Jack Francis Trudeau (born September 9, 1962) is a former professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and morning show co-host on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an American sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports division and iHeartMedia, parent company ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the second round of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. A

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 ...

from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, Trudeau played ten

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

seasons from 1986 to 1995.

Early life

Trudeau was born in

Forest Lake, Minnesota Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, United States, located 27 miles northeast of Saint Paul. The population was 20,611 at the 2020 census. The 2021 population is 20,608. History Forest Lake began as a stop on the St. Paul ...

. He graduated from Granada High School in

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

College

Trudeau was the starting quarterback of the

Illinois Fighting Illini football The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of ...

team from 1983-85, his sophomore through senior years. As a sophomore, he helped the Illini become the first and only Big Ten team to beat all nine conference opponents in a single season. The Illini went to the

1984 Rose Bowl The 1984 Rose Bowl game, played on Monday, January 2, was the 70th edition. The unranked UCLA Bruins upset the #4 Illinois Fighting Illini by a score of 45–9. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA quarterback, was named the Player of the Game.Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...

for the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Co ...

, given to the top college quarterback in the nation.

NFL career

During his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, Trudeau started eleven games - all Colts' losses. After splitting time with

Gary Hogeboom Gary Keith Hogeboom (born August 21, 1958) is an American former football quarterback, real estate developer, and television personality. He played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Phoenix Cardinals. ...

and

Blair Kiel Blair Armstrong Kiel (November 29, 1961 – April 8, 2012) was a four-year starting quarterback and punter for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, from 1980 to 1983. He played professionally for several teams in the National Football ...

in 1987, Trudeau led the Colts to three wins in their final four games and the franchise's first playoff appearance since moving to Indianapolis in 1984. He started the Colts' 38-21 Divisional Round loss in Cleveland, throwing two touchdown passes in the defeat. In 1988, he played in just two games as Chris Chandler supplanted him under center. Trudeau had his best season as a pro in 1989, starting twelve games and throwing for career-highs in yards (2,317) and touchdowns (15) en route to being named the Colts' Offensive MVP. However, in the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

, the Colts traded with Atlanta to select Indianapolis native

Jeff George Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

with the first overall pick, and George began that next season as the starter. Over the next four seasons, Trudeau made only fourteen more starts and was mostly a backup. During the 1994 season, Trudeau signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

to back up

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He was selected in th ...

. When Esiason went down with an injury early in the season, Trudeau started two games - including one against the Colts, his former team. Trudeau was selected by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the 1995 NFL Expansion Draft to become the third-string quarterback behind

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich Jr. (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Buffalo Bills. He played college football at Maryland a ...

and

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panthers, New York Giants, ...

in the team's inaugural season. After appearing in just one game with Carolina, Trudeau retired following the 1995 season. Trudeau finished his ten-year NFL career with 10,243 passing yards, 42 touchdowns, 69 interceptions, and a 63.3 passer rating in 67 games.

Personal life

He and his ex-wife Lisa have a daughter (Danielle) and three sons (John, Beau, and Trey). His brother Kevin was drafted at age 18 as a pitcher for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

organization. After retiring from football, Jack Trudeau invested to be a co-owner of Wolf Run Golf Club in Indiana. . He was a weekly guest on

The Bob and Tom Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, broadcast out of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, for many seasons, discussing the Colts and other happenings in the NFL.

Radio career

In 2010, Trudeau began hosting a local sports talk morning show with

Zakk Tyler Zakk Tyler or Zakk (born Dominic Joseph Zaccagnini) is an American Multi-Media Manager, Sports, News and Talk Show Personality. Radio career Upon graduation from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1990) he began his career in Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

WNDE WNDE (1260 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is owned by iHeartMedia with the broadcast license held by iHM Licenses, LLC. WNDE broadcasts a sports radio format, with some afternoon talk programs, including ''The ...

in Indianapolis. The next year, the show (called ''Zakk and Jack'') was picked up for national syndication by

to replace the departing

Stephen A. Smith Stephen Anthony Smith (born ) is an American sports television personality, sports radio host, and sports journalist. He is a commentator on ESPN's ''First Take'', where he appears with Molly Qerim. He also makes frequent appearances as an N ...

. The show was cancelled by FSR later that same year, as the pair were replaced by Andy Furman and former NFL defensive back

Artrell Hawkins Artrell Hawkins, Jr. (born November 24, 1976) is a former American football player of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played college football at Cincinnati. Hawk ...

. Trudeau was involved in a controversial exchange in August 2011 with then first-year

Indiana Hoosiers football The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers have played their home games at Memorial Stadium since 1960 ...

head coach Kevin Wilson. During the interview, Wilson responded to Trudeau's mocking of Indiana's football team by pointing out the former quarterback's criminal history.

DUI Arrest

Trudeau was arrested for his second DUI in Indiana in July 2015 along with allegations of intimidating a police officer after testing 0.31 on a breath test and threatening to kill an Indiana officer. He was arrested previously in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trudeau, Jack 1962 births Living people People from Forest Lake, Minnesota Sportspeople from the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area People from Livermore, California Sportspeople from Alameda County, California Players of American football from California American football quarterbacks Illinois Fighting Illini football players Indianapolis Colts players New York Jets players Carolina Panthers players