Age: 26
(Sept. 17)
4th
season in pro football (3rd active), 2nd with Jaguars
College: Washington
Height: 6’0” Weight: 217
Prelude:
Brunell led
the Univ. of Washington to a Rose Bowl triumph following the 1990 season but
suffered a knee injury the next year that made teams wary of him during the ’93
NFL draft. He was picked by Green Bay in the fifth round and backed up durable
QB Brett Favre for two seasons, seeing no action at all as a rookie. Nearly traded
to the Eagles, he instead was dealt to the expansion Jaguars in 1995. The
mobile lefthanded passer took over the starting job seven games into the season
and passed for 2168 yards with 15 TDs against 7 interceptions while rushing for
480 yards with a per-carry average of 7.2.
1996 Season Summary
Appeared and
started in all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 557
[2]
Most
attempts, game – 52 at St. Louis 10/20
Completions –
353 [2]
Most
completions, game – 37 at St. Louis 10/20
Yards – 4367
[1]
Most yards,
game – 432 at New England 9/22
Completion
percentage – 63.4 [3]
Yards per
attempt – 7.8 [1]
TD passes – 19
[8]
Most TD
passes, game – 3 at New England 9/22
Interceptions
– 20 [2, tied with Dave Brown]
Most interceptions,
game – 5 at St. Louis 10/20
Passer rating
– 84.0 [8]
400-yard
passing games – 2
300-yard
passing games – 6
200-yard
passing games – 15
Rushing
Attempts – 80
Most
attempts, game - 10 (for 41 yds.) vs. Pittsburgh 9/1, (for 25 yds.) at Baltimore
11/24, (for 47 yds.) at Houston 12/8
Yards – 396
Most yards,
game – 58 yards (on 7 carries) vs. Baltimore 11/10
Average gain
– 5.0 [4]
TDs – 3
Scoring
TDs – 3
2-point PATs
– 2 [2, tied with Michael Jackson, Edgar Bennett & Keenan McCardell]
Points – 22
Postseason: 3
G
Pass attempts
– 100
Most pass
attempts, game – 38 at New England, AFC Championship
Pass
completions – 56
Most pass
completions, game – 20 at New England, AFC Championship
Passing
yardage – 674
Most passing
yards, game – 245 at Denver, AFC Divisional playoff
TD passes – 3
Most TD
passes, game – 2 at Denver, AFC Divisional playoff
Interceptions
– 4
Most
interceptions, game – 2 at Buffalo, AFC Wild Card playoff; at New England, AFC
Championship
Rushing
attempts – 16
Most rushing
attempts, game – 7 at Denver, AFC Divisional playoff
Rushing yards
– 87
Most rushing
yards, game – 44 at Denver, AFC Divisional playoff
Average gain
rushing – 5.4
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
Pro Bowl
Jaguars went 9-7
to finish second in the AFC Central and qualify for the postseason as a Wild
Card entry while leading the NFL in passing yards (4110). Won AFC Wild Card
playoff over Buffalo Bills (30-27) and AFC Divisional playoff over Denver
Broncos (30-27). Lost AFC Championship to New England Patriots (20-6).
Aftermath:
Brunell
followed up with another Pro Bowl season in 1997, although hindered by a knee
injury that forced him to wear a knee brace, and the Jaguars again made it to
the playoffs for the second of four consecutive years. He made the Pro Bowl for
a third (and last) time in 1999 but the team came up short in the postseason
and began to deteriorate thereafter. Tough and a good leader as well as effective
passer, Brunell became less mobile and more battered over time and finally lost
his starting job to rookie Byron Leftwich in 2003. He was traded to Washington
in ’04 and had one last significant season in 2005, passing for 3050 yards and a
career-high 23 TDs as the team reached the playoffs for the first time in six
years. Brunell started nine games in ’06 and again yielded the starting job to
a young quarterback, Jason Campbell. He finished his career with two years
apiece as a backup with the Saints and Jets. Overall, he passed for 32,072
yards and 184 touchdowns, with 25,698 of those yards and 144 TDs coming with
the Jaguars, who went 63-54 in the regular season and 4-4 in the playoffs with
Brunell behind center. He also rushed for 2421 yards and 15 touchdowns.
--
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
