Gary Samuel Cuozzo was born on April 26,1941 and is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League.
18 Facts About Gary Cuozzo
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Gary Cuozzo lettered in football, basketball and track at Glen Ridge High School.
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In 1959, Gary Cuozzo won state titles in discus and shot put.
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Gary Cuozzo was widely recruited and received a scholarship to the University of Virginia.
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Gary Cuozzo played quarterback at the University of Virginia from 1960 to 1962.
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Gary Cuozzo was a pre-med student, had a 3.68 grade point average, was a member of the Dean's list, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
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An undrafted quarterback after the University of Virginia, Gary Cuozzo played in 10 NFL seasons from 1963 to 1972.
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Gary Cuozzo began his NFL career on the Baltimore Colts as a backup to NFL legend Johnny Unitas.
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When Unitas was injured in 1965, Gary Cuozzo replaced him and in his first start set a new NFL record for most touchdown passes in one game, with five.
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Gary Cuozzo became the first starting quarterback in the franchise's history.
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Gary Cuozzo became the Vikings' starting quarterback in 1970 when Joe Kapp, the team's Most Valuable Player in 1969, held out and was traded to the Boston Patriots.
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Gary Cuozzo was named the NFC Player of the Week in a week 7 game against the Detroit Lions.
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Gary Cuozzo was traded to the St Louis Cardinals in the deal which sent fleet wide receiver John Gilliam to the Vikings.
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Cardinals coach Bob Hollway was familiar with Gary Cuozzo, having served as Minnesota's defensive coordinator under Bud Grant prior to leaving for St Louis in 1971.
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Gary Cuozzo was part of a chaotic four-quarterback rotation with Jim Hart, Pete Beathard, and Tim Van Galder in 1972, with Gary Cuozzo starting six games, but when Don Coryell took over as Cardinals coach in 1973, he named Hart the undisputed starter, and he would hold the job fulltime to 1980, and then part time until 1983.
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Gary Cuozzo's father Pasquale was a dentist, and his brother Jack would become an orthodontist.
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In between NFL seasons, Gary Cuozzo studied dentistry at the University of Tennessee and orthodontics at Loyola University of Chicago.
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Gary Cuozzo served as national chairman of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes from 1995 to 1998.