Elementor – Scratch Sheet – NFL Past Players

The Comeback Player of All Time.

If nothing else, the story of quarterback Jim Plunkett is story of motivation and inspiration. Setting both Stanford and PAC-8 records during his college career, he edged out other collegiate stars Joe Thiesmann and Archie Manning for the 1970 Heisman. The New England Patriots made him the first pick of the college draft in 1971 and he played well enough to earn Rookie of the Year honors as he helped led them to their best season in years.

At the age of 30 in 1978, he was considering just quitting when Al Davis of the Raiders contacted him and he agreed to a 3-year contract with Oakland. As the #3 quarterback backing up Ken Stabler and David Humm, he all but sat out the 1978 season and barely played at all in 1979. He requested a trade but the Raiders refused.

That’s when things changed.

1980 found him thrust into the Raiders starting role when Dan Pastorini, just aquired from the Oilers, went down with a broken leg in week 5 against Kansas City. He didn’t play well at all in relief of Pastorini. But despite throwing 5 interceptions against the Chiefs he got the starting nod against the Chargers in week 6. This time he played very well, connecting on 11 of 14 passes and a touchdown as the Raiders beat the Chargers 38-24. He then led Oakland to 9 victories over the next 11 games to finish 2nd in the AFC Western Divsion with an 11-5 record. Jim Plunkett was named 1980 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the Raiders made the playoffs as a wildcard team. Oakland then ran the table with 3 straight playoff wins over the Oilers, Browns and Chargers to capture the AFC Title win a trip to Super Bowl XV against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Raiders dominated the Eagles to a 27-10 win as Plunkett, the game’s MVP threw for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns.

He found himself a backup again in 1981 but regained the starting role by 1982. In 1983 he guided Oakland once again to an NFL Championship with a convincing victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. He remained active throughout the 1986 season before he suffered a season ending shoulder injury in 1987. He was waived by the Raiders in 1988.

Jim Plunkett remains the center of a very spirited debate as to whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Supporters point to his 2 Super Bowl victories as well as his Super Bowl MVP recognition of Super Bowl XV and the challenges he overcame the latter part of his career. Detractors though bring the fact he has only 3 winning seasons as quarterback and no Pro Bowl nor All Pro awards to his credit.

Image Gallery of Jim Plunkett, Quarterback 1971 -1986

After sitting the bench for the 1979 season Jim Plunkett stepped in for the Raiders when Dan Pastorini went down with an injury in week 5 of the 1980 season. He would lead Oakland to 9 wins to go make the playoffs and then all the way to a Super Bowl win. Here he is with fullback Mark van Eeghen giving some protection.

Patriots Hall of Fame guard John Hannah sets up to block for quarterback Jim Plunkett. Hannah, a 1st-round pick from Alabama in 1973 played 13 seasons in New England, 9 Pro Bowls and 7 All Pro Teams.

Jim Plunkett delivers against the Steelers - probably the Divisional round of the 1983 AFC playoffs - the Raiders would go on to defeat the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. Marcus Allen #32, seen here blocking had a nice game against the Steelers. 121 yards on 13 carries with 2 touchdowns.

Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett was the first player taken in the 1971 NFL draft and spent 5 rough seasons with the Patriots.

Jim Plunkett fires over the Giants defense - This might be from the 1973 Pre-season game between New England and New York. Plunkett was the AFC's top passer in Passing Yards and Completions (2250 yards & 193 completions) but The Patriots could manage just 5 wins.

Jim Plunkett, from his days at Stanford where he passed for 52 touchdowns, 7544 yards and won a Heisman Trophy.

Jim Plunkett, 1st round draft pick and the first player taken in the 1971 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, led the Pats to 6 victories his rookie year. It was the best year they had since 1966.

Jim Plunkett hands off to the Patriots leading rusher in 1974 Mack Herron. In 1974, New England had one of their better seasons in many years - 7 wins, while touting one the NFL's most improved offenses. The Pats 4474 Total yards ranked 6th and their 289 points scored was 2nd.

His win/loss record as the Patriots quarterback was 23 wins and 38 losses. But things would eventually get better.

After playing for a struggling New England Patriots team for 5 years, Jim Plunkett spent 2 seasons in San Francisco where things didn't get much better. Between 1976 and 1977 he was sacked 56 times.

Patriots quarterback Jim Plunkett with his offense, around 1974.

Archie Manning reflects on the similarities between him and Patriots Quarterback Jim Plunkett during the 1971 NFL season where both were NFL rookies.

The Patriots Quarterback of the early 1970s. After winning the Heisman in 1970 the star of Stanford was New England's 1st-round pick in 1971. At the time the Patriots were not a good team and his time there was a struggle.

4 of the Top College Draft prospects in the 1971 NFL Draft - Jim Plunkett of Stanford, Archie Manning of Ole Miss, Joe Thiesmann of Notre Dame and Rex Kern of Ohio State - grace the cover of the October issue of Sport Magazine. Jim Plunkett & Archie Manning would go #1 and #2 with Joe Theismann going in the 4th and Rex Kern went in the 10th.

