Steve DeBerg

Steve DeBerg

No. 17
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1954-01-19) January 19, 1954
Place of birth:	Oakland, California
Height:
Weight:
Career information
College:	San Jose State
NFL draft:	1977 / Round: 10 / Pick: 275
Career history
San Francisco 49ers (1977–1980) Denver Broncos (1981–1983) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1984–1987) Kansas City Chiefs (1988–1991) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992–1993) Miami Dolphins (1993) Atlanta Falcons (1998)
Career highlights and awards
Led the NFL in Completions in 1979 Set NFL single-season record for lowest interception percentage in 1990 NFC Champion (1998)
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT: 196–204 Yards: 34,241 QB Rating: 74.2 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Steven Leroy DeBerg (born January 19, 1954) is a retired American football quarterback. His career spanned 21 years over 3 decades. Although large portions of his career were spent as a backup, DeBerg ultimately accumulated some impressive NFL statistics, particularly during the early 1990s, when he was the starting QB for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Career

DeBerg is an alumnus of Savanna High School in Anaheim, California where he also excelled in the Pole Vault, Fullerton College in Fullerton, California, and of San José State University. Steve continued on to play for the San Francisco 49ers (1978–1980), Denver Broncos (1981–1983), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1984–1987, 1992, 1993), Kansas City Chiefs (1988–1991), Miami Dolphins (1993), and Atlanta Falcons (1998). He played quarterback for San Jose State, and his Fullerton College Hornets participated in the California Junior College state football playoffs in 1973.

DeBerg was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 10th round (275th overall) of the 1977 NFL Draft, but was waived before the start of the season. On September 14, 1977, he was signed to the San Francisco 49ers taxi squad. Head coach Bill Walsh took over the team and in 1979 and 1980, DeBerg set several records for number of passing attempts and completions. However, when Walsh drafted Joe Montana from Notre Dame, DeBerg was relegated to a backup role midway during the 1980 season.

He was traded to Denver Broncos on August 31, 1981, in exchange for a 1983 fourth round draft pick (#87), but similar events unfolded again and again over the next decade: He was not only with the 49ers when they drafted Joe Montana, but also with the Broncos when John Elway was drafted. On April 24, 1984, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for a fourth round pick (#89), and a 1986 conditional pick. He arrived at the club at a time when both Steve Young and Vinny Testaverde were drafted. On March 31, 1988, the Buccaneers traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for safety Mark Robinson, a fourth round and an eighth round pick.

Although he is remembered as a journeyman quarterback, DeBerg passed for over 34,000 career yards, and ranks in the top 20 all-time for attempts, completions, and yards passing. His best years were with the Chiefs, during which he led the team to two playoff berths and had his best year in 1990 with a 96.3 quarterback rating, passing for 3,444 yards, 23 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions, with 3 of those interceptions coming in one game. Throughout his career, he was frequently noted as one of the best play-action pass quarterbacks of all time. Peyton Manning has studied films of DeBerg's play-action technique.

During his career, DeBerg also acquired a reputation for playing through particularly gruesome or unique injuries. He played with laryngitis and wore a portable amplifier during regular season games with San Francisco. He also played with a broken non-throwing hand and an exposed metal pin sticking out of his finger in a Chiefs playoff game in 1990. In 1993, he left a Dolphins game versus the New York Giants battered and bloodied after taking a helmet to the chin, only to return to the game following halftime. Earlier in the season, he started in place of Dan Marino in the infamous Thanksgiving game where Leon Lett's blunder resulted in a Dolphins win.

He retired after the 1993 season, but briefly returned to the NFL in 1998, at age 44, as a backup with the Atlanta Falcons. On October 25, with Chris Chandler unable to play, Deberg became the oldest quarterback to ever start an NFL game when he led the Falcons against the New York Jets. He also became the oldest player ever included on a Super Bowl roster, at the age of 45 years, 12 days, when the Falcons appeared in Super Bowl XXXIII, though he did not play in the game.

He has now been inducted to the Rebel hall of fame at Savanna High School, for his achievements as a starting quarterback in the NFL, on February 5, 2010 during halftime at a varsity boys basketball game at Savanna High School.

DeBerg served as the head coach of the Arena Football League's Indiana Firebirds in 2004 for 5 games. The team's record during his tenure was 0–5. He later served as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Storm.

External links

• Steve DeBerg coaching page at ArenaFan Online