Craig Neil Erickson (born May 17, 1969) is a former professional

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 ...

who was selected by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

in the fifth round of the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

and also by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the fourth round of the

1992 NFL Draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott Mar ...

. He is one of the few

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

players to be drafted twice (

Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...

is another example). Coincidentally, each was drafted by the

. Prior to entering the NFL, Erickson played college football for the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

College career

Erickson attended Cardinal Newman High School in

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

and then the

. A 6'2",

from the

who was the starting quarterback on Miami's 1989 National Championship squad, he ranked third on the Hurricanes all-time career passing-yardage list with 6,056 yards. Erickson played in 34 games over a four-year career, taking over starting role as a junior. He won the

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassmen quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievemen ...

in 1990.

Statistics

Professional career

Erickson played in seven National Football League season seasons, from 1992 to 1998. His best year as a pro came during the 1993 season for the

, when he threw for over 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns. Erickson is known as one of the few professional athletes outside of baseball who came back from

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

Personal life

Erickson has two daughters, born in 1999 and 2000.

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people American football quarterbacks Chicago Bears players Indianapolis Colts players Miami Dolphins players Miami Hurricanes football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Sportspeople from Boynton Beach, Florida Players of American football from Florida {{quarterback-1960s-stub