.jpg) Ferragamo in 2009 aboard USSRonald Reagan (CVN-76) | |||||||||||||||
| No. 15, 5 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1954-04-24)April 24, 1954 (age 70) Torrance, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Phineas Banning (Los Angeles,California) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | California (1972–1973) Nebraska (1975–1976) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1977: 4th round, 91st pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) and theCanadian Football League (CFL). He playedcollege football for theCalifornia Golden Bears andNebraska Cornhuskers.
Born inTorrance, California, Ferragamo was an All-American high school quarterback while atPhineas Banning High School (1969–1972) in nearbyWilmington and was selected as that year'sLos Angeles City Schools Most Valuable Player. Ferragamo was heavily recruited by colleges, and he accepted a footballscholarship to theUniversity of California, Berkeley.
Ferragamo became Cal's starting quarterback for the final three games of his true freshman season in1972 and remained the starter through thefollowing year. Ferragamo chose to transfer to top-rankedNebraska in1974.[1] As a Cornhusker, he lettered in1975 and1976.
Nebraska was ranked No. 1 to open the 1976 season but managed only a 6–6 tie withLSU atTiger Stadium on September 11. (The two teams were said to have waged "unrelenting trench warfare".)[2] Ferragamo capped his college career by leading the Cornhuskers (9–3–1, ranked #13) to a victory overTexas Tech in theAstro-Bluebonnet Bowl in theHouston Astrodome. During his senior season, he was All-Big Eight Conference,All-American and also anAcademic All-American.
Ferragamo played in theNational Football League (NFL) for theLos Angeles Rams (1977–1980, 1982–1984),Buffalo Bills (1985) andGreen Bay Packers (1985–1986).
Drafted in the fourth round of the1977 NFL draft, Ferragamo mostly sat on the bench in 1977 and 1978, behindPat Haden (and in 1977, an agingJoe Namath). In1979, Haden broke a finger in mid-season, giving Ferragamo his shot. After leading the 9–7 Rams to road victories over theDallas Cowboys andTampa Bay Buccaneers in theNFC playoffs, Ferragamo started inSuper Bowl XIV inPasadena, making him the first quarterback to start a Super Bowl in the same season as his first career start.[3] The underdog Rams led after three quarters of play before falling to thePittsburgh Steelers, 31–19.[4]
Ferragamo enjoyed his best statistical season in1980 in which he threw for 30 touchdowns, tied for second most in the NFL. The Rams again made theplayoffs, but were defeated byDallas, 34–13, in thewild card game.
In 1981, Ferragamo jumped to theMontreal Alouettes of theCanadian Football League, thanks to a $600,000-a-year contract (a large amount even by NFL standards, especially compared to $250,000 the Rams offered him, and the $47,500 they had paid him for 1980.)[5] However, Ferragamo had a difficult time adjusting to the style ofCanadian football, completing 175 of 342 passes (51.2%) for 2,175 yards, with only seven touchdown passes against 25 interceptions. He was demoted to backup toGerry Dattilio in the latter half of the season and then to third-string quarterback for the final three games afterKen Johnson arrived in a trade. Montreal went on to a disastrous 3–13 season, but made the playoffs anyway due to weak East Division. (Montreal lost the Eastern semi-final toOttawa; Ferragamo watched from the pressbox.)
In a span of less than eight months, he was featured on the cover ofSports Illustrated twice, in December 1980,[6] and July 1981.[5]
Ferragamo returned to the Rams in1982, as the backup toBert Jones, who was sidelined with a neck injury. Late in the strike-shortened season on December 26, Ferragamo threw for 509 yards in a home loss to theChicago Bears,[7] at the time the second highest mark for passing yards in a game in league history behind former RamNorm Van Brocklin in 1951. (As of 2022, Ferragamo's performance remains the 15th-best in NFL history.)
