Dan Fouts
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Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
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 played for the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
of the
National Football League 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 ...
(NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973-87). After a relatively undistinguished first five seasons in the league, Fouts came to prominence as the on-field leader during the Chargers'
Air Coryell In American football, Air Coryell is the offensive scheme and philosophy developed by former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell. The offensive philosophy has been also called the "Coryell offense" or the "vertical offense". With Dan Fouts as qu ...
period. He led the league in passing every year from 1979 to 1982, passing for over 4,000 yards in the first three of these - no previous quarterback had posted consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. Fouts was voted a
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
er six times, 1st-team
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
twice, and
Offensive Player of the Year The National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award is an annual American football award given by various organizations to the National Football League (NFL) player who is considered the top offensive player during the regular season. Or ...
in 1982. He was named a member of the
NFL 1980s All-Decade Team The NFL 1980s All-Decade Team was chosen by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was composed of outstanding performers in the National Football League in the 1980s. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive and ...
, and elected to the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
in 1993, his first year of eligibility. Fouts played for the
Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...
in college, breaking numerous records and later being inducted into the
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...
and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. He was a third-round draft pick of the Chargers in 1973, brought in to back up veteran
Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
. Fouts struggled during his first three season in the league while playing for losing teams. His form began to improve in 1976, when Bill Walsh spent a year in San Diego as his offensive coordinator, but discontentment over the direction of the team and the restrictions of the NFL's free agency rules led Fouts to refuse to play through the majority of 1977. Early in 1978,
Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. W ...
became the new head coach of the Chargers and installed the pass-oriented offensive scheme that would become known as Air Coryell. Fouts, given license to throw with an unprecedented frequency, produced record-breaking numbers during the rest of his career. He led the NFL in
passing yards The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...
four straight years from 1979 to 1982 (still a record), and became the first player in history to throw for 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons, breaking the NFL single-season record for passing yards each time. He set career records for the most 300-yard games and 400-yard games. Fouts was rewarded with six Pro Bowl selections (1979–82, 1983, 1985) and four All-Pro selections (1st team in 1979 and 1982, 2nd team in 1980 and 1985). In the strike-shortened 1982 season, he passed for 2,883 yards in only nine games, winning the AP Offensive Player of the Year and PFWA NFL MVP honors. Fouts led the Chargers to three consecutive
AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...
division titles (1979-81) and a further
playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
appearance in 1982. He was the winning quarterback in the
Epic in Miami The Epic in Miami was the National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl. The game, won by the Chargers in overtime, 41–38, is ...
game, breaking a playoff record with 433 passing yards. The Chargers advanced to the AFC Championship Game twice during his career, but never reached the Super Bowl. Fouts is widely considered among the best quarterbacks in NFL history to never reach a Super Bowl. Fouts was a color analyst for NFL games on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television and
Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...
radio. He is the son of Bay Area Radio Hall of Famer Bob Fouts.


Early life and high school career

Dan Fouts was born to Julie and Bob Fouts in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, the fourth of five children. His father was a sports broadcaster who commentated on games for the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
of the
National Football League 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 ...
(NFL) for over 20 years. As a child, Dan acted as a stat-keeper for Bob and worked for the 49ers as a
ballboy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes List of dog sports, dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, ba ...
. One of his first sporting heroes was
John Brodie John Riley Brodie (born August 14, 1935) is a former American football player, a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He had a second career as a Senior PGA Tour professional golfer, and ...
, the 49ers' starting
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 ...
of that time. When, at the age of 11, Fouts asked his parents' permission to play football, they told him that he would have to be a quarterback, as he had shown a good throwing arm while playing
Little League baseball Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization He played
Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...
football for the Drake Junior Pirates, where his coach described him as an "outstanding quarterback" in 1964. Fouts attended
Marin Catholic High School Marin Catholic High School (familiarly known as MC) is a Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in unincorporated Kentfield in Marin County, California. The school is owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco. It was fou ...
, located just north of San Francisco in
Kentfield, California Kentfield (formerly Ross Landing, Tamalpais, and Kent) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 fee ...
, for his two first years, and started some games as a sophomore in the fall of 1966. While he temporarily lost the starting job after play described as "extremely jittery" by a local newspaper, an end of season report from the same paper stated that he should improve with better protection. Fouts, playing on an 0–6 team, finished the season with nine
interception 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 ...
s and only one
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 ...
. He also played varsity basketball as a forward. Fouts transferred to St. Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco) for his final two years of high school. In 1967, St. Ignatius were champions of the
West Catholic Athletic League The West Catholic Athletic League or WCAL is a highly competitive high school athletic conference in the Central Coast Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. The boys division is made up of seven Catholic schools and one nondenom ...
with a 6–0 record, and Fouts was named to the WCAL All-Star first-team. He nearly reversed his touchdown to interceptions ratio, with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. St. Ignatius went 5–1 in Fouts' senior year; he passed much less as his team focused more on their running game.


