(born
March 13 ,
1972 in
Santa Cruz, California ) is an
American Football Quarterback who currently plays for the
Cleveland Browns of the NFL. He previously played for the
Seattle Seahawks ,
Baltimore Ravens and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers .
Dilfer attended
Aptos High School in California, and upon graduation attended
Fresno State . He is married to Cassandra Dilfer, a former Fresno State swimmer, and they have three daughters (Madeline, Victoria & Delaney) and a son, now deceased (Trevin).
On April 27th, 2003, the Dilfers lost their son, Trevin Scott Dilfer, who passed away in a California hospital after a 40-day battle with heart disease at the age of 5. On June 2nd, 2003 Trent made his first public comments regarding his family's loss, and still grieving, openly wept. He has become one of the most respected figures and leaders in the NFL.
Dilfer's professional football career began when he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their 1st pick in the
1994 Draft (6th Overall) After His Junior Season At Fresno State. Dilfer Was The First Tampa Bay Quarterback To Ever Go To The [[Pro Bowl , which some say was a reward for a highly efficient season in the Buccaneers' limited
Offense . In the first 12 games of that year Dilfer
Passed for 2213 yards, 19
Touchdown s and five
Interception s. However, Dilfer's performance was perceived to decline in his last four games. In the
Playoffs the Buccaneers defeated their
NFC Central rivals, the
Detroit Lions , before losing to their long-time
Division rivals, and defending
Super Bowl champions, the
Green Bay Packers . While with the Bucs, he won more games than any quarterback in franchise history and took the team to their first playoff game in 15 years.
Dilfer threw for 21 touchdowns with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in both the 1997 and the 1998 NFL seasons. In the 1996-1999 NFL seasons, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dilfer averaged 2,729 yards a season and had a total of 58 touchdowns.
After the
1999 season, the Bucs granted
Unconditional Free-agent status to Dilfer on Feb. 11th, 2000, rather than pay him a 4.6 million dollar bonus due in March. He signed with the Ravens on March 8th, 2000 and became the backup for
Tony Banks . After two straight losses and four straight weeks without an offensive touchdown, Banks was replaced with Dilfer. The Ravens would lose their third straight game and fail to score a touchdown for the fifth straight week. It would be the last time the Ravens would lose that season, or go without a touchdown. The Ravens finished the season winning seven straight to earn a
Wild Card berth at 12-4. The 7-1 run also gave Dilfer a 45-39 record as a starter at that point.
In the playoffs, Dilfer went 3-0, and the Ravens advanced to
Super Bowl XXXV in
Tampa to meet the
New York Giants . Halfway through the first quarter Dilfer connected with
Brandon Stokley on a deep post for a 38-yard touchdown, badly beating
Jason Sehorn . A third down 44-yard pass to
Qadry Ismail would set up a
Field Goal before
Halftime , to give Baltimore a 10-0 lead. The Ravens eventually won easily, 34-7. Dilfer's game stats were 12 completions for 153 yards and 1 TD. Dilfer did the
I'm Going To Disneyland commercial since game MVP
Ray Lewis was seen as too controversial.
Surprisingly, Dilfer was released after the season. He was seen as a "caretaker" quarterback, due to the strength of the Ravens'
Defense , and head coach
Brian Billick 's run-heavy offense. He was replaced by
Kansas City Chiefs '
Pro Bowler Elvis Grbac , which was viewed as a horrible mistake on the part of the Ravens and was highly criticized by both fans and the Baltimore press. In
2001 Grbac's
Passer Rating was 5.5 points lower than Dilfer's was in 2000.
On August 3rd, 2001, the Seattle Seahawks signed Dilfer as a back-up quarterback to then-starter
Matt Hasselbeck . Dilfer saw his first action when Hasselbeck injured his groin in week three against the Oakland Raiders. Dilfer started and won the next two games, before being replaced by a healthy Hasselbeck. Dilfer came on in a relief role against the
Washington Redskins , when Hasselbeck struggled. He continued as the starter when Hasselbeck suffered a separated left shoulder. Dilfer started the final two games of the season, and with Seattle in the playoff hunt, won them both. He ended the season by throwing five touchdowns and two interceptions in two three-point victories. The Seahawks' NFC wild-card hopes ended when the Ravens beat the
Minnesota Vikings 19-3 on
Monday Night Football . At the end of the season, Dilfer's passer rating was 92.0 and he had won 15 straight starts.
Partially because the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback, Hasselbeck, was coming off a season where he went 5-7 as a starter and threw eight interceptions and seven touchdowns, Dilfer was re-signed by the team to a four-year deal on March 1st, and was slated as the starter heading into training camp. However, in an exhibition game against Indianapolis, Dilfer sprained his
Medial Collateral Ligament in his right knee. With the injury, Dilfer lost the starting job to Hasselbeck. Dilfer returned to the starting position against the
Arizona Cardinals with a 13-24 loss. On October 28, 2002, in week 8, he mysteriously suffered a season-ending torn
Achilles Tendon against the
Dallas Cowboys on the synthetic turf at
Texas Stadium . At that point in the season, the Seahawks were 2-5.
In 2003, Dilfer was used sparingly in a relief role, and was primarily used to mentor Hasselbeck.
In 2004, Dilfer started in only two games, and won them both: November 28th versus the
Miami Dolphins , 24-17, and December 26th versus the
Arizona Cardinals , 24-21.
In
March 2005 , Dilfer was traded to the
Cleveland Browns where he was named the starting quarterback for the 2005 NFL season and is mentoring rookie quarterback
Charlie Frye .
Trent remains a very popular figure with Baltimore Ravens
Fans both for his play during the
2000 season and for his
Charitable activities.