Ferragamo led the Rams back to theplayoffs in1983, behind the running of rookieEric Dickerson. After beating the favoredCowboys inIrving in the wild card matchup, 24–17, the Rams were drubbed, 51–7, by the defendingSuper Bowl championWashington Redskins.[8]
In1984, Ferragamo was again the Rams' starting quarterback. But in a 24–14 loss atPittsburgh on September 16, he broke a finger on his throwing hand in what became his last game for the Rams.[9] In 1985, Ferragamo moved on to theBuffalo Bills, but won only one of nine starts, eventually losing the starter's job toBruce Mathison. In 1986, he served asRandy Wright's backup for theGreen Bay Packers, then retired from football.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | Yds | ||
| 1977 | RAM | 3 | 0 | 0-0 | 9 | 15 | 60.0 | 83 | 5.5 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 114.7 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 1978 | RAM | 9 | 0 | 0-0 | 7 | 20 | 35.0 | 114 | 5.7 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 15.4 | 2 | 10 | 5.0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 19 |
| 1979 | RAM | 8 | 5 | 4-1 | 53 | 110 | 48.2 | 778 | 7.1 | 71 | 5 | 10 | 49.0 | 3 | -2 | -0.7 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 115 |
| 1980 | RAM | 16 | 15 | 11-4 | 240 | 404 | 59.4 | 3,199 | 7.9 | 74 | 30 | 19 | 89.7 | 15 | 34 | 2.3 | 15 | 1 | 23 | 191 |
| 1982 | RAM | 7 | 5 | 1-4 | 118 | 209 | 56.5 | 1,609 | 7.7 | 85 | 9 | 9 | 77.6 | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 65 |
| 1983 | RAM | 16 | 16 | 9-7 | 274 | 464 | 59.1 | 3,276 | 7.1 | 61 | 22 | 23 | 75.9 | 22 | 17 | 0.8 | 8 | 0 | 21 | 178 |
| 1984 | RAM | 3 | 3 | 1-2 | 29 | 66 | 43.9 | 317 | 4.8 | 68 | 2 | 8 | 29.2 | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
| 1985 | BUF | 10 | 9 | 1-8 | 149 | 287 | 51.9 | 1,677 | 5.8 | 48 | 5 | 17 | 50.8 | 8 | 15 | 1.9 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 135 |
| 1986 | GB | 3 | 0 | 0-0 | 23 | 40 | 57.5 | 283 | 7.1 | 50 | 1 | 3 | 56.6 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Career | 75 | 53 | 27-26 | 902 | 1,615 | 55.9 | 11,336 | 7.0 | 85 | 76 | 91 | 70.1 | 60 | 77 | 1.3 | 15 | 3 | 94 | 770 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | Sacks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | Yds | ||
| 1978 | RAM | 1 | 0 | 0-0 | 7 | 16 | 43.8 | 130 | 8.1 | 65 | 0 | 2 | 32.8 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 1979 | RAM | 3 | 3 | 2-1 | 36 | 69 | 52.2 | 585 | 8.5 | 50 | 3 | 3 | 77.3 | 3 | 5 | 1.7 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 60 |
| 1980 | RAM | 1 | 1 | 0-1 | 14 | 30 | 46.7 | 175 | 5.8 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 36.8 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 1983 | RAM | 2 | 2 | 1-1 | 35 | 73 | 47.9 | 337 | 4.6 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 62.4 | 4 | -10 | -2.5 | -2 | 0 | 5 | 36 |
| Career | 7 | 6 | 3-3 | 92 | 188 | 48.9 | 1,227 | 6.5 | 65 | 8 | 11 | 59.9 | 7 | -5 | -0.7 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 112 | |
Ferragamo owns Touchdown Real Estate inOrange County,[10] and Ferragamo-Migneco Vineyards inSanta Maria, California.[11] He is the chairman of the Vince Ferragamo Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization begun in 1996 that focuses on raising donations for children's organizations such as theSpecial Olympics,[12] the Speech and Language Development Center andRonald McDonald House Charities.