Statistics


College career

Fouts was somewhat of an unknown when he accepted a
scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...
offer from the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
to play for the
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in Eugene. He started for the freshman team during his first year there (1969). In
1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
, he began the season on the bench behind veteran quarterback/punter
Tom Blanchard Thomas Richard Blanchard (born May 28, 1948) is a former American football punter with an 11-year career in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Biography Blanchard played ...
. In the opening game, a 31–24 victory over
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, Fouts came off the bench and completed 12 of 19 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in the final two minutes. Fouts and Blanchard combined to set a new
Pacific-8 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...
record with 424 passing yards. After another relief appearance the following week, Fouts got his first chance to start in Week 3, going up against
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
and their quarterback
Jim Plunkett James William Plunkett (born December 5, 1947) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for sixteen seasons. He achieved his greatest professional success during his final eight seasons with the ...
with Blanchard out injured. Fouts and Plunkett would contest the AFC championship game ten years later. Plunkett's Stanford won this first meeting 33–10, though Fouts set school records with 27 completions, 51 attempts and 271 yards. Two weeks later, Fouts threw the winning 15-yard touchdown with 30 seconds to play, and Oregon beat
UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
41–40. In Week 5, Fouts tied a school record with four touchdowns in an easy win over
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...
; he repeated the feat against
Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
three weeks later, while setting an Oregon single-game passing yards record (396) that would last until 1989. Fouts finished the season ranked second in the Pacific-8 Conference for completions, completion percentage and passing touchdowns (behind Plunkett each times) and third in passing yards, though his 24 interceptions were tied for most in the conference. He passed for 16 touchdowns while running for 4 more, and his season total of 2,390 passing yards was an Oregon record that stood until
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
.
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named him an honorable mention in their season-ending all-coast team. Fouts entered his junior year (
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...
) as an established and highly-rated starter. That season, he had over 100 fewer attempts than the previous season, in part because of the form of running back
Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moo ...
, who led the Pacific-8 in rushing attempts and yards. Fouts was third in the conference in attempts, completions and passing yards. He posted an improved touchdowns to interceptions ratio of 9–11, with his interceptions total being the lowest among Pacific-8 quarterbacks who played in every game. In
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
, with Rashad having graduated, Fouts again became the main focus of the offense. He broke the Oregon record for career passing yardage in an early-season win over
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, but his team struggled for much of the season, conceding 60 points in consecutive games and going into their finale against with a 3–7 record. In his last college game, Fouts threw a 65-yard touchdown, and Oregon beat Oregon State for the first time in nine years. Fouts was named to the All-Pac-8 team, and finished second in the conference behind Stanford's
Mike Boryla Michael Jay Boryla (born March 6, 1951) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1970s. He played college football at Stanford University, where he was ...
in attempts, completions, touchdowns and interceptions. Fouts had less help up front, and his passing to receiver Greg Sprecht accounted for most of the Ducks offense during a trying season. At the time, Fouts ranked second in conference history in career passing and total offense behind Plunkett. He set 19 Oregon records, including those for career passing yardage (5,995) and
total offense Total offense (or total offence) is a gridiron football statistic representing the total number of yards rushing and yards passing by a team or player. Total offense differs from yards from scrimmage, which gives credit for passing yardage to the ...
(5,871), and was inducted into the university's hall of fame in 1992.


Statistics


Professional career


1973–1975: Early struggles

Fouts was selected in the third round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the
San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...
, using the 64th overall pick. The sixth quarterback taken in the draft, he was brought in to back up his childhood idol,
Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...
, who had joined the Chargers during the offseason after 17 years with the Baltimore Colts. Fouts broke his collarbone playing in the
Coaches All-America Game The Coaches All-America Game was a postseason college football all-star game that served as the concluding game of the college football season, held from 1961 to 1976. The all-star game was sponsored by the American Football Coaches Association (A ...
, and then held out for more money before signing with the Chargers. He missed the first three preseason games while still recovering from his injury. Unitas soon picked up a career-ending shoulder injury, causing Fouts to see extensive action as a rookie. His first appearance came in Week 4, entering a game at
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
at the start of the second half, with the Chargers trailing 38–0. Fouts led three touchdown drives, and the game finished 38–21; His first career touchdown pass was a 13-yarder to
Jerry LeVias Jerry LeVias (born September 5, 1946) is a former American football player. He played college football at Southern Methodist University (SMU). He played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) with the Houston Oilers and in the N ...
. The following week, Fouts made his first start, completing 12 of 30 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and an interception as the Chargers lost 27–17 to
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
, earning positive reviews for his performance. He struggled in his next game, intercepted four times during a 41–0 home loss to
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. By the end of the 1973 season, Fouts was 0–5–1 as a starter, with six touchdowns against 13 interceptions, while completing fewer than 45% of his passes. His
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 ...
of 46.0 was well below the league average of 64.9. Unitas announced his retirement before the 1974 season, paving the way for Fouts to stake a claim to the starting job. He started the first eleven games, before a broken thumb ended his season. Fouts went 3–8 in those games, posted an improved passer rating of 61.4; half of his season total of 8 touchdown passes came in a single Week 8 game with
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, completing 12 passes of 21 for 333 yards as the Chargers won 36–35. While Fouts again finished the season with a completion percentage below 50%, his yards per completion of 15.1 led the NFL. Fouts increased his completion percentage in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
(to 54.4%), but threw only two touchdowns against 10 interceptions, while going 2–7 as a starter. In a Week 3 game with the Raiders, Fouts completed 3 of 13 passes for 29 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, while getting sacked five times for 51 yards; he finished the game with a passer rating of zero, the only such rating of his 15-year career. Fouts was booed when he was announced at the start of that game, and struggled with injuries throughout the season (first a sore ankle, then a concussion), though his replacements also struggled.


