Elvis Grbac

Elvis Grbac

No. 11, 18
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1970-08-13) August 13, 1970
Place of birth:	Cleveland, Ohio
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Cleveland (OH) St. Joseph
College:	Michigan
NFL draft:	1993 / Round: 8 / Pick: 219
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (1993–1996) Kansas City Chiefs (1997–2000) Baltimore Ravens (2001)
Career highlights and awards
Pro Bowl (2000) Super Bowl champion (XXIX) NFC Champion (1994) Sammy Baugh Trophy (1992) 2× Rose Bowl (1989, 1993) Gator Bowl (1991) Kansas City Chiefs all-time record for passing yards in a single game, (504, November 5, 2000 vs. Oakland)
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT: 99–81 Passing yards: 16,774 QB Rating: 79.6 Player stats at NFL.com

Elvis M. Grbac (/ˈɡɜːrbæk/; born August 13, 1970) is a retired American football quarterback who played in the NFL. During his career he was a starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and Baltimore Ravens. In college he was a three-time passing efficiency champion, a Sammy Baugh Trophy-winner and the quarterback for Heisman Trophy-winner Desmond Howard. Drafted by San Francisco 49’ers in 1993, and serving in his rookie year as the backup to Steve Young, he went on to play seven more seasons, starting 70 of the 106 games he played for San Francisco (1993–96), Kansas City (1997-2000) and Baltimore (2001).

During his career, Grbac was on one Super Bowl-winning team with the 49ers, and won one AFC West title in 1997 while quarterbacking the Chiefs. He still holds six All-Time records with the Chiefs, including: Most touchdowns passes in consecutive games (15), Lowest percentage, passes had intercepted (3.04), and Most yards gained in a single game (504).

He currently makes his home in Chagrin Falls, and is now an assistant quarterbacks coach for Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio.

Early life

Grbac was born in Cleveland to Ivan and Cecilija Grbac His father was born in Lanišće, near Buzet, Istra, Croatia, and his mother was also from Istra. His parents left Croatia in 1967 with their two eldest children, Maria and Engelbert (Elvis's eldest sister and brother) seeking the freedom to practice Catholicism and a life free from communist rule. Growing up in Cleveland, he did not learn to speak English well until kindergarten, having been raised with Croatian as his mother tongue.

Grbac has always been proud of his Croatian heritage, and of his Istrian roots. His whole family particularly suffered the Croatian Conflict, when they picked up the newspaper or watched the TV news and saw their ravaged homeland and the malnourished Croatians in Serbian detention camps, the Grbacs were thankful that their village, Lanišće, located in an Istrian mountain valley off the Alps range (in the province of Buzet), was not a battle site. In an interview his mother, Cecilija, declared about the situation of the Croatian people in the War, that: "we know they must stay and fight for what they have", Elvis added "we know the country is not being run right, and we understand the history of hatred between Croatia and Serbia. But they have always lived simple life of hard work, a family-oriented survival. And that will continue."

Grbac began to practice alone in football already at the age of four, admiring what could happen by airing out his arms toward a moving target. It all started with a chicken; at his grandmother's house in his homeland, Istra, at the age of four years he threw a rock at a chicken and killed one, the chicken was 15 yards away and Grbac hit it perfectly.

It was apparent soon after Grbac arrived at St. Joseph High School that the storied athletic power on the shores of Lake Erie had landed another special talent to compete in the Columbus blue and scarlet. The sturdy 6-5 youngster made his first impact in basketball, then added football to his resume in his junior year in 1987. Although playing in a run-oriented offense, featuring a remarkable talent named Desmond Howard, he attracted enough attention on the gridiron to earn honorable mention All-Ohio honors and a decade later would become the first Viking athlete to be honored be having his numbers retired in two sports – # 12 in football and # 53 in basketball.

Originally interested in continuing his football career at Ohio State, he changed his mind when the Buckeyes fired Head Coach Earl Bruce and opted instead to join teammate Howard at Michigan. It was a great move for both Michigan and Howard. As a four-year starter for the Wolverines, Grbac led them to four Big 10 titles, leading the conference in passing in 1990, 1991 and 1992 while setting nine Michigan passing records. In 1991 he threw the legendary pass to Howard which sealed a 24-14 victory over Notre Dame and led to Howard’s now immortal “Heisman Pose” in the end zone celebration. In that memorable game Grbac even completed 20 of 22 passes, a record for a Notre Dame opponent.

