John Charles Fourcade, Jr. (born October 11, 1960) 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 wi ...
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 ...
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 ...
for 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 recent head coach of the
New Mexico Stars
The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Stars played their home games at the Santa Ana Star Center.
They began play in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2012 season as an e ...
of
American Indoor Football
American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...
. Fourcade was the most valuable player of the 1982
Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...
after passing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He had gained 6,713 yards at
Ole Miss from 1978–1981, breaking the career record of
Archie Manning
Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints. He played for the Saints from 1971 to 1982 and al ...
.
Professional career
Fourcade played as an
undrafted 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 ...
in four games as a backup to
Joe Paopao for the
British Columbia Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place.
The Lions played their first season ...
in 1983. As a career journeyman quarterback, he played for the 1984
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...
(
CFL
The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
) and the 1985
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the mo ...
(
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 ...
) before being signed as a free agent by the
New York Giants in May 1986. He then played for the 1987
Denver Dynamite in the
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
. In 1987, he led the Saints to a 2-1 replacement game record and made the regular roster. Over his career, Fourcade passed for 2,312 yards in 24 games for the Saints, with a passer rating of 70.1. He was waived by the Saints in July 1991. In 1993, he played for the
Miami Hooters of the AFL. In 2001, he was the general manager, head coach and played in the
National Indoor Football League
The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...
for the
Mississippi Fire Dogs
The Mississippi Fire Dogs were a professional indoor American football team based in Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They p ...
.
Coaching career
Prior to playing for the Saints in the replacement games, J. Fourcade was the QB coach at John Ehret High School, Marrero La. From 1986–1987. At John Ehret, Fourcade coached Kordell "Slash" Stewart. Fourcade played with the 1994
Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL), and Coached the 1995 Miami Hooters (AFL), the 1999-2000
Mississippi Fire Dogs
The Mississippi Fire Dogs were a professional indoor American football team based in Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They p ...
(
IPFL
The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner, ...
), the 2001
Mobile Seagulls/
Louisiana Bayou Beast
The Louisiana Bayou Beast were a team in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 1999, and reincarnated in 2001 in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL). The Bayou Beast fran ...
(NIFL), the 2002
Florida Firecats
The Florida Firecats were a professional arena football team based in Estero, Florida. They played in the AF2, the Arena Football League's developmental league, from 2001 to 2009. They did not join the AFL following the leagues' reorganization i ...
(
af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
), the 2003-2004
Columbus Wardogs (af2), the 2005
Tupelo FireAnts
Tupelo , genus ''Nyssa'' , is a small genus of deciduous trees with alternate, simple leaves. It is sometimes included in the subfamily Nyssoideae of the dogwood family, Cornaceae, but is placed by other authorities in the family Nyssaceae. In ...
(
UIF) and the 2006
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (
af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...
).
In the 2007 season, Fourcade was the head coach of the
IFL IFL may refer to:
;American football
*Intense Football League, (2004–2008) in the United States, merged into the Indoor Football League
*Indoor Football League, (2008–present) in the United States
*Intercontinental Football League, a European l ...
's
Fairbanks Grizzlies
The Fairbanks Grizzlies were a professional indoor football team based in Fairbanks, Alaska. The team was a member of the Pacific Division of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Grizzlies began play in 2008 as a member ...
in
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...
.
In the 2008 season, he led the
Acadiana Mudbugs to the SIFL's first playoffs and finished the season 6-6. For the 2010 season, he was fired after the team's opening game loss (they had since been renamed the
Lafayette Wildcatters
The Lafayette Wildcatters were a professional indoor football team based in Lafayette, Louisiana and a charter member of the Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL). They played their home games at the Cajundome, the Wildcatters are Lafayette's s ...
) and replaced by ex-Arena League and Af2 Coach
Skip Foster.
On August 20, 2009, it was announced that Fourcade would be the head coach of the
Rio Grande Valley Magic
The Rio Grande Valley Magic were a professional indoor football team based in Hidalgo, Texas. The Magic were charter members of the Lone Star Football League (LSFL) in 2012, after playing as an expansion team in the Southern Indoor Football League ...
SIFL team for its inaugural 2010 season.
John Fourcade has since left the SIFL and first moved on to the new Lone Star Football League, in which he was the head coach of the
Rio Grande Valley Magic
The Rio Grande Valley Magic were a professional indoor football team based in Hidalgo, Texas. The Magic were charter members of the Lone Star Football League (LSFL) in 2012, after playing as an expansion team in the Southern Indoor Football League ...
in the 2011 season.
On December 26, 2015 John Fourcade was announced as head coach of the Louisiana Cottonmouths indoor football team, but the team folded without ever competing before the season began.
In April 2016, Fourcade was named the head coach of the
New Mexico Stars
The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Stars played their home games at the Santa Ana Star Center.
They began play in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2012 season as an e ...
, an
indoor football team.
Broadcasting career
Fourcade currently serves as an NFL football analyst for
WDSU
WDSU (channel 6) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Howard Avenue in the city's Central Business District, and its transmitt ...
(NBC) New Orleans.
On September 5, 2013, the "John Fourcade Show presented by Ray Brandt" will premiere on WHNO TV (
LeSEA Broadcasting) in the New Orleans area. John Fourcade will join with host Mike Detillier to discuss upcoming Saints, NFL, and LSU action. The show will be shot on location at featured Ray Brandt automotive dealerships.
Personal life
Fourcade once dated
Marla Maples
Marla Ann Maples (born October 27, 1963) is an American actress, television personality, model, singer and presenter. She was the second wife of Donald Trump. They married in 1993, two months after the birth of their daughter Tiffany, and div ...
.
[ ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourcade, John
1960 births
Living people
People from Gretna, Louisiana
American football quarterbacks
Archbishop Shaw High School alumni
Players of American football from Louisiana
Ole Miss Rebels football players
American players of Canadian football
Canadian football quarterbacks
BC Lions players
Winnipeg Blue Bombers players
Denver Dynamite (arena football) players
New Orleans Saints players
Miami Hooters players
Arena Football League coaches
Memphis Showboats players
Florida Bobcats coaches
Af2 coaches
Florida Firecats coaches
Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings coaches
National Football League replacement players