1976–1977: Improvement and holdout

In
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, the Chargers brought in Bill Walsh from
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
to be their offensive coordinator. He stayed in the post for a season before moving on to be the head coach at
Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...
. Fouts would later say, "Walsh really got me into the position to be an effective quarterback". Fouts also gained a new wide receiver when the Chargers traded for seven-year veteran
Charlie Joiner Charles B. Joiner Jr. (born October 14, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. He is best known for his career w ...
. Joiner went on to spend 11 years with Fouts in San Diego, with over 9,000 receiving yards and 47 touchdowns as a Charger. Fouts later described the receiver as a security blanket, saying: "I don’t think he ever dropped any, at least any that were thrown that he could catch." Fouts began the 1976 season by throwing six touchdown and no interceptions in the first three games, all wins. In a Week 3, 43–24 victory over
Don Coryell Donald David Coryell (October 17, 1924 – July 1, 2010) was an American football coach, who coached in the National Football League (NFL) first with the St. Louis Cardinals from 1973 to 1977 and then the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1986. W ...
's
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
, Fouts went 15 of 18 for 259 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. This gave him a
perfect passer rating In the National Football League (NFL), the highest official passer rating that a quarterback can achieve is 158.3, which is called a "perfect passer rating". To qualify, during a single game a quarterback must attempt at least 10 passes, have zero ...
of 158.3; , Fouts is the only Charger to post such a rating. Fouts was the league's No. 1 rated passer at that stage, though the defenses he had faced were not highly rated. The remainder of the season did not go as well for the Chargers, who were
shut out Shut Out may refer to: * Shutout, a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring * ''Shut Out'' (album), a 1977 album by Paul Jabara * "Shut Out" (song), a 1977 song by Paul Jabara and Donna Summer * "Shutout", a song by The Walk ...
four times and finished 6–8, or for Fouts, who started thirteen games and played in all fourteen, despite fans calling for backup
Clint Longley Howard Clinton "Clint" Longley, Jr. (born July 28, 1952) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) with the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers. He also was a member of the Toronto Argonauts in the Canadia ...
to have more playing time. Nonetheless, he finished with new career highs in passing yards (2,535), completion percentage (57.8%), and touchdowns (14); he threw 15 interceptions, at a new career-low interception percentage of 4.2%. Fouts finished with a passer rating of 75.4 for the season, above the league average of 67.0. San Diego sports journalist Jack Murphy described 1976 as a year of "much growth" for Fouts, and the departing Walsh predicted that he would have a fine career in the league. San Diego acquired quarterback James Harris from the
Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
during the offseason, with head coach
Tommy Prothro James Thompson "Tommy" Prothro Jr. (July 20, 1920 – May 14, 1995) was an American football coach. He was the head coach at Oregon State University from 1955 to 1964 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1965 to 1970, compil ...
stating that he wanted depth at the injury-prone position. Harris's contract was speculated to pay him approximately $170,000, compared to $82,500 for Fouts. The following month, Fouts was one of 17 players testifying against the NFL in an
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...
settlement. Fouts expressed a desire to leave San Diego, and complained at a new
collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...
; the agreement meant the Chargers had only to match the offer of another team to prevent him from leaving. There was speculation that Fouts was disgruntled due to Harris's signing and contract, but Fouts himself said that he wanted to play in a
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
, and that the Chargers were not of that caliber; he stated that he would retire if he was not allowed to leave San Diego. Fouts refused to report to training camp, During the lengthy holdout that followed, Fouts attacked Prothro as "the farthest thing from a head coach you'll ever find ... he's snowing people into thinking he knows what he's doing." On November 15, the NFL grievance committee rejected an attempt by Fouts to become a
free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
. Chargers Owner
Gene Klein Eugene Victor Klein (January 29, 1921March 12, 1990) was an American businessman who was chairman of the board of directors and chief stockholder of National General Corporation, an insurance and entertainment company based in Los Angeles, Calif ...
said that Fouts had been given bad advice by his lawyer, and would be welcomed back to the team. Fouts reported to the team on November 17, 125 days late, having accrued $62,500 in fines. He returned to a 5–5 team who had recently lost Harris to injury, and started from Week 11 onwards. Fouts threw 4 touchdowns and 1 interception in the first two games, both wins, then no touchdowns and five interceptions in the following two, both defeats.


1978–1986: Leader of Air Coryell


1978 season

The Chargers drafted wide receiver
John Jefferson John Larry Jefferson (né Washington; born February 3, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football with the Arizona State Sun Devils, h ...
in the first round of the 1978 draft, and he caught two touchdown passes from Fouts in his debut, as the Chargers beat Seattle in Week 1 of the 1978 season. San Diego lost their next three and Prothro resigned, to be replaced by Coryell. He installed the explosive offensive system that would become known as
Air Coryell In American football, Air Coryell is the offensive scheme and philosophy developed by former San Diego Chargers coach Don Coryell. The offensive philosophy has been also called the "Coryell offense" or the "vertical offense". With Dan Fouts as qu ...
during an eight-year reign as Chargers head coach, led on the field by Fouts. San Diego lost three of Coryell's first four games, slipping to a 2–6 record at the midway point of the season. They won their next four games in a row; In the third of these, Fouts threw a 14-yard touchdown to Jefferson as time expired in overtime, to beat
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
29–23. Fouts missed the return match with the Chiefs through injury, and the Chargers were shut out. He returned for the final three games, winning all of them to give him seven consecutive victories as a starter; he passed frequently during these three games, throwing for over 900 yards and 9 touchdowns, while the Chargers averaged over 40 points per game. Fouts earned praise for his performances during the strong finish. The Chargers finished 9–7, missing the playoffs. As a team, they led the league in passing yards. Fouts himself was sixth in the NFL with 2,999 passing yards, first in yards per attempt (7.9), fourth in completion percentage (58.8%) and touchdowns (24), and third in passer rating (83.0). He threw more touchdowns than interceptions for the first time in his career (24–20), and combined frequently with Jefferson, who led the league with 13 touchdown receptions. That season, the NFL had adopted a rule change to free up the passing game, prohibiting defenders from making contact with receivers past five yards from the
line of scrimmage In gridiron football, a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line (across the width of the field) beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end o ...
.


