Rich Gannon
 Richard Joseph Gannon

QuarterBack #12

Born: December 20, 1965
Philadelphia, PA
Height: 6-3
Weight: 210 lbs.

Age: 40
Experience: 18 years
College: Delaware

He played for St. Joe's Prep in Philadelphia before moving on to the University of Delaware.

He was selected in the 4th round (98th overall) of the 1987 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, who immediately traded him to the Minnesota Vikings. After two years of playing sparingly, Gannon became the Vikings starting quarterback in 1990, displacing incumbent Wade Wilson.

In 1993 he was traded to the Washington Redskins after coming off rotator cuff surgery.

In 1995 he was dealt to the Kansas City Chiefs. For two years he served as a backup to Steve Bono. In 1997 a quarterback controversy was created when the Gannon-led Chiefs excelled in the absence of the injured Elvis Grbac. In the playoffs, coach Marty Schottenheimer elected to play Grbac instead of Gannon. The Chiefs lost 14-10, though Grbac didn't play badly. The two ended up splitting snaps in 1998, after Grbac was injured in Week 1.

In February 1999 he was signed as a free agent by the Raiders. He excelled in Jon Gruden's "dink and dunk" offense and was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Raider, the first of four straight selections. In 2000 and 2001, he won the Pro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player. Gannon won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII. He led the league in attempts with 618, and completions, with a record 418.

In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl record 5 interceptions in a 48-21 rout by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs' stellar defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden. Sideline footage shows Bucs like John Lynch amazed by how much they knew about the Oakland offense.

Rich's 2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury in Week 7, after a 2-5 start. A serious, neck injury in 2004 effectively ended his career. Gannon was hurt when he scrambled, and slid into a helmet-to-helmet collision with Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks in Week 3.

In August 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joined CBS Sports as an NFL analyst. The same year Gannon was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame.

Gannon threw for 28,743 yards and 180 touchdowns in his career with Minnesota, Washington, Kansas City and Oakland. He passed for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns while completing more than 67 percent of his passes in his MVP season and made the Pro Bowl for the fourth time. Twice he was MVP of the Pro Bowl.

Gannon, the 2002 NFL MVP, was known as much for his confident demeanor and tireless work ethic as his accurate arm. He has already signed with CBS Sports as an NFL game analyst after playing 18 seasons in the league, though both he and Davis hope Gannon will stay involved with the franchise in some capacity.