(
July 24 ,
1953 in
San Antonio, Texas ) was an
American Football Quarterback for the
New England Patriots in the
National Football League from
1975 until
1990 .
Grogan spent his college career at
Kansas State University . He was picked in the fifth round (116th overall) in the
1975 NFL Draft . He replaced an ill
Tony Eason in the second quarter of
Super Bowl XX and threw the only touchdown pass for the Patriots in that game. Grogan is the New England Patriots' all-time career passing leader, with 3,593 attempts 1,879 completions, 26,886 yards and 182 touchdowns. Grogan is also noted as one of the top rushing quarterbacks of his time. He rushed for 2164 yards (4.9 per carry) and 35 touchdowns during his career, a mark which places him as the Patriots' third overall in rushing touchdowns. Grogan also holds the third most rushing touchdowns in a season (12 in
1976 ), which is also the most by any quarterback in NFL history. He is also one of the few NFL quarterbacks who wore a neckbrace during his career.
His high school, Ottawa High School in
Ottawa, Kansas , (a suburb of
Kansas City ) has named its football stadium after him.
Even though Grogan's #14 has not been officially retired by the Patriots, the team has not issued that number since Grogan retired. It is generally known that no Patriot will ever wear #14 again, and it's assumed the number will eventually be officially retired. Kansas State has retired the number Grogan wore for the Wildcats, #11, to jointly honor him and his predecessor,
Lynn Dickey . It is the only number retired by Kansas State.