1979 season

The Chargers finished 12–4 in 1979, winning the AFC West and reaching the playoffs for the first time since
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
. The offseason featured the arrival of another major target for Fouts. Tight end
Kellen Winslow Kellen Boswell Winslow Sr. (born November 5, 1957) is an American former professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (1995), he is widely recognized as one of the greatest tight ...
, the Chargers' 1st-round pick in the 1979 Draft, missed half of his rookie season with a broken leg, but played a huge role in the Charger offense from 1980 through to a major knee injury in 1984. Winslow is credited with revolutionizing the tight end position through his pass-catching ability. Fouts started every game in 1979. From Week 6 to Week 9, he set an NFL record with four consecutive 300-yard games, although the Chargers only won two of these. Fouts later posted three consecutive passer ratings of over 100. San Diego ended the regular season as both their AFC West champions and the No. 1 seed in the AFC, as Fouts reached the playoffs for the first time, seven years into his career. Fouts finished the season with 4,082 yards passing, breaking
Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He played college foot ...
's record of 4,007, albeit from two extra games. He led the league in completion percentage with 62.6%, and ranked third with a passer rating of 82.6. He posted an even ratio of touchdowns to interceptions (24–24). Fouts tied another Namath record with six total 300-yard games. In the end of season awards, he finished second behind
Earl Campbell Earl Christian Campbell (born March 29, 1955), nicknamed "the Tyler Rose", is an American former professional football player who played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints. K ...
for both
AP NFL MVP The Associated Press NFL Most Valuable Player Award is presented annually by the Associated Press (AP) to a player in the National Football League (NFL) deemed to have been the " most valuable" in that year's regular season. While there have b ...
(outvoted 34–27) and AP Offensive Player of the Year (outvoted 39–34), while being named to the AFC
Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...
and 1st-team
All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...
teams. Both Jefferson and Joiner had 1,000-yard receiving seasons, two of the twelve players to reach that milestone league-wide. San Diego's return to the playoffs ended in disappointment, losing 17–14 at home to the wildcard
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...
. Fouts completed 25 of 47 passes for 333 yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions. Fouts said after the game, "We just made too many mistakes, that's all. We didn't play very well and they did." It was revealed after the game that Houston
defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...
Ed Biles Edward G. Biles (October 18, 1931 – April 5, 2020) was an American football coach whose most prominent position was as head coach of the National Football League's Houston Oilers from 1981 to 1983. A native of Reading, Ohio, Biles was an outst ...
had managed to crack the code San Diego used to signal their offensive plays to Fouts, giving them prior warning of the coming plays and potentially accounting in part for Fouts' struggles.


1980 season

San Diego repeated as division champions in
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...
with an 11–5 record. Fouts had an eventful game in the Week 2 matchup with
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. He turned the ball over on five consecutive possessions in the 3rd quarter, with four interceptions and a fumble that was run back for a touchdown, but eventually threw a 24-yard touchdown to Joiner in overtime as the Chargers won 30–24. Fouts finished the game with 29 completions from 44 attempts for 387 yards, with 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. The 387 yards were a new single-game franchise record for the Chargers. Fouts himself would break the record once more four weeks later, with 388 yards in a 38–24 loss to the Raiders; the following week, he broke it again, this time passing for 444 yards in a 44–7 victory over the
Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...
. This last total would prove to be the joint-most of his career. San Diego and Oakland had a tight race for the AFC West title, which the Chargers eventually edged on tiebreakers. For the second consecutive season, Fouts broke the passing yardage record, finishing with 4,715 yards, over 500 ahead of his nearest rival. This time, he also broke Namath's yards per game record by averaging 294.7. His marks for attempts (589) and completions (348) were NFL records, and he posted a new personal best with 30 touchdowns (against 24 interceptions) and with a passer rating of 84.7. He had eight 300+ yard passing games, breaking a record he'd tied the previous season. Fouts was voted a 2nd-team All-Pro, and made his second Pro Bowl. Jefferson, Winslow and Joiner, his leading receivers, dominated the receiving yardage charts, finishing 1st, 2nd and 4th respectively, with over 1,100 yards each. Jefferson led the league in touchdown catches, and Winslow came top in receptions. They were the first trio of teammates to each have 1,000 receiving yards in the same season. Joiner said of Fouts at this point, "Dan has definitely matured over the last four years. His quickness of release is better, he's improved at reading defenses, he's better at going to the receiver who's open." San Diego was again the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and hosted the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
in the Divisional Playoffs. The Chargers trailed 14–3 early in the game, and 14–13 with a little over two minutes to play, facing a 3rd and 10 at midfield. Fouts then found little-used wide receiver Ron Smith for what would prove to be the game-winning touchdown. Fouts finished 22 of 37, for 314 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Jefferson and Joiner were among those praising his leadership and toughness after the come-from-behind win. The following week, San Diego hosted Oakland for their third meeting of the season, with a place in the Super Bowl at stake. Fouts had a mixed first half, as he threw two touchdown passes to Joiner and two red zone interceptions. Joiner's second touchdown began a comeback attempt from 28–7 behind that eventually fell short; Oakland won 34–27, and went on to triumph in Super Bowl XV. Fouts finished the game having completed 22 of 45 passes for 336 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.


