental draft, which dropped McDonald to third-string quarterback. In1986, the team traded forMike Pagel, who passed McDonald on the depth chart, causing him to be waived on June 26. He left the Browns after passing for 5,269 yards, 24 touchdowns and 37 interceptions.
On July 16,1986, he signed as afree agent with theSeattle Seahawks. On August 26, he was released after the team opted to keep only two quarterbacks.[5]
On November 4,1986, he was signed by theDallas Cowboys as afree agent to be the third-stringquarterback, after starterDanny White was lost for the season with a broken right wrist he suffered during the 14–17 loss against theNew York Giants.[6] He reunited with pass offense coordinatorPaul Hackett, who was one of his coaches with the Trojans and the Browns. McDonald also became the first left hander quarterback to make the team in franchise history.
In1987, he beat rookieKevin Sweeney for the third-string quarterback job, leading the team with a 92.0 quarterback rating in pre-season. The players went on a strike in the third week of the season. Earlier games were canceled, reducing the 16-game season to 15 games. TheNFL decided that the games were going to be played with replacement players. Sweeney was signed to be a part of theDallas Cowboys replacement team. Sweeney had success, and he was kept on the roster for the rest of the year along with McDonald. On August 23,1988, he was released without playing a down in his time with the team.[7]
McDonald went into business after football, working as a Financial Consultant for Merrill Lynch, Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank and Senior Vice President at Fidelity National Title Insurance Company.[1]
McDonald didradiocolor commentary forUSC Trojans football games and lives inNewport Beach, California.[8] He received the award for being the best radio color analyst given yearly by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association in 2002 and 2004.[9] He co-authored the bookThru the Tunnel: True Stories of Sports and Life That Empower Your Spirit (2022).[10] The book was used to launch GameChange, a sports media and personal empowerment education company that McDonald co-founded with Jack Baric, an Emmy Award winning filmmaker. The company website is gamechangenation.com.[11] McDonald and Baric first met when they collaborated onA City Divided, a documentary film about the USC vs. UCLA football rivalry, which was used as a catalyst of "Rivals United for a Kure," a campaign to raise funds for cancer research.[12]
His son Mike, was the third-string quarterback for the USC Trojans behindJohn David Booty andMark Sanchez, during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He also was a part of two national championship teams.[13] McDonald's middle son, Andrew played quarterback at New Mexico State (2012–2013).[14] His youngest son, Matt, started at quarterback for three years at Bowling Green (2020–2022) after seeing limited playing time for Boston College in 2017-2018[15]