Steve DeBerg Article for Football Diner

bobby wade

http://www.footballdiner.com/nflstevedeberg.html

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bobby wade wrote: »

http://www.footballdiner.com/nflstevedeberg.html

Steven Leroy DeBerg had a 21 year NFL career spanning three decades, six teams and a record 11 Head Coaches. His reputation is that of a journeyman having never playing more than 64 games for any one team, that coming in two spells with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers five years apart. His longest continuous service with any one team was a 57 game streak with the Kansas City Chiefs. There is however more to Steve DeBerg than just the "Journeyman" tag.

DeBerg was drafted in the 10th round of the 1977 draft by the Dallas Cowboys. Quickly waived he was picked up off waivers by the San Fransisco 49ers but he would not play a single down all year. In 1978 a season ending knee injury limited him to just 11 games, where he passed for only eight touchdowns and a horrible 22 interceptions. The Niners responded to his injury and stats by drafting Joe Montana in 1979. This would be a motif of DeBerg's career as he arrived on teams just in time to pave the way for franchises' next great quarterbacking messiah, earning him the nickname, John The Baptist.

DeBerg came back with a season in which he set then NFL records for attempts (578) and completions (347) good for 3,652 yards & 17 touchdowns. The Niners had decided, however, that Montana was their future and after the 1980 season DeBerg was traded to Denver for a 4th round pick where he was to back up Craig Morton. He had average seasons in 1981 and 1982, and the Broncos acquired John Elway going into the 1983 season. DeBerg again responded well to a new franchise quarterback coming in. For the first time in his career he threw more touchdowns than interceptions (9-7) and the highest QB rating of his career so far (79.9). He was to be on the move again though, as this time Tampa Bay came calling.

This time DeBerg hit the ground running throwing for 3,444 yards and 19 TD's, but this didn't stop the Bucs from bringing in Steve Young from the USFL. DeBerg was up to the competition and in 1985 threw for 2,488 yards, 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. In the 1986 season opener things went horribly wrong. In a game against San Fransisco DeBerg threw 7 interceptions and was benched. He finished 1986 with just 610 yards 5 touchdowns & 12 interceptions. After the 1986 season Young was traded and the next great QB hope was drafted in the shape of Vinny Testaverde. DeBerg would only start 8 games as he and Testaverde shared time. At the age of 34, DeBerg was once again packing his bags and heading for a new start in another NFL city. Kansas City was the new destination under then coach Joe Gansz. The Chiefs went 4-11-1 in 88 with DeBerg going 16 TD and 16 interceptions with 2,935 yards after beating out Bill Kenney. Marty Schottenheimer and his run first philosophy were brought in for 1989 and DeBerg - after winning the job over Ron Jaworski - would have the most successful spell of his career. With a power running game DeBerg was able to show off his ball control and he became the master of the play action fake.
He led the Chiefs to the playoffs in 1990 and 1991. 1990 was one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He threw for 3,444 yards 23 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions in 444 attempts. He set the NFL single-season record for lowest interception percentage. He was named Comeback Player of the Year and team MVP. 1991 also saw him play well and put up respectable numbers (2965, 17-14) but he was benched for Mark Vlasic in the season finale and the "younger" Dave Krieg was brought in. DeBerg had said he wanted to be the oldest player in the league, and when Jets' kicker Pat Leahy retired in January 1992 he achieved his goal at last, only DeBerg was wandering again.

He would spend the next 3 years in Tampa Bay, returning as he left, as a back-up to Testaverde. Then, in 1993, Miami came calling after an injury to Dan Marino. DeBerg was supposed to back-up Scott Mitchell but after he too was hurt, he was starting less than two weeks into his Miami career.

DeBerg joined Dan Reeves's coaching staff with the Giants for the 95/96 seasons but when Reeves was fired he left the game. Still, that wasn't to be the last chapter of his career: three years later he was in Falcons camp after backup Mark Rypien's son Andrew had undergone two operations for brain cancer and his wife, Annette, had also experienced some health problems. DeBerg answered Reeves' call to back up starter Chris Chandler for the 1998 season.

On October 25th he became the oldest starting QB in NFL history when, at the age of 44, he went 9/20 in a 28-3 loss to the Jets. That season, his last, he finally made it to a Super Bowl. The Falcons lost to a Broncos team led, fittingly, by one of DeBerg's many understudies, John Elway. DeBerg finally left the game, the oldest player ever to appear on a Super Bowl roster.

DeBerg liked to refer to himself as Freddy Kreuger due to the amount of times he came back from the dead. Despite never spending more than four years consecutively on any team, DeBerg through longevity put up some very good numbers. He ranks in the top 20 all time for yards, attempts and completions. He has more yards than Steve Yong and Troy Aikman, more TDs than Joe Namath and Ken Stabler, and a higher completion percentage than Bob Griese and Terry Bradshaw. This was all achieved while playing on some truly awful teams – his first 2 years with the Niners the team won four games and lost 28, and they never won more than six games while DeBerg was there. His three years in Denver included a 2-7 season, and he was a Buccaneer at a time when they were the laughing stock of the league suffering through two more 2-14 seasons. It was only when he went to Kansas City that he had a team around him good enough to help him win games.

In his 21 year career DeBerg saw it all. He played in a game where he threw seven interceptions and yet had a streak of 233 passes without one. In San Fransisco he played with an amplifier in his shoulder pads after a hit in the larynx. In 1990 he suffered an injury against Houston where the bone at the tip of his left pinky finger was broken & exposed; he played on nonetheless. DeBerg was too good to be a back-up but no one thought he was good enough to be a starter for very long.

Asked once when was the last time he felt secure in a starting job, he replied: High School.

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Sea Devils

Must say I enjoyed that. Aside from his Niners days didn't really know much about the guy but this article helped. Good work

bobby wade

thanks