1981 season

While San Diego won their third consecutive division title in
1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, they had to contend with early-season unrest, with both Jefferson and key defensive end
Fred Dean Frederick Rudolph Dean (February 24, 1952 – October 14, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). A twice first-team All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowler, he won two Super ...
holding out for better pay. Both players were traded early in the season, to the disapproval of numerous other Chargers. Jefferson's replacement,
Wes Chandler Wesley Sandy Chandler (born August 22, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four t ...
, had made one Pro Bowl with the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
, and would go on to make three more with the Chargers. Without Dean, the defense slipped from 6th to 27th in the 28-team league, leaving Fouts and the offense as the unit more likely to lead San Diego to victories. Fouts began the season by posting a near-perfect passer rating of 157.1, completing 19 of 25 for 330 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions in an easy 44–14 win over
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. The Chargers reached a 6–3 record before back to back one-sided defeats left them two games off the division lead. In Week 12, the Chargers went to
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and beat the defending Super Bowl champions 55–21. Fouts threw touchdown passes on six consecutive drives, including four to Winslow in a ten minute-period sandwiching halftime. The six touchdown passes were the most of Fouts's career, and remain a Chargers record .
The win was the first of four over the final five weeks of the regular season, as the Chargers recovered to take the division title on tiebreakers over
Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
, with a 10–6 record. Fouts was consistent, passing for between 252 and 352 yards in every regular season game bar the finale. With 4,802 yards (nearly 900 yards ahead of his nearest rival), he broke the single-season record for the 3rd consecutive season, as well as breaking the records for yards per game (300.1), attempts (609) and completions (360) for the second time. He posted the best touchdown to interception ratio of his career (33–17), led the league in touchdown passes for the first time, and made his third Pro Bowl. At this point, Fouts was responsible for over half of the five 4,000-yard passing seasons in NFL history, posting his third in a row. Fouts again had three 1,000-yard receivers, with Joiner, Chandler (including his yards with the Saints before he was traded) and Winslow (again the league's leader in receptions) all crossing the mark. He benefitted from a stable, veteran offensive line ( Billy Shields,
Doug Wilkerson Douglas Wilkerson (March 27, 1947 – February 21, 2021) was an was an American professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for the Houston Oilers and San Diego Chargers. Named to the Pro Bowl three times ...
, Don Macek, Ed White and
Russ Washington Russell Eugene Washington (December 17, 1946 – August 5, 2021) was an American professional football player who was an offensive and defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football L ...
), who enabled Fouts to be sacked on a career-low 3% of his pass attempts. San Diego faced the Dolphins in the Divisional Playoffs, winning the ''
Epic in Miami The Epic in Miami was the National Football League AFC divisional playoff game between the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins that took place on January 2, 1982 in the Miami Orange Bowl. The game, won by the Chargers in overtime, 41–38, is ...
'' 41–38. In a dominant 1st quarter, the Chargers led 24–0 when Fouts threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to James Brooks. Miami scored 24 points of their own to tie the score in the 3rd quarter, before Fouts restored the lead with a 25-yard touchdown to Winslow. The Dolphins responded with the next 14 points, and were close to scoring again when they lost a fumble at the San Diego 18 with five minutes to play. Fouts completed 7 of 8 passes for 75 yards on the ensuing drive, ending with a 9-yard touchdown pass that was intended for Winslow but caught instead by Brooks, with 58 seconds to play. The game went into overtime, where Fouts completed back-to-back passes of 20 yards to Chandler and 39 yards to Joiner, and Benirschke won the game with a 29-yard field goal nearly 14 minutes into the extra period. Fouts, who described the game as the best he'd ever played in, finished with 33 completions from 53 attempts for 433 yards (all setting new NFL playoff records), with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. The ''Epic in Miami'' set playoff records for the most combined points, yards, passing yards and completions, and is widely considered one of the greatest NFL games played. The Chargers faced the Bengals in Cincinnati in the AFC Championship Game. The game, known as the ''
Freezer Bowl In National Football League lore, the Freezer Bowl is the nickname given to the 1981 AFC Championship Game between the San Diego Chargers and the Cincinnati Bengals. The game was played on January 10, 1982, at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadiu ...
'', was played in frigid conditions, with a temperature of , in contrast to the conditions in Miami the previous week. Fouts struggled to grip the ball, completing 15 of 28 passes for 185 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions as the Chargers were defeated 27–7, missing out on a Super Bowl appearance by one game for the second consecutive season.


1982 season

In
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, the Chargers started 1–1 before an NFL players strike interrupted the regular season, and reduced it to nine games in total when it resumed in November. Fouts did not support the strike action before it began, but trained extensively with his teammates while it was ongoing. When play resumed, the Chargers lost their first game back, then won their next two going into a road meeting with the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers. In a passing duel with
Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...
, Fouts threw five touchdowns, including a game-winner to running back
Chuck Muncie Harry Vance "Chuck" Muncie (March 17, 1953 − May 13, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a running back for the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 1984. He wa ...
with three minutes left. The Chargers won 41–37; Fouts finished with 33 completions from 48 attempts, for 444 yards (tying his career high), 5 touchdowns and no interceptions. The teams set an NFL record with 65 completions, while combining for 810 passing yards. The following week, San Diego faced the other participant from the previous Super Bowl, beating Cincinnati 50–34 at
Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadi ...
. Fouts went 25 of 40 for 435 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He become the first player in NFL history to post back-to-back 400-yard games. The teams combined for 66 completions, breaking the NFL record set in the Chargers' previous game, and 883 passing yards, setting a new record. The Chargers eventually qualified for the playoffs for the fourth straight year, with a 6–3 record. While the truncated season prevented Fouts from again breaking the passing yardage record in 1982, he did set a new yards per game record for the third consecutive year, this time with 320.3 per game. He led the league in passing yards (2,883), touchdowns (17, tied with Montana), and yards per attempt (8.7, which would prove to be the best of his career). His passer rating of 93.3, second-best in the league, would stand as a career-high, and he was named 1st-team All-Pro for the second time, as well as being voted to a fourth successive Pro Bowl. Fouts won the Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year Award with 43 of the available 80 votes, but finished runner-up in NFL MVP voting with 33, two behind Washington kicker
Mark Moseley Mark DeWayne Moseley (born March 12, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played for Philadelphia Eagles (1970), the Houston Oilers (1971–7 ...
. He did win a league MVP award from the
PFWA The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve ...
, as well as the player-awarded Jim Thorpe Trophy. Fouts was again well protected by the same quintet of offensive linemen as the previous year. This time, none of the five missed a game, and Fouts was sacked on 3.5% of pass plays. From Fouts' receivers, Winslow caught the second-most passes in the league, while Chandler, despite missing a game, finished as the only 1,000-yard receiver in the league. San Diego traveled to Pittsburgh in the
first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
of the playoffs. The Steelers led 28–17 in the final quarter, but Fouts finished consecutive drives with touchdown passes to Winslow, the first coming on 4th down, the second with one minute to play. These were enough to give the Chargers a 31–28 victory. Fouts completed 27 of 43 passes for 333 yards, 3 touchdowns and no interceptions, producing a passer rating of 112.5, his best in a playoff game. In the second round of the playoffs, the Chargers faced the Dolphins in the
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...
, the same venue as their famous match from the previous season. The rematch proved to be one-sided, with Miami winning 34–13. Fouts completed 15 of 34 passes for 191 yards, 1 touchdown and 5 interceptions. This proved to be the last playoff game of his career, meaning that he had thrown five interceptions in both his first and final playoff games.


