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Greatest Journeyman QB

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DaytonBuck

I've always liked them
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Steve DeBerg's 17-year career was a tale of 'What could have been'

p1_steve_deberg_getty.jpg

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The exhibition season is under way and for the next few weeks the viewing public will be inundated with backups, scrubs and hangers-on looking to elude The Turk.
Which brings up the question: Who is the all-time journeyman under center?
We began with these parameters:
? Minimum 100 games.
? Played with at least four different teams.
? Never made an All-Pro / Pro Bowl team.
? No more than half his career with one team.
The criteria eliminated some of the best-known backups, like Don Strock (167 games, but played for only the Dolphins and Browns), Zeke Bratkowski (132 games, but played for three teams: Bears, Rams and Packers) and the immortal Guido Merkins (108 games, but again, played for only three teams: Oilers, Saints and Eagles). Even Earl Morrall was up for discussion, but although he played in 255 games for six teams in 21 years (and never more than six-plus years with any one team), alas, he was an All-Pro twice (1957 with the Steelers and in '68 with the Colts).
These are the guys who have been around the block, the ones who have been there, done that -- but not without failure. Or a rotating charge account with U-Haul. The best of this bunch, as Bill Walsh once lamented, is "just good enough to get you beat."
These are the all-time best journeyman quarterbacks. Mr. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow -- and turn out the lights when you leave, will ya? And Exhibits A, B and C are Steve DeBerg.
DeBerg's NFL career began in 1977, as a 10th-round draft pick of the Cowboys. Of course, Dallas already had Roger Staubach, so it's only fitting that our hero was cut at the end of training camp. But he latched on with the sad-sack 49ers, who went 2-14 in 1978 behind Scott Bull and DeBerg.
The next season -- Walsh's first in San Francisco -- should have been DeBerg's coming out party. During another 2-14 campaign he established an NFL record for most pass completions (347) and posted the first of his three 3,400-yard passing seasons. But a funny thing happened on the way to Canton; the Niners selected Joe Montana in the 1979 draft. Coincidentally, DeBerg and Montana were roomies during the future Hall of Famer's first two seasons.
DeBerg had one more season by the Bay before spending 1981-83 in Denver, which traded for John Elway after the '83 draft. Four seasons with Tampa Bay followed, when he shared snaps with Steve Young (1985-86) and Vinny Testaverde (1987), among others.
In 1988 DeBerg signed with Kansas City, where he had four consecutive seasons -- and two playoff berths -- with at least 2,900 yards passing, including 3,444 yards with 23 TDs and only four picks in 1990. That also was the year Jim Kelly led the NFL in passing, and his 101.2 rating is still among the best single-season performances ever, while Warren Moon passed for 4,689 yards, the sixth-highest total ever.
After wrapping up his 14th season in 1991, DeBerg, then 37, said his goal was to be the oldest player in the NFL. When Jets kicker Pat Leahy retired in January 1992, he was it.
DeBerg, nevertheless, was back in Tampa in 1992, standing on the sidelines as Testaverde struggled through his final season with the Bucs at 5-11. After playing in three games with Tampa Bay in '93, DeBerg joined the Dolphins. Dan Marino tore his Achilles' tendon in Game 5, and with third-year player Scott Mitchell and rookie Doug Pederson the only quarterbacks on the roster, Don Shula brought in the veteran QB.

Entire article: SI.com - Writers - B. Duane Cross: Steve DeBerg --*'What could have been' - Thursday August 19, 2004 9:59PM
 
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ScriptOhio said:
Steve DeBerg's 17-year career was a tale of 'What could have been'

p1_steve_deberg_getty.jpg

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The exhibition season is under way and for the next few weeks the viewing public will be inundated with backups, scrubs and hangers-on looking to elude The Turk.
Which brings up the question: Who is the all-time journeyman under center?
We began with these parameters:
? Minimum 100 games.
? Played with at least four different teams.
? Never made an All-Pro / Pro Bowl team.
? No more than half his career with one team.
The criteria eliminated some of the best-known backups, like Don Strock (167 games, but played for only the Dolphins and Browns), Zeke Bratkowski (132 games, but played for three teams: Bears, Rams and Packers) and the immortal Guido Merkins (108 games, but again, played for only three teams: Oilers, Saints and Eagles). Even Earl Morrall was up for discussion, but although he played in 255 games for six teams in 21 years (and never more than six-plus years with any one team), alas, he was an All-Pro twice (1957 with the Steelers and in '68 with the Colts).
These are the guys who have been around the block, the ones who have been there, done that -- but not without failure. Or a rotating charge account with U-Haul. The best of this bunch, as Bill Walsh once lamented, is "just good enough to get you beat."
These are the all-time best journeyman quarterbacks. Mr. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow -- and turn out the lights when you leave, will ya? And Exhibits A, B and C are Steve DeBerg.
DeBerg's NFL career began in 1977, as a 10th-round draft pick of the Cowboys. Of course, Dallas already had Roger Staubach, so it's only fitting that our hero was cut at the end of training camp. But he latched on with the sad-sack 49ers, who went 2-14 in 1978 behind Scott Bull and DeBerg.
The next season -- Walsh's first in San Francisco -- should have been DeBerg's coming out party. During another 2-14 campaign he established an NFL record for most pass completions (347) and posted the first of his three 3,400-yard passing seasons. But a funny thing happened on the way to Canton; the Niners selected Joe Montana in the 1979 draft. Coincidentally, DeBerg and Montana were roomies during the future Hall of Famer's first two seasons.
DeBerg had one more season by the Bay before spending 1981-83 in Denver, which traded for John Elway after the '83 draft. Four seasons with Tampa Bay followed, when he shared snaps with Steve Young (1985-86) and Vinny Testaverde (1987), among others.
In 1988 DeBerg signed with Kansas City, where he had four consecutive seasons -- and two playoff berths -- with at least 2,900 yards passing, including 3,444 yards with 23 TDs and only four picks in 1990. That also was the year Jim Kelly led the NFL in passing, and his 101.2 rating is still among the best single-season performances ever, while Warren Moon passed for 4,689 yards, the sixth-highest total ever.
After wrapping up his 14th season in 1991, DeBerg, then 37, said his goal was to be the oldest player in the NFL. When Jets kicker Pat Leahy retired in January 1992, he was it.
DeBerg, nevertheless, was back in Tampa in 1992, standing on the sidelines as Testaverde struggled through his final season with the Bucs at 5-11. After playing in three games with Tampa Bay in '93, DeBerg joined the Dolphins. Dan Marino tore his Achilles' tendon in Game 5, and with third-year player Scott Mitchell and rookie Doug Pederson the only quarterbacks on the roster, Don Shula brought in the veteran QB.

Entire article: SI.com - Writers - B. Duane Cross: Steve DeBerg --*'What could have been' - Thursday August 19, 2004 9:59PM
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For @Jaxbuck
 
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