Steven Leroy DeBerg was born on January 19,1954 and is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League for 18 years.
51 Facts About Steve DeBerg
1.
2.
Steve DeBerg was the starting quarterback, and excelled in the pole vault.
3.
Steve DeBerg was the starting quarterback at Fullerton College during the 1972 and 1973 seasons.
4.
Steve DeBerg transferred to San Jose State University in 1974, and became the Spartans' starting quarterback in 1976.
5.
Steve DeBerg led his team to a Pacific Coast Athletic Association title, and was named the PCAA offensive player of the year.
6.
Steve DeBerg set nine school records, completing 141 of 262 attempts for 2,084 yards, 19 touchdowns, and six interceptions.
7.
In 1993, Steve DeBerg was inducted into the California Community College's Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
8.
Steve DeBerg played for the San Francisco 49ers, Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins, and Atlanta Falcons.
9.
Steve DeBerg was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the tenth round of the 1977 NFL draft, but was waived before the start of the season when he could not displace fellow rookie quarterback Glenn Carano.
10.
Steve DeBerg has been called one of the best play-action pass quarterbacks of all time.
11.
Steve DeBerg played through injuries; ill with laryngitis, he wore a portable amplifier during regular-season games with San Francisco.
12.
On September 14,1977, Steve DeBerg was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad.
13.
Steve DeBerg was tapped to be the starting quarterback for the 1978 season.
14.
Steve DeBerg threw for 1,570 total yards in twelve games for eight touchdowns to 22 interceptions.
15.
Steve DeBerg threw all but 24 passes thrown by a quarterback for the 49ers that season, which included 15 starts and one appearance replacing Montana as a starter.
16.
Steve DeBerg posted his first 100.0 passer rating as a starter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
17.
Steve DeBerg finished the game with 22 completions in 30 pass attempts, with one touchdown and no interceptions.
18.
Steve DeBerg led the NFL in completions and pass attempts.
19.
Steve DeBerg ranked fifth in the league in passing yards.
20.
Steve DeBerg threw for 1,998 yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions with a 66.7 passer rating.
21.
Steve DeBerg was traded to the Denver Broncos on August 31,1981 for a 1983 fourth-round draft pick, rejoining Dan Reeves.
22.
Steve DeBerg would make relief appearances for Morton in the first three games of the strike-shortened nine-game 1982 season before being tapped to start the next five games, which he won just one of those games before Mark Herrmann started the final game of the season.
23.
Elway would start the first five games of the season while Steve DeBerg appeared to relieve him in four of those games before Steve DeBerg was tapped to start the Week 6 matchup against Houston.
24.
Steve DeBerg arrived at the club when Steve Young and Vinny Testaverde were drafted.
25.
Steve DeBerg was the central starter for the 1984 Buccaneers, who posted one of the league's more productive offensive attacks when he was the starting quarterback.
26.
Steve DeBerg appeared in all 16 games, starting 13 and winning five of the team's six victories that year.
27.
Steve DeBerg passed for 3,554 yards, with 308 completions in 509 attempts and 19 touchdowns against 18 interceptions.
28.
Steve DeBerg finished high on the NFL leaderboards for the 1984 season in attempts, completions, passing yards, touchdown passes and passing yards per game.
29.
Steve DeBerg never passed for fewer than 191 yards in any start that year, and topped the 200-yard mark ten times.
30.
Narrow losses became the norm, as six of the team's eight losses with Steve DeBerg were by seven points or less.
31.
Tampa's won-lost record regressed the following year, but Steve DeBerg started 11 games and played in all 16.
32.
Steve DeBerg ranked 10th in the league in touchdown passes, completing 197 of 370 passes for 2,488 yards with 19 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.
33.
Steve DeBerg finished eighth in the league in QB rating, his first season in the year-end top 10 for that category.
34.
Steve DeBerg finished in the league's top 10 in completion rate, one of six seasons in the year-end top 10 in that category.
35.
Steve DeBerg made a career-high five touchdown passes in an opening-day win against Atlanta on September 13,1987, a game in which he completed 24 of 34 pass attempts for 333 yards.
36.
Steve DeBerg appeared in 13 games with 11 starts and passed for 2,935 yards with 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in his first season with the Chiefs, completing 224 of 414 passes.
37.
Steve DeBerg defeated his old team on September 18,1988, in one of his better games of the year, throwing 259 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
38.
Steve DeBerg finished the 1989 season with 2,529 yards passing, completing 196 of 324 passes, with 11 touchdowns against 16 interceptions.
39.
Steve DeBerg's 96.3 passer rating was a career high, and he finished in the top 10 for yards per attempt.
40.
Steve DeBerg was eighth in the league in passing yards per game and fifth in the league in yards per completion; his previous best was ninth in 1988.
41.
Steve DeBerg led the league with a 0.9 interception percentage which included a career-high 223 passes without an interception, one of his three top-ten seasons; the other two were 1979 and 1987.
42.
Steve DeBerg posted a career-high 395 yards passing against Denver on September 17,1990.
43.
Kansas City won those games to clinch their second playoff appearance in over a decade, with Steve DeBerg completing 44 of 59 passes for 527 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
44.
Steve DeBerg rejoined the Buccaneers and played with them in 1992.
45.
Steve DeBerg made two starts that year, both resulting in losses.
46.
In 1993, after three games with Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers cut Steve DeBerg leading him to believe his career was over.
47.
Steve DeBerg retired for the first time after the season ended.
48.
Steve DeBerg returned to the NFL in 1998 at age 44, rejoining head coach Dan Reeves as a backup with the Atlanta Falcons.
49.
On February 5,2010, Steve DeBerg was inducted into the Rebel Hall of Fame at Savanna High School for his achievements as a starting quarterback in college and the NFL.
50.
From 1995 to 1996, Steve DeBerg was the New York Giants' quarterbacks coach under Dan Reeves.
51.
Steve DeBerg was later an assistant coach for the Tampa Bay Storm.