Later seasons

Fouts was a free agent in 1983. While negotiating with the Chargers, he also considered an offer to play for a proposed San Diego-based franchise in the new
USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...
. Ultimately, Fouts opted to sign a six-year contract with the Chargers, stating that he wanted to win a Super Bowl. The contract was reported to pay upward of $1 million per year, making it one of the most lucrative in pro football. Fouts played for five more seasons, but missed time through injury in each of those, and would not return to the playoffs. In 1983, the Chargers went 6–10 while conceding the most points in the league. Fouts started the first seven games, throwing for at least 300 yards in five of them, but was kept out of the next five by a shoulder injury, ending a run of consecutive starts that stretched back to 1978. After returning for three games, Fouts reaggravated the injury and missed the finale. He went 5–5 as a starter, led the league in yards per game for the fifth straight year with 297.5, and made his fifth straight Pro Bowl. He threw 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions and produced a career-high 8.8 yards per attempt, while his completion percentage (63.2%) and passer rating (92.5) were both the second best marks of his career. San Diego started 4–2 in
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
, but faded from that point, finishing 7–9. Fouts had his fourth career 400-yard game in a Week 8 loss to the Raiders. In Week 12, he set career highs for attempts and completions, going 37 of 56 for 380 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception while leading the Chargers back from a 28–14 4th quarter deficit to a 34–28 overtime upset of
Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...
and the previously unbeaten
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...
. Fouts started the first thirteen games of the season, before injuring his groin and missing the remaining three. He went 6–7 as a starter, with 19 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. His yards per attempt slipped to 7.4, while his passer rating of 83.4 was his worst since 1979. Fouts still averaged 287.7 yards per game, but was eclipsed by Marino, who surpassed Fouts' single-season record with 5,084 passing yards and his run of five straight Pro Bowl appearances came to an end. In
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, the Chargers finished 8–8. The contrast between their offense and defense was stark, as they led the league in points scored, yards gained, first downs, passing yards and passing touchdowns, but were last in yards conceded, first downs conceded and passing yards conceded. As a result, Fouts took part in numerous high-scoring shootouts. In Week 2, he threw for 440 yards and 4 touchdowns; his backup
Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for the ...
added a further touchdown pass, but
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
had 5 of their own and won 49–35. The following week, Fouts passed for 344 yards and a further 4 touchdown, which was enough for a 44–41 win over
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. Fouts was knocked out of a Week 4 game in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
with knee ligament damage, and underwent
arthroscopic surgery Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the ...
to repair it. On his third start after returning, Fouts threw for 436 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 40–34 overtime win against the Raiders. It was the sixth 400-yard game of his career, a new NFL record. Fouts started the final game on the bench with a cracked
fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...
, though he did have a one-play cameo appearance, coming on to hand the ball off while Herrmann was winded. Fouts went 7–5 as a starter. Despite throwing no passes in his final appearance, he topped the league in yards per game for the sixth time in his career, with 259.9. His yards per attempt rebounded to 8.5, and he led the league in that category for the third time. He posted the best touchdown percentage in the league for the only time in his career, with 6.3% of his passes going for touchdowns. His touchdowns to interceptions ratio (27–20) and passer rating (88.1) were both improved after the previous year, and he earned a sixth Pro Bowl berth, as well as 2nd-Team All-Pro honors. Fouts nearly had three 1,000 receivers again, as Chandler and running back
Lionel James Lionel "Little Train" James (May 25, 1962 – February 25, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a running back for the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Auburn Tig ...
both reached the mark, while Joiner was short by 68 yards.
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...
began well for the Chargers, who defeated
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
50–28, with Fouts throwing 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. This was to prove both the last 3-touchdown game of Fouts' career, and the last win of the Don Coryell era. The Chargers lost their next seven games, with Fouts throwing 6 touchdowns and 19 interceptions before being sidelined by a pair of concussions. Coryell, who had been expected to stand down at the end of the season, instead announced his resignation on October 29, amid rumors that he had been pressured into the decision. Assistant coach
Al Saunders Alan Keith Saunders (born February 1, 1947) is an American football coach who most recently served as the senior offensive assistant for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). Personal life Saunders was born in the north Lo ...
was promoted to take his place. Fouts missed three games due to the concussions, and one more with a sore shoulder; he finished the season 3–9 as a starter, and saw a major drop in statistical performance. His touchdown total was less than his interception total (16–22) for the first time since 1977, his completion percentage of 58.6% was his worst since 1976, and his passer rating dropped to 71.4, his worst since 1975 and below the NFL average of 74.1.


1987: Final season and retirement

Fouts played one full season after Coryell's resignation. He entered 1987 without his longest serving receiver, Joiner retiring as the record-holder in career receptions and yards. The Chargers lost their first game and won their second before the season was interrupted by a players' strike, which caused the Week 3 games to be canceled and the following three weeks to feature teams made up largely of replacement players. While Fouts was not part of the players union and did not picket with his teammates, he nonetheless refused to play for the Chargers while the strike was ongoing, noting that he would be risking injury behind an inexperienced offensive line. The replacement Chargers won all three of their games, meaning that Fouts and the other regulars came back to a 4–1 team, standing atop the AFC West. In his first game back, Fouts completed 24 of 34 for 293 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions as San Diego beat the Chiefs 42–21. Three narrow victories followed, and the Chargers had a league-best 8–1 record. However, they lost all six of their remaining games while scoring only five offensive touchdowns, and missed the playoffs. Fouts played only briefly in the first of these defeats due to a calf injury, and missed the finale with a slightly torn rotator cuff. His 254th and final touchdown pass came in Week 14, a 15-yarder to James in the final quarter of a 20–16 loss to
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, while posting his 51st and final 300-yard game, a record at the time and almost double the next highest. The following week, he played his final game, a 20–7 home defeat to the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
. Fouts completed 22 of 37 passes for 257 yards, no touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He scored the only Chargers touchdown of the game himself, on a 1-yard run. Statistically, Fouts had a similar campaign to the previous year. He was 5–5 as a starter, throwing 10 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, while his passer rating dropped slightly to 70.0. He was sacked significantly more frequently, with 24 sacks occurring on 6.2% of pass attempts, his highest percentage since 1977. Fouts announced his retirement on March 24, 1988, at his home in
Rancho Santa Fe Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,156 at the 2020 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping block ...
. He cited the wear and tear on his body as the main reason. He was 36 years old at the time, and second only to
Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...
in terms of NFL career passing yards, trailing by about 4,000 yards despite attempting 863 fewer passes. Fouts ranked fourth in career passing touchdowns with 254. Reflecting on his career, he said, "We had so much confidence in what we were doing and we had a lot of fun."