The First player chosen in the 1971 NFL Draft - Jim Plunkett of Stanford, went to the struggling New England Patriots and stayed with them 5 seasons until moving on. He would eventually end up leading the Oakland Raiders not once but twice to Super Bowl victories in the 80s.

Considering both regular and post season, he is credited with 80 wins and 74 losses - that's a win percentage of just 51.9%. But 2 of those victories are Super Bowls.

The second the ball is snapped and the play develops Colts linebacker Mike Curtis (#32) reacts to Patriots Jim Plunkett (#16). Colts-Patriots action from 1973.

Jim Plunkett Football Trading Cards

Jim Plunkett on his 1973 Topps card - 1973 turned out to be a good season for him numbers wise - he started all 14 games, completed over 51% of his passes and threw for 2550 yards and 13 touchdowns, but the Patriots continued to struggle as a team winning only 5 games.

Hampered by injuries, Jim Plunkett ended up watching rookie Steve Grogan guide the Patriots offense most of the 1975 NFL season. It would be Plunkett's 5th and final season in New England.

Jim Plunkett featured in the Tombstone Pizza Card set honoring some of the NFL great quarterbacks.

Jim Plunkett All-Time Career Statistics

Regular Season Passing
Year	Age	Team	No.	Games Played	QBrec	Att	Cmp	Cmp%	Yards	Y/A	Long	TD	Int	Rating	Sacked	Yards Lost	4QC	GWD
1971	24	NWE	16	14	6-8-0	328	158	48.2	2158	6.6	88	19	16	68.6	36	319	1	1
1972	25	NWE	16	14	3-11-0	355	169	47.6	2196	6.2	62	8	25	45.7	39	385	2	2
1973	26	NWE	16	14	5-9-0	376	193	51.3	2550	6.8	64	13	17	65.8	37	350	2	2
1974	27	NWE	16	14	7-7-0	352	173	49.1	2457	7.0	69	19	22♦	64.1	21	174	1	1
1975	28	NWE	16	5	2-3-0	92	36	39.1	571	6.2	76	3	7	39.7	13	89
1976	29	SFO	16	12	6-6-0	243	126	51.9	1592	6.6	85	13	16	63.0	26	249
1977	30	SFO	16	14	5-9-0	248	128	51.6	1693	6.8	47	9	14	62.1	30	242	0	2
1979	32	OAK	16	4		15	7	46.7	89	5.9	39	1	1	60.1	2	9
1980	33	OAK♚	16	13	9-2-0	320	165	51.6	2299	7.2	86	18	16	72.9	36	285	1	2
1981	34	OAK	16	9	2-5-0	179	94	52.5	1045	5.8	42	4	9	56.7	22	184
1982	35	RAI	16	9	8-1-0	261	152	58.2	2035	7.8	52	14	15	77.0	23	211	5♦	4♦
1983	36	RAI♚	16	14	10-3-0	379	230	60.7	2935	7.7	99♦	20	18	82.7	42	363	3♦	4♦
1984	37	RAI	16	8	5-1-0	198	108	54.5	1473	7.4	73	6	10	67.6	13	103	2	2
1985	38	RAI	16	3	1-2-0	103	71	68.9	803	7.8	41	3	3	89.6	13	101
1986	39	RAI	16	10	3-5-0	252	133	52.8	1986	7.9	81	14	9	82.5	27	215	1	2
8 seasons Raiders				70	38-19-0	1707	960	56.2	12665	7.4	99	80	81	75.7	178	1471	12	14
5 seasons Patriots				61	23-38-0	1503	729	48.5	9932	6.6	88	62	87	59.7	146	1317	6	6
2 seasons 49ers				26	11-15-0	491	254	51.7	3285	6.7	85	22	30	62.5	56	491	0	2
15-Year NFL Career				157	72-72-0	3701	1943	52.5	25882	7.0	99	164	198	67.5	380	3279	18	22

Post Season Passing
Year	Age	Team	Games Played	QBrec	Att	Cmp	Cmp%	Yards	Y/A	Long	TD	Int	Rating	Sacked	Yards Lost	4QC	GWD
1980	33	OAK♚	4	4-0	92	49	53.3	839	9.1	80	7	3	96.2	12	84	1	1
1982	35	RAI	2	1-1	70	45	64.3	652	9.3	64	1	5	69.5	4	36
1983	36	RAI♚	3	3-0	83	54	65.1	618	7.4	50	2	2	85.3	5	43
1984	37	RAI	1	0-1	27	14	51.9	184	6.8	46	1	2	55.2	6	49
10 Playoff Games				8-2	272	162	59.6	2293	8.4	80	11	12	81.9	27	212	1	1

Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table

+ – All-Pro Selection
* – Pro Bowl Selection
♦ – Led the League
♚ – NFL Champion

The Comeback Player of All Time.

Image Gallery of Jim Plunkett, Quarterback 1971 -1986

Jim Plunkett Football Trading Cards

Jim Plunkett All-Time Career Statistics

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