College career

Elvis Grbac played college football at the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1992. He led the Wolverines to a Gator Bowl in 1991, three Rose Bowls in 1989 and 1993 and 1992 and is best remembered for throwing to wide receiver Desmond Howard during the latter's Heisman-winning campaign in 1991. Grbac finished his career at Michigan as the school's all-time leader in passing attempts (835), completions (522), passing yards (6,460) and passing touchdowns (71). These marks were later broken by John Navarre in 2003 and surpassed by Chad Henne in 2006–07.

He also established the Big Ten Conference career passing efficiency record that would stand for six seasons until it was surpassed by Joe Germaine. Grbac was a two-time NCAA passing efficiency champion during his last two seasons. He was a three-time Big Ten champion in this statistic.

NFL career

NFL Draft

At the University of Michigan under coaches Bo Schembechler and Gary Moeller, he posted a 30-5-3 record (.829) as a starter, led the nation in passing efficiency his final two seasons, set school records in virtually every major passing category and guided the squad to a Rose Bowl triumph his senior year.

With those very good skills, Grbac was drafted in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers, where he served as Steve Young's backup from 1994 to 1996.

San Francisco 49ers

1994 season

Dealt with an injury and being taken in and out of the lineup by then-head coach George Seifert, Grbac played in twelve games in his rookie season, recording two touchdowns passes, against the Minnesota Vikings and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while throwing one interception.

In his rookie season, with a QB rating of 98.2, two touchdowns, 55 passes attempted and 35 completed, Grbac helped the 49ers to win their fifth NFC Championship, he also played in the Super Bowl XXIX final, as a substitute, while attempting two passes only.

1995 season

Grbac played a total of sixteen games with 49ers, in which five as a starting quarterback, recording a QB rating of 96.6, 183 passes attempted and 127 completed, 8 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing, 1469 yards gained, and a seasonal Team-Record for the Longest Completed Pass Thrown, of 81 yards, whereby he even exceeded the starting quarterback Steve Young.

1996 season

In 1996 season, Grbac played a total of 15 regular season's games, 4 as a starter, passing for 10 touchdowns and rushing for 2, with a total of 122 passes completed and 1236 yards gained. In 1997 Grbac signed with the Kansas City Chiefs to be their starting quarterback.

Kansas City Chiefs

1997 season

Grbac in huddle with the Chiefs in 1997.

He replaced Steve Bono as the Chiefs starter in 1997. He orchestrated a Monday Night Football comeback in Week Two against Oakland in this season. Despite trailing by two touchdowns late in the second half, Grbac rallied Kansas City's troops by directing a six-play, 80- yard touchdown drive without the benefit of a single time-out, culminating that comeback with a 32-yard game-winner to Andre Rison with 0:03 remaining to seal a 28-27 Chiefs win.

"You can take our season last year and compare it to Oakland's season last year", commented Grbac, who won AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for that 312-yard, two-TD effort. "That game was really a turning point. Late in the game we were down by a lot and just kept coming back and kept coming back. But everybody kept playing to the final second. That was the mark of our team last year."

In the 1997 season with his 12 touchdowns, 1943 yards gained and 179 completed passes by a total of 314 attempted, Grbac led the Chiefs to their fourth AFC West Division championship, as the squad finished the year with six consecutive victories, a first in team history. The 1997 season was also the beginning of a quarterback controversy, when Elvis started the first nine games and suffered an injury, leading to Rich Gannon's substitution for the next six games. Grbac would return in the team's season finale. Gannon won five consecutive starts down the stretch to help the Chiefs earn home-field advantage with a 13–3 record. Grbac was an excellent quarterback, and a talented thrower, while Gannon was an aggressive leader who demanded the most of his players. Grbac was selected by coach Marty Schottenheimer to start the team's playoff game against the Denver Broncos, a game which the Chiefs would lose 14–10. Chiefs fans were deeply divided over whether Gannon or Grbac should lead the team. Eventually Grbac was preferred and was chosen to remain the Chiefs starting quarterback, Gannon was let go and signed with the Raiders in 1999.

1998 season

The 1998 Kansas City Chiefs season began with high hopes of the team avenging its loss in the 1998 playoffs to the eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, but instead the Chiefs failed to succeed in the highly competitive AFC West. Grbac threw 98 pass completions out of a total of 188 attempts, five touchdowns, and gained 1142 yards in this season.

1999 season

Grbac played a very good season in 1999 and led the Chiefs to a 2nd place in the AFC West with a 9–7 record, recording 16 games played (in which all as a starter QB), 22 touchdowns, a 86-yards longest completed pass thrown, and a total of 3389 yards gained.