Legacy and playing style

Fouts threw for 43,040 yards and 254 touchdowns while starting 171 games over fifteen seasons in San Diego. He rushed for 476 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Chargers retired his No. 14 jersey during a ceremony at
Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadi ...
on November 27, 1988, during halftime of a game against San Francisco. At the time, he was the only Charger to have his number retired. At the time of his retirement, Fouts was credited with 42 team records, as well as seven league records. San Diego found Fouts difficult to replace, as they made 14 quarterback changes in barely five seasons before settling on
Stan Humphries William Stanley Humphries (born April 14, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers.. He played high school football a ...
as a long-term starter. Several of Fouts' club records lasted well into the 21st century:
Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was sele ...
broke his career passing touchdowns record in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
and career passing yardage record in
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
, while Justin Herbert surpassed Fouts' 1981 single season passing yardage record 40 years later with the benefit of one extra regular season game. While he played five full seasons before the arrival of Coryell in San Diego, and a further one after he left, Fouts is primarily remembered as the quarterback of the Air Coryell offense, which led the league in passing yards seven times in an eight season span (1978-83, 1985). When Fouts was inducted into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
in 1993, he chose Coryell to present him, and stated during his acceptance speech that he would not have become a Hall of Fame quarterback without his former coach. Coryell described Fouts as a superior quarterback, writing "He had quick feet and could get back and make decisions. He wasn't afraid to pull the trigger and let the ball go." Fouts was able to make up to five reads before deciding on a pass target. Bill Walsh, who went on to be a Hall of Fame head coach after leaving San Diego, said "Dan Fouts had a cool, steel-like nerve and courage ... He took a lot of beatings, a lot of pounding, but continued to play, hurt or otherwise. He played more physical football than anybody on his team, including the linebackers". Fouts rarely used the
shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
, feeling more able to read defenses at the line. After taking the snap, he would drop back a shorter distance than most quarterbacks and often delay until the last second to give his receivers time to get open, tendencies that led him to take a number of hits throughout his career. Despite going to the playoffs from 1979 through 1982 and playing in two AFC Championship Games, the Chargers never went to the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
under Fouts. He frequently appears on lists of the best quarterbacks not to win a Super Bowl or play in one. The San Diego defense was often blamed for their defeats. While Fouts' offense remained consistently strong under Coryell, leading the league in total yardage five times in eight seasons from 1978-85, the defense dropped from 6th in 1980 to 27th in 1981, and remained in the bottom five for the next four seasons. This slump coincided with the trade of Dean, an All-Pro sack specialist, to the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
in a contract dispute. Dean would win UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year (while playing in only 11 games) that year en route to a Super Bowl victory and help the 49ers to another Super Bowl title three years later, and later be inducted into the Hall of Fame. "I can't say how much it affected us, because we did make it to the AFC championship game," said Chargers' All-Pro defensive lineman
Gary "Big Hands" Johnson Gary Lynn "Big Hands" Johnson (August 31, 1952 – August 4, 2010) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He was a four-time All-Pro and a four-time Pro Bowl selection. He p ...
of the loss of Dean. "But I could say if we had more pass rush from the corner, it might've been different." '' U-T San Diego'' in 2013 called the trade "perhaps the biggest blunder in franchise history."


NFL career statistics


Accomplishments


Honors

Fouts' jersey number 14 retired by the Chargers in 1988. At the time, he was the only Charger to have his number retired. He has been inducted into numerous
halls of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
in the years following his retirement. This began in 1989, when the
San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...
placed him in the Breitbard Hall of Fame, which honors San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface. In 1992, he was inducted into the University of Oregon Hall of Fame as one of the inaugural class, then the State of Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. Fouts was enshrined into the
Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
in 1993, his first year of eligibility. Later that year, he was inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame, together with Joiner. Fouts was named the 2nd-team quarterback for the
NFL 1980s All-Decade Team The NFL 1980s All-Decade Team was chosen by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team was composed of outstanding performers in the National Football League in the 1980s. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive and ...
in 1990, receiving 1 full vote out of 26. In 1999, he was ranked number 92 on ''
The Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
'' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. He was one of the twenty quarterbacks listed as finalists for the
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team The National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team was voted on by a panel consisting of media members, former players and league personnel in 2019 to honor the greatest players of the first 100 years of the National Football League (NFL ...
, though he was not among the ten who made the team. In 2009, Fouts was named by fans as the "Greatest Charger Of All Time" in voting for the Chargers 50th anniversary team.


NFL records

Following are NFL records set by Fouts, both active records and those since broke. Records highlighted in gold are still standing. Note that the succeeding record holder may not be the current holder.


