Richard Joseph Gannon, excellently known as Rich Gannon is a former American football quarterback who played eighteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was named NFL MVP in 2002. He was a punter at the University of Delaware as a freshman, then began as a quarterback in his sophomore season whereas he also played for the Oakland Raiders from 1999 to 2004. Rich reached the Super Bowl in 2003 with the Raiders, but they lost to Warren Sapp and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gannon recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and was Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. He officially retired from football on 6th August 2005 and joined CBS television as an NFL analyst. Additionally, Rich was let go as an analyst for CBS on 22nd February 2021 but, he still works for CBS as he is still on Monday QB on CBS Sports Network.
Famous For
- Being a former American football quarterback.
- For playing eighteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
Source: @justblogbaby
What is Rich Gannon Real Name?
Rich Gannon opened his eyes for the very first time on 20th December 1965 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. He took birth with the real name of Richard Joseph Gannon in the Roman Catholic family. He is of American nationality and he came from American-white ethnic background. Rich has celebrated his 55th birthday as of 2020 and as per his birthdate, his zodiac sign is Sagittarius. Thus, his race is white. Gannon has not shared any details regarding his family.
Moving to Rich’s education, he attended Saint Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and won three varsity letters each in football and crew, and twice in basketball. In his senior season, he won first-team All-City as a punter and quarterback. He threw for 1,567 yards his senior season. He later attended the University of Delaware.
How was the Football career of Rich Gannon?
College career
- Rich Gannon kicks off his career being a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of Delaware where he first played as a punter before switching to quarterback in sophomore year with the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens football team.
- He set 21 school records, including total offense (7,432 yards), passing yards (5,927), pass attempts (845), and completions (462), and was the only Delaware player at the time to achieve at least 2,000 yards of offense three years in a row.
- He also won the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division I-AA Rookie of the Year award in 1984 as well as he won Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and was an honorable mention of All-American selection in 1986.
- He was the second player from the University of Delaware to go to the Super Bowl when he led the Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003.
Professional career
Minnesota Vikings
- Rich was selected in the 4th round (98th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots and started his career with the Vikings as a backup to starting quarterback Wade Wilson.
- He played four regular and one postseason game in his rookie season of 1987 and accumulated statistics for the Week 10 (22nd November) game, a 24-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. He completed 2 of 6 passes for 18 yards.
- He also rushed for 3 yards in the Vikings’ Wild Card game, a 44-10 win over the New Orleans Saints as the game was the first playoff game in Saints team history. The 1987 Vikings finished the season 8-7 and lost the NFC championship game to the eventual Super Bowl XXII champion Washington Redskins.
- Then Rich played three games in 1988 whereas in a Week 5 (2nd October) 24-7 loss to the Miami Dolphins, Gannon completed 7 of 15 passes for 90 yards but was sacked twice for 15.
- He took a knee in the Vikings’ Week 8 (23rd October) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 10 (6th November), Gannon was sacked for 7 yards and rushed for 15 yards in a 44-17 win over the Detroit Lions. Improving from 1987, the 1988 Vikings finished 11-5 and advanced to the divisional round of the playoffs.
- He did not play at all during the regular season in 1989, during which the Vikings went 10-6 however he rushed for 7 yards and was sacked twice for a total of 20 yards.
- He began his first game in Week 4 (September 30) of 1990 after Wade Wilson had torn thumb ligaments as he would play 14 games in 1990 and start 12.
- He won his first career start in Week 9 (4th November) with a 27-22 win over the Denver Broncos.
- Gannon made the winning touchdown drive on a 56-yard trick play pass: first to Herschel Walker and the following week against the Detroit Lions, Gannon rushed for a one-yard touchdown and passed for 147 yards completing 12 of 17 passes as the Vikings won 17-7.
- For the season, he was 182-for-349 in passing for 2,278 yards and threw for 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He was sacked 34 times and rushed 52 times for 268 yards.
- He played his first game of the year, 1991 in Week 5 (September 29) against the Denver Broncos whereas he would replace Wilson as a starter for the last 11 games of 1991, and the Vikings went 6-5 with Gannon as a starter for an overall 8-8 season.
- He was 211-for-354 in completed passes for 2,166 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. He was sacked 19 times for 91 yards and rushed 43 times for 236 yards, including two rushing touchdowns.
- Rich ultimately became the Vikings’ starting quarterback for 1992 and he led the Vikings to a 30-0 defeat of defending Super Bowl champions Washington Redskins in the Redskins’ home field in the final exhibition game of 1992, completing 14 of 21 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns.
- He began against the Detroit Lions and completed 8 of 10 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns for a 24-0 lead in week 7 (15th October).
- Dennis Green benched Gannon in favor of Salisbury following the Week 12 (23rd November) win over the Cleveland Browns with Minnesota leading the NFC Central with an 8-3 record.
