Age: 29
7th
season in pro football, 4th with Falcons
College: Oregon
Height: 5’11” Weight: 190
Prelude:
Berry passed
for 4148 yards and 37 touchdowns in college and led Oregon to three consecutive
winnings seasons and a Sun Bowl victory. He was a future draft pick of the NFL
Eagles (11th round) and AFL Broncos (26th round) in 1964.
The Minnesota Vikings traded for his rights and Berry joined them as a backup
in 1965. He saw limited action behind Fran Tarkenton, Ron VanderKelen, and
later Joe Kapp, over the course of three seasons. Berry threw a total of 46
passes and started one game in 1966 before being obtained by Atlanta in ‘68,
where he was reunited with ex-Vikings Head Coach Norm Van Brocklin and given an
opportunity to start in competition with Randy Johnson. Very competitive and a
good leader, Berry was also undersized and prone to being sacked. He was an
accurate passer at short range, typically rolling out and throwing to his backs
and tight ends, and was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1969.
1971 Season Summary
Appeared in 11
of 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 226
[17]
Most
attempts, game – 27 vs. St. Louis 10/10, at New Orleans 12/19
Completions –
136 [14, tied with Greg Landry]
Most completions,
game – 18 at New Orleans 12/19
Yards – 2005 [12]
Most yards,
game – 309 at Detroit 10/3
Completion
percentage – 60.2 [2, 1st in NFC]
Yards per
attempt – 8.9 [1]
TD passes – 11
[13, tied with Pete Liske, Fran Tarkenton & Dennis Shaw]
Most TD passes,
game – 3 at Detroit 10/3
Interceptions
– 16 [9, tied with Jim Plunkett & Daryle Lamonica]
Most
interceptions, game – 4 vs. St. Louis 10/10
Passer rating
– 75.9 [6]
300-yard
passing games – 2
200-yard
passing games – 4
Rushing
Attempts – 19
Most attempts,
game – 5 (for 4 yds.) vs. Green Bay 11/22
Yards – 31
Most yards,
game – 19 yards (on 3 carries) vs. St. Louis 10/10
Yards per
attempt – 1.6
TDs – 0
Falcons went 7-6-1,
the first winning record in franchise history, to finish third in the NFC West.
Aftermath:
Berry passed
for a career-high 2158 yards in 1972 but, deemed too limited to continue to
start, was dealt back to Minnesota. He spent the last three seasons of his
career as a backup to Fran Tarkenton. Overall, Berry completed 56.4 percent of
his passes for 9197 yards and 64 touchdowns, with an equal number of
interceptions. 8489 yards and 57 TDs came with the Falcons.
--
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
