Corey Pullig (born October 23, 1973) is a former

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

who went on to play professionally for the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

and

Buffalo Destroyers Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

High school career

Pullig was a ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' All-American at Deer Park High School in

Deer Park, Texas Deer Park is a city in the U.S. state of Texas within the Greater Houston, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The city is located in Harris County, Texas, Harris County and is situated in Southeast Texas. At the 2020 Unite ...

. He was highly recruited and came to Texas A&M after being promised a shot at the starting job by then

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

Bob Toledo Robert Anthony Toledo (born March 4, 1946) is an American former college football coach and player. Toledo served as the head coach at University of California, Riverside (1974–1975), the University of the Pacific (1979–1982), the Universit ...

and

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

R. C. Slocum Richard Copeland Slocum (born November 7, 1944), is a former American football player and coach. He served as the interim athletic director at Texas A&M University from January through June 2019, and previously served as the head football coach ...

College career

1992 season

Pullig began his true freshman year (1992) behind sophomore

Jeff Granger Jeffery Adam Granger (born December 16, 1971) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). High school Granger was a star quarterback and pi ...

, but took the job when Granger suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

against SMU. Making his first start at quarterback for the No. 5-ranked Aggies against Louisville, Pullig led the team to victory in front of an

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television national audience at

Kyle Field Kyle Field is the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...

. The next week Pullig outdueled

Houston Cougars The Houston Cougars are the athletic teams representing the University of Houston. Informally, the Houston Cougars have also been referred to as the Coogs, UH, or simply Houston. Houston's nickname was suggested by early physical education instr ...

' quarterback

Jimmy Klingler Jimmy Klingler (born February 17, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played one season with the Birmingham Barracudas of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at the University of Houston and attended Stratfor ...

in front of a national television audience on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

at the Astrodome. Pullig threw for 272 yards as the Aggies rallied from a 17-10 halftime deficit with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. His 17 completions in the game ranked No. 3 all-time by a freshman at A&M while his passing yards ranked second. Texas A&M defeated in-state rival Texas, 31-10, that year at

Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium (formerly War Memorial Stadium, Memorial Stadium, and Texas Memorial Stadium), located in Austin, Texas, on the campus of the University of Texas, has been home to the Longhorns football team since 1924. The sta ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Texas A&M also defeated all

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

opponents to win the 1992 Southwest Conference Championship. Texas A&M faced Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and lost 28-3. This was Texas A&M's only loss that season.

1993 season

In 1993, Texas A&M lost early in the season to Oklahoma, the only ranked opponent on the schedule that year, before beating in-state rival Texas, 18-9, on

College Station College station or College Station may refer to: Transportation *College station (MetroLink), a St. Louis light rail station in Saint Clair County, Illinois, United States *College station (PNR), a Philippine National Railways station in Los Baño ...

. Like in 1992, Texas A&M swept its

opponents to win the 1993 Southwest Conference Championship. Texas A&M went on to face Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl that year. Texas A&M went into halftime up 14-7 and an upset over Notre Dame looked in the making. However, Texas A&M missed some key opportunities in the second half, and Notre Dame won the game 24-21.

1994 season

In 1994, Texas A&M went undefeated (11-0-1). The only blemish was a tie to SMU, 21-21, at the

Alamodome The Alamodome is a 64,000-seat domed indoor multi-purpose stadium in San Antonio, Texas. It is located on the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio. The facility opened on May 15, 1993, having been constructed at a cost of $186 milli ...

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

. However, due to being on NCAA probation at the time, Texas A&M could neither qualify for the

championship nor be invited to a bowl game. Also, Texas A&M football games could not be broadcast on TV.

1995 season

In 1995, Texas A&M started the season with high hopes of a national championship. Texas A&M played Colorado, a ranked opponent, in Boulder. A dropped pass early in the game and an interception by Colorado (returned for a touchdown) cost Texas A&M the game (29-21), along with its national championship hopes. Texas A&M lost to Texas Tech in Lubbock the next week, 14-7, on a late interception returned for a touchdown. It took a pass for a touchdown on the last play for Texas A&M to beat SMU, an unranked opponent, the next week. Texas A&M also lost to in-state rival Texas, 16-6, on Kyle Field. This was the final game between Texas A&M and Texas while part of the Southwest Conference. However, Texas A&M did rebound to beat Michigan in the 1995 Alamo Bowl, 22-20. This was Texas A&M's first bowl victory since the 1991 Holiday Bowl.

Overall College Career

Pullig never relinquished the starting job, setting a school record with 40 consecutive starts. While quarterback, Texas A&M had, at the time, the longest active home game winning streak in the NCAA. Pullig finished his career with a 33-6-1 mark as a starter, the most wins for any quarterback in Texas A&M history. He also passed for a school record 6,888 yards (broken by

Reggie McNeal Reginald Parrish McNeal (born September 20, 1983) is a former professional American football player. He played five seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M University. High school career McNeal attended L ...

in 2005). Texas A&M posted ten or eleven wins per season while Pullig was quarterback. Texas A&M won the Southwest Conference championships in 1992 and 1993. In 1994, Texas A&M ranked first in the Southwest Conference but was unable to qualify for the Southwest Conference championship due to being on probation from the NCAA.

Professional career

Pullig was the starting quarterback for part of the 1998 season for the AFL's Grand Rapids Rampage, and stayed as a reserve the following season. He played in 2000 for the Buffalo Destroyers. Pullig finished his AFL career with 2038 passing yards, 28

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, 13

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

, and an 82.13

passer rating Passer rating (also known as passing efficiency in college football) is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in gridiron football. There are two formulas currently in use: one used by both the National Football Leag ...

After football

After retiring from football, Pullig attended the

South Texas College of Law South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL or South Texas) is a private law school in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1923, it is accredited by the American Bar Association. South Texas College of Law Houston is the oldest law school in the city of ...

. He then joined the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

where he currently serves as a Marine Judge Advocate.http://www.theeagle.com/am/Ags-saluted-for-service-in-armed-forces-

References

External links

The Complete Arena Football Resource
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullig, Corey 1973 births Living people American football quarterbacks Buffalo Destroyers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Texas A&M Aggies football players United States Marine Corps officers Players of American football from Houston Lafayette Roughnecks players