Washington Redskins
- Gannon was traded to the Washington Redskins for a conditional 1994 fifth-round draft pick on 19th August 1993 where he played in eight games and started the four games from Weeks 12 to 15.
- He played his first game of 1993 in Week 5 (4th October), a Monday night game, taking over for Cary Conklin against the Miami Dolphins and Dan Marino.
- He completed 24 of 39 passes for 170 yards in Week 12 ( 21st November) against the Los Angeles Rams and was sacked three times for 11 yards, and rushed twice for 18 yards.
- He made two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins a 14-10 lead over the Philadelphia Eagles.
- On 20-for-31 passing for 279 yards, Gannon threw two interceptions and two touchdowns that game. He was sacked five times for 27 yards and rushed four times for 25 yards.
- Later he led the Redskins to a Week 14 (December 5) victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 23-17, starting with a cumulative 17-0 lead by the third quarter. Gannon completed 9 of 16 passes for 71 yards and rushed 7 times for 12 yards.
- He passed for 704 yards with three touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed 21 times for 88 yards and one touchdown on 74-for-125 passing (59.2 percent). The Redskins finished 1993 with a 4-12 record, and Gannon was 1-3 as a starter, with the three losses all being within margins four points or less.
Kansas City Chiefs
- Gannon signed with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1995 where he served as a backup to Steve Bono for two years.
- In the playoffs, coach Marty Schottenheimer elected to play Grbac instead of Gannon, and the Chiefs lost 14-10. The two ended up splitting snaps in 1998 after Grbac was injured in Week 1.
Oakland Raiders
- Rich was signed as a free agent by the Oakland Raiders in February 1999 and was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Raider the first of four straight selections. In 2001 and 2002 he won the Pro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player.
- As well, he won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns and recording a career-high 97.2 passer rating, which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII, making him the first former Blue Hens quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
- His 2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury in Week 7 after a 2-5 start however a serious neck injury in 2004 effectively ended his career. Gannon was hurt in Week 3 when he scrambled and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks.
- Later he not only kept his starting quarterback spot but thrived. He threw for 305 yards in the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, including a 40-yard touchdown strike to Doug Gabriel.
- The Raiders nearly won the game over a Steelers team that finished the 2004 season with 15 victories. The Raiders were a competitive team with Gannon as their quarterback, going 2-1 when he started and 3-10 after his injury.
Retirement
- Rich Gannon officially retired from football on 6th August 2005 and joined CBS television as an NFL analyst. He was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame the same year.
- He was named the twenty-eighth greatest quarterback of the modern era by Football Nation for his career accolades.
Broadcasting
- Rich joined CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst in August 2005 as well as he works as a game analyst for Las Vegas Raiders preseason games.
- He was let go as an analyst for CBS on 22nd February 2021. However, he still works for CBS as he is still on Monday QB on CBS Sports Network.
Source: @larrybrownsports
Is Jonathan Gannon Related to Rich Gannon?
Awards and Achievements
- AFC Champion (2002)
- AP NFL MVP (2002)
- 4× Pro Bowl (1999-2002)
- 2× AP First-Team All-Pro (2000, 2002)
- 3× AFC Player of the Year (2000-2002)
- 2× AFC Offensive Player of the Year (2000, 2002)
- 2× Pro Bowl MVP (2000, 2001)
- 2× NFL Alumni Quarterback of the Year (2000, 2002)
- NFL Passing Yards Leader (2002)
- AFC Passing Touchdowns Leader (2001)
- AFC Passer Rating Leader (2001)
- AFC Completion Percentage leader (2001)
- 2× Bert Bell Award (2000, 2002)
- 4× AFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 10, 1999; 2000; 2001; 2002)
- NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 4, 1992)
- Voted into University of Delaware Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005
Who is Rich Gannon Wife?
Rich Gannon is a married footballer. He has been married to his beautiful wife Shelley Brown with whom he is blessed with two daughters. One daughter was diagnosed with celiac disease and her parents serve as national spokespeople for the Celiac Disease Foundation and organize an annual Celiac Walk at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria, Minnesota. Rich and Brown seem extremely happy in their domestic life. She’s supportive of him and the profession that he is in. Talking about Rich’s sexual orientation, he is straight.
How much is Rich Gannon Net Worth?
Rich Gannon has a net worth of $8.5 million as of 2021. He has also a handsome amount of salary which is above $105,000 dollars per year. He has earned a considerable amount of money from his profession as his major source of income is from his football quarterback career. But, his recent income source is from his broadcasting career. Rich has not done endorsement work for any brands yet.
What is the Height of Rich Gannon?
Rich Gannon has a tall height of 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) and his body weighs around 210 lb (95 kg). He has maintained his shape over the years with regular exercise it seems. Gannon has light brown hair and dark brown eyes color. In addition, his body build type is athletic.
Leave a Reply