Gregory Paul Landry was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League and United States Football League from 1968 to 1984.
27 Facts About Greg Landry
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Greg Landry played college football for the UMass Minutemen from 1965 to 1967 and was selected in the first round of the 1968 NFL draft with the 11th overall pick.
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Greg Landry became an assistant coach after his playing career.
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Greg Landry is considered a forerunner of the dual threat quarterback.
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Greg Landry was born on December 18,1946, in Nashua, New Hampshire to Alvin and Felixa "Fannie" Greg Landry, both of whom were factory workers.
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Greg Landry attended Nashua Senior High School, graduating in 1964, and earned a scholarship to the University of Massachusetts.
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The UMass team won two Yankee Conference championships, with Greg Landry leading the conference in both rushing and passing twice.
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Greg Landry still has the school record for quarterback efficiency rating, 145.4, set in 1965.
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Greg Landry played in the North-South Shrine Game before the 1968 draft.
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Greg Landry was in the 1968 Chicago Charities All Star Game, playing with the collegians against the NFL champion Green Bay Packers.
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Greg Landry threw a touchdown pass to future Lions teammate Earl McCullough.
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In 1976, Greg Landry passed for 2,191 yards and 17 touchdowns and was named the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year.
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Greg Landry was benched by Lions head coach Tommy Hudspeth late in 1977 and supplanted by Gary Danielson as the starting quarterback the following year.
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Greg Landry ranked second in quarterback wins for the Lions to Bobby Layne and has been passed by just Matthew Stafford.
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Greg Landry passed for a career best 2,932 yards and 15 touchdowns that season.
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Greg Landry then played for George Allen on the Chicago Blitz and Arizona Wranglers in the United States Football League in 1983 and 1984.
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Greg Landry started one game as an emergency quarterback for the Chicago Bears in 1984 before retiring as a player.
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Greg Landry was notable as a rusher; in the 1970 opener at Green Bay, he ran for 76 yards on a quarterback sneak, which was for a time the longest rush by a quarterback in NFL history.
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Over his entire career, Greg Landry passed for 16,052 yards, had 98 touchdown passes and 103 interceptions; and he rushed for another 2,655 yards and 21 touchdowns.
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Greg Landry exceeded 500 yards on the ground in both 1971 and 1972, as well as averaging ten yards per carry in 1970, and scoring 9 touchdowns in 1972.
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Greg Landry is considered a forerunner of the modern dual threat quarterbacks, who are both runners and passers.
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Greg Landry began his coaching career in 1985 handling the Cleveland Browns quarterbacks, and later joined Mike Ditka's staff as quarterback coach in 1986, following the Bears' rout of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.
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Greg Landry retired from coaching after the 1996 season to become a local radio host.
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Greg Landry was a gymnast and led UMass to a national gymnastics title in 1973.
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Greg Landry was a two time All-American and the first female All-American at UMass.
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Greg Landry died in Detroit on October 4,2024, at the age of 77.
27.
In 2012, Greg Landry was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame, with former Lions teammate and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Charlie Sanders giving the induction speech.