However, in the final game of the season against the Oakland Raiders, the Chiefs were denied a trip to the playoffs and an AFC West division title when Raiders kicker Joe Nedney kicked a field-goal in overtime. Coincidentally, Nedney, with the San Francisco 49ers, kicked a field goal in overtime against the Denver Broncos in 2006 and the Chiefs gained the wild-card ticket to the playoffs.

2000 season

Grbac's best season statistically came in 2000 when he passed for 4,169 yards and 28 touchdowns with a passer rating of 89.9 en route to the 2001 Pro Bowl.

Baltimore Ravens

2001 season

After winning Super Bowl XXXV, the Ravens bent over backwards to maintain their star defense, and figured that with a better offense and quarterback, they would have a great chance at a repeat. So General Manager Ozzie Newsome replaced quarterback Trent Dilfer with Elvis Grbac.

It was a bold move to supplant the player that went to Disney World, but Grbac was coming off a Pro Bowl year with the Kansas City Chiefs, a year in which he threw for 4,169 and 28 touchdowns. Dilfer’s best season was throwing for 2,729 yards and 21 touchdowns. Grbac agreed to a five-year $30 million contract (in which $11 MM guaranteed).

The Baltimore Ravens were defending Super Bowl champions when Grbac replaced quarterback Trent Dilfer at the start of the 2001 season. Upon signing, Grbac mocked Dilfer in the press: "It's time that a quarterback comes in here and provides leadership, a go-to guy, a vertical passing game. This is a great team. I can make it better." Grbac posted mediocre passing statistics that year, but still managed to lead the Ravens to an 10-6 regular season record and a playoff win over the Miami Dolphins before losing in the second round to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At the end of the season the Ravens cut him in a salary cap move after he refused to renegotiate his contract. At the time of his retirement, Grbac had been in negotiations with the Denver Broncos—Denver was interested in signing him as a backup to starting quarterback Brian Griese, but Grbac opted for retirement.

Career statistics

NCAA Collegiate Career Stats
Michigan Wolverines
Season	Passing							Rushing
	Comp	Att	Yards	Pct.	TD	Int	QB Rating	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
1989	73	116	824	62.9	8	3	140.2	20	-103	-5.2	0
1990	155	266	1,911	58.3	21	10	137.2	22	17	0.8	0
1991	165	254	2,085	65.0	25	6	161.7	23	-103	-4.5	0
1992	129	199	1,640	64.8	17	12	150.2	15	-50	-3.3	1
NCAA Career Totals	522	835	6,460	62.5	71	31	148.1	80	-239	-3.0	1

NFL Career Passing Statistics
Year	GP	Att	Com	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Long	QB Rating
San Francisco 49ers
1994	12	50	35	70.0	393	2	1	42	98.2
1995	16	183	127	69.4	1,469	8	5	81T	96.6
1996	15	197	122	61.9	1,236	8	10	40	72.2
Kansas City Chiefs
1997	10	314	179	57.0	1,943	11	6	55T	79.1
1998	8	188	98	52.1	1,142	5	12	65	53.1
1999	16	499	294	58.9	3,389	22	15	86T	81.7
2000	15	547	326	59.6	4,169	28	14	81T	89.9
Baltimore Ravens
2001	14	467	265	56.7	3,033	15	18	77T	71.1
NFL Career Totals	106	2,445	1,446	59.1	16,774	99	81	86T	79.6

Super Bowl Statistics
Super Bowls	Att	Comp	Pct	Yards	TDs	INTs	Rate	Result
XXIX	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	W 49-26
Totals	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	W/L Record 1-0

Key to Abbreviations
GP = Games Played
Att = Passes attempted
Com = Passes Completed
Pct = Completion percentage
Yds = Yards
TD =Touchdowns
Int = Interceptions
Long = Longest Pass Play of season
QB Rating = Passer rating
W/L Record = Super Bowl/Postseason Won/Loss Record

People's Sexiest Athlete

Grbac was featured as People's Sexiest Athlete in 1998. Sportswriter Jeff Pearlman claims this was because of a mistake by a photographer, told to photograph "the Chiefs quarterback," who accidentally photographed Grbac instead of the intended Rich Gannon.

Personal life

Grbac has a brother, Engelbert, and two sisters, Maria and Barbara. He currently resides in Chagrin Falls, just outside Cleveland, Ohio with his wife Lori (née Immarino) and his three children.

See also

• List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
• Lists of Michigan Wolverines football passing leaders