Gary Ray Kerkorian (January 14, 1930 – May 22, 2000) was an

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenians, Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after A ...

football

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 four seasons in 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).

College career

Born into an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

family, Kerkorian attended Inglewood High School in Los Angeles County, and then was a quarterback at Stanford University, where he was a three-year starter. At the end of his senior season of 1951, he held every Stanford passing record and was named a first-team All-American, leading the Indians to a 9-1 record, the Pac-8 championship, and a Rose Bowl berth. He is a member of the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame.

NFL career

He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the

1952 NFL Draft The 1952 National Football League Draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick d ...

, and saw duty as both a quarterback and placekicker. He was traded to the Baltimore Colts and emerged as the starting quarterback for the 1954 season, though the Colts' record was a dismal 3-9. The Colts won the lottery bonus pick for the

1955 NFL Draft The 1955 National Football League draft was held January 27–28, 1955 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City. This was the ninth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery. With the previous eight winners ineligib ...

, giving them the first overall draft pick. They selected George Shaw, a quarterback 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 ...

, and Kerkorian was soon relegated to backup duty. (Coincidentally, Shaw was the younger brother of Tom Shaw, whom Kerkorian had replaced as starting Stanford quarterback in 1949.) The following year, the Colts acquired rookie Johnny Unitas, and Kerkorian slipped to third string.

Rugby

Between the 1952 and 1953 NFL seasons, Kerkorian toured with the

United States national rugby league team The United States national rugby league team represents the United States in international rugby league football competitions. The team is managed by the USA Rugby League (USARL). The United States competed with little success in some interna ...

to Australia, where he played the 5/8 position and kicked many goals.

After football

Kerkorian left football after the 1955 season to attend law school at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. After an injury to Unitas in 1958, the Colts called Kerkorian back from law school as a possible replacement, but he did not play. Kerkorian worked as an attorney in California, and was named a Superior Court Judge in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

in 1990. He retired in January 2000, and died a few months later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerkorian, Gary 1930 births 2000 deaths American football placekickers American football quarterbacks American rugby league players Baltimore Colts players Ethnic Armenian sportspeople American people of Armenian descent Georgetown University Law Center alumni Inglewood High School (California) alumni Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Los Angeles Stanford Cardinal football players United States national rugby league team players