Age: 29 (Mar.
9)
6th
season in pro football, 1st in USFL & with Invaders
College: California
Height: 6’4” Weight: 210
Prelude:
Son of a
former minor league pitcher and baseball scout, Besana backed up Steve
Bartkowski and Joe Roth as a college quarterback. He was chosen by the Buffalo
Bills in the fifth round of the 1977 NFL draft. While active for two games
during his rookie season, Besana saw no action and was released at the end of
the preseason in ’78. He was signed by the New York Giants late in the year and
again was active for two games but didn’t play. Released by the Giants during
the ’79 preseason, Besana played three years with the Twin Cities Cougars of
the minor league California Football League while running a beer
distributorship. The Cougars were champions all three seasons and Besana was
twice named to the league All-Star team. He threw for 1433 yards and 15 TDs in
1980 and led the circuit in passing in ’82 by throwing for 1767 yards and 19 touchdowns
with only four interceptions. Besana was signed by the Invaders of the new USFL
just before training camp for their inaugural Spring season.
1983 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 18 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 550
[2]
Most
attempts, game – 47 at Tampa Bay 5/21
Completions –
345 [1]
Most
completions, game – 27 at Tampa Bay 5/21
Yards – 3980
[1]
Most yards,
game – 341 at Michigan 3/19
Completion
percentage – 62.7 [1]
Yards per
attempt – 7.2 [4]
TD passes – 21
[2]
Most TD
passes, game – 4 vs. Washington 5/16
Interceptions
– 16 [6, tied with Alan Risher & John Reaves]
Most
interceptions, game – 2 on five occasions
Passer rating
– 96.7
300-yard
passing games – 2
200-yard
passing games – 13
Rushing
Attempts – 41
Most
attempts, game – 6 (for 12 yds.) vs. Birmingham 3/13, (for 31 yds.) vs. Tampa
Bay 5/8
Yards – 139
Most yards,
game – 31 yards (on 6 carries) vs. Tampa Bay 5/8
Yards per
attempt – 3.4
TDs – 3
Scoring
TDs – 3
Points – 18
Postseason: 1
G (Semifinal playoff at Michigan)
Pass attempts
– 35
Pass
completions – 23
Passing
yardage – 258
TD passes – 1
Interceptions
– 2
Rushing
attempts – 1
Rushing yards
– 1
Average gain
rushing – 1.0
Rushing TDs –
1
Invaders went
9-9 to finish first in the USFL Pacific Division. Lost USFL Semifinal playoff
to Michigan Panthers (37-21).
Aftermath:
Following his
impressive 1983 season, Besana and the Oakland offense got off to a rough start
in ’84. The team was 0-9 before catching fire with a seven-game winning streak.
Besana ended up throwing for 2792 yards and 14 touchdowns with 12
interceptions. The Invaders were merged with the Michigan Panthers for 1985 and
Besana lost his starting job to Bobby Hebert. He threw just 58 passes,
completing 34 for 494 yards and six TDs along with four interceptions. The
demise of the USFL brought an end to Besana’s career. For his three USFL
seasons, Besana completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 7266 yards and 41
touchdowns while giving up 32 interceptions and being sacked 140 times.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
