Vince Ferragamo

Vince Ferragamo

No. 15, 5
Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth: April 24, 1954 (1954-04-24)
Place of birth: Torrance, California, U.S.
High School: Phineas Banning HS
Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Weight: 212 lb (96 kg)
Career information
College: California, Nebraska
NFL Draft: 1977 / Round: 4 / Pick: 91
Debuted in 1977 for the Los Angeles Rams
Last played in 1986 for the Green Bay Packers
Career history
Los Angeles Rams (1977-80) Montreal Alouettes - CFL (1981) Los Angeles Rams (1982-84) Buffalo Bills (1985) Green Bay Packers (1985-86)
Career highlights and awards
All-American 1976 1976 Sporting News College Football Player of the Year
Career NFL statistics as of 1986
Pass attempts	1,615
Pass completions	902
Percentage	55.9
TD-INT	76-91
Passing Yards	11,336
QB Rating	70.1
Stats at NFL.com

Vince Anthony Ferragamo (born April 24, 1954) is a former professional football player, a quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League.

College career

Born in Torrance, California, Ferragamo was heavily recruited as an All-American high school quarterback from Phineas Banning High School in Wilmington, where he was the L.A. City Schools MVP. Ferragamo accepted a football scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley. Buried on the quarterback depth chart behind Cal teammate Steve Bartkowski, Ferragamo transferred to top-ranked Nebraska in 1974. As a Cornhusker, he lettered in 1975 and 1976; during his senior season he was All-Big 8 and All-American, and also an Academic All-American. Ferragamo capped off his college career by leading the Huskers to a victory over Texas Tech in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in the Houston Astrodome.

Professional career

National Football League

He played for the Los Angeles Rams (1977–1980 and 1982–1984), Buffalo Bills (1985) and Green Bay Packers (1985–1986). After leading the 9-7 Rams to road victories over the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1979 NFL Playoffs, Ferragamo started for the Rams in Super Bowl XIV, in which the Rams led after three quarters of play before falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-19.

Ferragamo enjoyed his best statistical season in 1980 in which he threw for 30 touchdowns, tied for second most in the NFL. The Rams again made the playoffs, but were defeated by Dallas, 34-13 in an NFC Wild Card Playoff game.

Canadian Football League

Ferragamo played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League for just one season in 1981. He was signed to a large contract by both CFL and NFL standards at the time ($600,000, compared to $250,000 the Rams offered him, and the $47,500 they had paid him for 1980.) However, Ferragamo had a difficult time adjusting to the style of Canadian football. Montreal went on to win only 3 games against 13 losses. He was demoted to backup to Gerry Dattilio in the latter half of the season and then third string quarterback for the final 3 games after Ken Johnson arrived in a trade. Ferragamo's last game in the CFL was a loss to the Ottawa Rough Riders in the Eastern semi-final which he watched from the pressbox. His stats during his one season in Montreal were 175 of 342 passes completed (51.2%) for 2175 yards, with 7 TD passes and a whopping 25 interceptions.

Return to NFL

On December 26, 1982, Ferragamo threw for 509 yards in a game against the Chicago Bears, at the time the third highest passing mark in league history behind former Ram Norm Van Brocklin. It was the third time in league history that a quarterback had passed for over 500 yards in a game, the first by Norm Van Brocklin (554 yards) and the second by Y.A. Tittle (505 yards). Subsequent to his return, Ferragamo led the Rams back to the NFL playoffs during the 1983 season behind the running of rookie Eric Dickerson. After beating the favored Cowboys in Irving in the wild card matchup 24-17, Ferragamo and the Rams were drubbed by the defending Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl-bound Washington Redskins by the score of 51-7.

He has been featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated twice, once in 1980 and again in 1981.

Present

Ferragamo currently owns Touchdown Real Estate in southern California-and is about to launch a private label company, Ferragamo-Migneco Vineyards, featuring fine quality domestic and imported wines. He is also the chairman of the Vince Ferragamo Foundation a charitable organization that focuses on raising donations for children's organizations such as the Special Olympics, the Speech and Language Development Center and the Ronald McDonald House.

Awards
Preceded by Jack Youngblood	Rams Most Valuable Player Award 1980	Succeeded by Nolan Cromwell
Preceded by Nolan Cromwell	Rams Most Valuable Player Award 1982	Succeeded by Eric Dickerson