Chargers records

Following are Chargers franchise records held by Fouts: * Passing yards per game, season: 320.3 (
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
) * Passing touchdowns, game: 6 (11/22/81 vs.
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
) * Passer rating, game (min 15 attempts): 158.3 (9/26/76 vs.
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
) * Passing touchdowns, playoff game: 3 (twice, tied with
Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was sele ...
) * Passing yards, playoff game: 433 (1/2/82 vs.
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, also 2nd, 3rd and 4th places with 336 and 333 (twice)) * Passing attempts, playoff game: 53 (1/2/82 vs. Miami) * Completions, playoff game: 33 (1/2/82 vs. Miami) * Interceptions, career: 242


Broadcasting


Television

While announcing his retirement, Fouts stated his desire to work as a commentator, starting from the upcoming 1988 season. He did an audition tape for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, working with Dick Stockton, and officially joined the ''
NFL on CBS The ''NFL on CBS'' is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that are produced by CBS Sports, the sports division of the CBS television network in the United States. The network has aired NFL game telecasts sinc ...
'' team as an analyst in March of that year. Over the course of the next six seasons, he was primarily partnered with
Verne Lundquist Merton Laverne Lundquist Jr. (born July 17, 1940) is an American sportscaster. Biography Early life and career Lundquist was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated from Austin High School in Austin, Texas, before attending Texas Lutheran U ...
. CBS were outbid by
Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...
and lost their NFL coverage rights in 1994. Fouts then switched to the CBS-affiliated
KPIX-TV KPIX-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to San Francisco, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's CBS network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW ...
in his hometown of San Francisco, where he worked as the sports director and a sports
anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
. In the fall of 1997, Fouts returned to network television as an analyst, this time working college football games for
ABC Sports 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 Televisi ...
alongside play-by-play man Brent Musburger. In 2000, Fouts moved into a commentary role on
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 ...
's ''
Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...
'', alongside ''MNF'' anchor
Al Michaels Alan Richard Michaels (born November 12, 1944) is an American television sportscaster currently working as the play-by-play announcer for '' Thursday Night Football'' on Prime Video and in an emeritus role for NBC Sports. He has worked on n ...
and comedian
Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a stri ...
. He had a three-year contract, but ABC dropped both Fouts and Miller from the show in 2002, after only two seasons. Fouts stayed with ABC, returning to college football and working alongside acclaimed veteran announcer Keith Jackson. After Jackson's retirement from ABC in 2006, Fouts partnered with Tim Brant. ABC declined to renew the contracts of either Fouts or Brant in 2008. It was reported in ''USA Today'' later that year that Fouts was returning to CBS for NFL games, where he would work with a variety of play-by-play announcers including
Don Criqui Don Criqui (born October 1, 1940) is an American sportscaster. He holds the record for longest-tenured NFL broadcaster in U.S. TV history, calling NFL football for 47 seasons (1967-2013) on NBC and CBS. Criqui's final NFL broadcast came on De ...
,
Bill Macatee Bill Macatee (born November 17, 1955) is an American sports broadcaster for CBS Sports and Tennis Channel. Early life and career Macatee was born in Rome, New York, and grew up in El Paso, Texas. He graduated from Burges High School in El Pas ...
and
Dick Enberg Richard Alan Enberg (January 9, 1935 – December 21, 2017) was an American sportscaster. Over the course of an approximately 60-year career, he provided play-by-play of various sports for several radio and television networks, including N ...
. In 2009, he was moved to partner with Enberg as the number 3 broadcasting team for the NFL on CBS.
Ian Eagle Ian Eagle ( ; born February 9, 1969) is an American sports announcer. He calls NBA, NFL, and college basketball games on CBS, TNT, and TBS, as well as Brooklyn Nets games on the YES Network and French Open tennis for Tennis Channel. Other ...
replaced Enberg as Fouts' partner the following season, and the new pair remained in the number three slot until 2014, when they were elevated to the number two team behind
Jim Nantz James William Nantz III (born May 17, 1959) is an American sportscaster who has worked on telecasts of the National Football League (NFL), NCAA Division I men's basketball, the NBA and the PGA Tour for CBS Sports since the 1980s. He has ancho ...
and
Phil Simms Phillip Martin Simms (born November 3, 1955) is an American former football quarterback who spent his entire 15-year professional career playing for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He is currently a television sport ...
(and later,
Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...
). Fouts and Eagle were often called "The Bird and the Beard". While with CBS, Fouts also covered Chargers preseason games carried throughout Southern California. In April 2020 it was announced that CBS had parted ways with Fouts.


Other media

In 1998, Fouts made his big-screen debut, portraying himself in the football comedy ''
The Waterboy ''The Waterboy'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film directed by Frank Coraci. It was written by Adam Sandler as well as Tim Herlihy and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. Sandler also stars as the title character while Kathy B ...
'', starring
Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1995, before going on to star in numerous Hollywood films, those of wh ...
. Fouts and Musburger appeared late in the film as ABC Sports' broadcast team for the fictitious New Year's Day "Bourbon Bowl" game. Fouts did
color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...
for the football video game '' NFL GameDay 2004'', released in 2003. He partnered with long-time announcer Enberg. During his second stint at CBS, Fouts also called NFL games for
Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and ...
radio, including
Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...
.


Life outside football

Fouts married his first wife, public health major Julianne Mehl, in 1977. The pair had met at the University of Oregon. They later divorced, and Fouts was married for the second time in 1994, to Jeri Martin. He had two children from the first marriage and two from the second. His first son Dominic died of cancer in 2012. The family set up the Dominic Fouts Memorial Cancer Fund, with Dan Fouts as an adviser. He lives with his wife in
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, the state of his alma mater, in a two-story home he had constructed from logs in the 1970s. The house is situated in the mountains near
Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
. Described as a private person away from football, Fouts enjoyed fishing, skiing and racquetball during his playing career. He is also a keen golfer, who has appeared at numerous charity events.


See also

*
Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a 501(c)(3) organization, section 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Comme ...
*
List of National Football League annual pass completion percentage leaders This is a list of National Football League quarterbacks who have led the regular season in pass completion percentage each year. The record for completion percentage in a season is held by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints who completed 74.4% of ...


Notes


References


External links

* * * Pro Football Hall of Fame
Member profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fouts, Dan 1951 births Living people American atheists American Conference Pro Bowl players American football quarterbacks College football announcers National Football League announcers National Football League Offensive Player of the Year Award winners National Football League players with retired numbers Oregon Ducks football players People from Sisters, Oregon Players of American football from San Francisco Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees San Diego Chargers players