New England Patriots Steve Grogan Interview (December 17, 1978)

Steven James Grogan (born July 24, 1953) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats and was selected by the Patriots in the fifth round of the 1975 NFL Draft. An agile, durable dual-threat quarterback in an era known for pocket passers, he led the league in both passing and quarterback rushing statistics several times in his career, and ran for a quarterback-record 12 touchdowns in 1976, a record that stood for 35 seasons. Grogan ran for over 500 yards in 1978 and led the team to 3,156 rushing yards, an NFL record that was eclipsed only by the 2019 Baltimore Ravens. He had his statistically best year in 1979, before being hobbled by injuries for much of the 1980s. While he showed moments of brilliance, and continued to be a fan favorite for his tenacious style of play, he would have only one season during the rest of his career, 1983, when he started more than half of his team's games, and would spend the majority of the rest of his career splitting starting time with a number of other quarterbacks. He played in Super Bowl XX, coming off the bench to throw a pass for the only touchdown the Patriots would score on the day. When he retired in 1990, he held many of the team's passing and longevity records. He was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995, and currently owns a sporting goods store in Massachusetts. Professional career 1975–1979: initial successes Grogan was selected in the fifth round (116th overall) in the 1975 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Although he would start every game for four consecutive seasons early in his career, his career was also marked by injuries and quarterback controversies, with Grogan competing with other quarterbacks for the starting job. His second through his fifth season were the only times he would start every game in a season. Besides taking the starting job from former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett as a rookie,[7] Grogan would later face competition from Matt Cavanaugh, Tony Eason, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, and Marc Wilson. In his first season, Grogan played in 13 games out of the then-14 game regular season, starting 7 of the last 8.[5] Grogan threw for 1,976 yards, 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.[8] The Patriots finished with a 3-11 record, and traded Plunkett, their starter for the previous four years,[7] in the off-season. (Plunkett would eventually lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.) For the Patriots 1976 season, Grogan led the Patriots to an 11-3 record and the franchise's first playoff berth since 1963. The eleven wins were the most Patriots wins in a season since the club’s inception. Along the way the Patriots defeated the defending Super Bowl champion, Pittsburgh Steelers (30-27). They also handed the Oakland Raiders their only regular season loss that year by defeating them 48-17. However, they lost the divisional playoffs (24-21) to the Raiders. Grogan scored 12 rushing touchdowns in 1976, breaking a quarterback record of 11 previously held by Tobin Rote and Johnny Lujack.[9][10][11] His record would stand for 35 years until broken by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's 14 in 2011.[12] During the 1977 season, Grogan would continue to advance the ball with his legs, amassing another 300+ yard rushing season, though he would only find the end zone once on a running play, as running backs Horace Ivory, Sam "Bam" Cunningham and Andy Johnson did most of the scoring on the ground. Rookie Stanley Morgan was drafted in the first round of that year's draft, and became an instant favorite target for Grogan; the two would go on to become the most successful tandem in Patriots history by the time of their retirements. The team would slip from their prior successes, however, falling to 9-5 and missing the playoffs. In the Patriots 1978 season, Grogan led the Patriots to an 11-5 record, a division title and the organization's first ever home playoff game, a 31–14 loss to the Houston Oilers. The Patriots set the all-time single season team rushing record with 3,156 yards (Grogan rushing for 539 yards and 5 touchdowns himself), a record that stood until broken by the 2019 Baltimore Ravens.[13] It is also the only season an NFL team has had 4 players rush for over 500 yards apiece.[5] Statistically, Grogan's best season was the Patriots 1979 season, when he completed 206 of 423 passes for 3,286 yards and 28 touchdowns, rushing for 368 yards and 2 touchdowns.[14] His 28 touchdown passes led the league, tied with Brian Sipe of Cleveland,[15] and his rushing yards led the league for quarterbacks.[5] The Patriots struggled defensively and could not hold on to leads provided to them by Grogan, and finished with a disappointing 9-7 record, missing the playoffs.