1. Richard Joseph Gannon was born on December 20,1965 and is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League for 17 seasons.
44 Facts About Rich Gannon
1. 2.
Rich Gannon recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and was Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior.
3.
Rich Gannon was traded to the Minnesota Vikings and would play with the Vikings until 1992.
4.
Rich Gannon began his career as a backup for Wade Wilson.
5.
Rich Gannon started his first games in 1990 in relief of an injured Wilson and would start many games in 1991.
6.
Rich Gannon played for the Washington Redskins in 1993, the Kansas City Chiefs from 1995 to 1998, and the Oakland Raiders from 1999 to 2004.
7.
However, Rich Gannon spent much of his final two seasons with injuries, and the Raiders had losing records in those seasons.
8.
Rich Gannon served as a sports analyst for NFL on CBS through the 2020 NFL season.
9.
Rich Gannon attended Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and won three varsity letters each in football and crew and twice in basketball.
10.
Rich Gannon attended the University of Delaware where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon.
11.
Rich Gannon set 21 school records, including total offense, passing yards, pass attempts, and completions and was the only Delaware player at the time to achieve at least 2,000 yards of offense three years in a row.
12.
In 1986, during his senior season, Rich Gannon won Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and was an honorable mention All-American selection.
13.
Rich Gannon was selected in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, who envisioned converting him to a running back, defensive back, or wide receiver.
14.
Rich Gannon balked at the idea, and he was quickly traded to the Minnesota Vikings.
15.
Rich Gannon began his career with the Vikings as a backup to starting quarterback Wade Wilson.
16.
Rich Gannon took a knee in the Vikings' Week 8 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
17.
Rich Gannon rushed for 7 yards and was sacked twice for a total 20 yards.
18.
Rich Gannon started his first game in Week 4 of 1990 after Wade Wilson had torn thumb ligaments.
19.
Rich Gannon made the winning touchdown drive on a 56-yard trick play pass: first to Herschel Walker, who pitched back to Rich Gannon, who made a deep pass to Anthony Carter for the touchdown.
20.
Minnesota won despite Rich Gannon completing less than half of his passes and being sacked 7 times.
21.
Rich Gannon was sacked 34 times and rushed 52 times for 268 yards.
22.
Rich Gannon played his first game of the year in Week 5 against the Denver Broncos, replacing Wade Wilson with 7:20 left in the fourth quarter after Wilson threw three interceptions.
23.
Rich Gannon was 211 of 354 in completed passes for 2,166 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions.
24.
Rich Gannon was sacked 19 times for 91 yards and rushed 43 times for 236 yards, including two rushing touchdowns.
25.
The drive began with Rich Gannon handing off to running back Terry Allen for a 21-yard rush, followed by a 22-yard rush by Roger Craig, who would make the tying 1-yard touchdown run, followed by the winning extra point kick.
26.
Rich Gannon was the third-stringer behind starter Mark Rypien and backup Cary Conklin.
27.
Rich Gannon played his first game of 1993 in Week 5, a Monday night game, taking over for Cary Conklin against the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino.
28.
In Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams, Rich Gannon completed 24 of 39 passes for 170 yards, was sacked three times for 11 yards, and rushed twice for 18 yards.
29.
At the Rams' 27, Rich Gannon's 23-yard pass intended for Art Monk bounced off Rams safety Anthony Newman's hands and into Michael Stewart's hands for an interception, sealing the victory for the Rams.
30.
On 20-for-31 passing for 279 yards, Rich Gannon threw two interceptions and two touchdowns that game.
31.
Rich Gannon was sacked five times for 27 yards and rushed four times for 25 yards.
32.
Rich Gannon completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards and rushed 7 times for 12 yards.
33.
Rich Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 62 yards.
34.
On 74 of 125 passing, Rich Gannon passed for 704 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and one touchdown.
35.
In 1997, a quarterback controversy was created when the Rich Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injured Elvis Grbac.
36.
In mid-February 1999, Rich Gannon was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Raiders, agreeing to a reportedly four-year, $16-million deal.
37.
Rich Gannon was passing at a record pace with more passing yards than any quarterback in history through 14 games at the time but fell off the pace in the last few weeks.
38.
Rich Gannon led the league with 418 completions on 618 attempts.
39.
Rich Gannon was hurt in Week 3 when he scrambled, and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.
40.
Rich Gannon threw for 305 yards in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including a 40-yard touchdown strike to Doug Gabriel.
41.
Rich Gannon was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame that same year.
42.
Rich Gannon joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005 alongside Kevin Harlan.
43.
On February 22,2021, Rich Gannon was let go as a game commentator for CBS.
44.
Rich Gannon's father-in-law was former Minnesota Vikings running back Bill Brown.