Joe Zuger (born February 25, 1940) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

player. He played his entire professional career with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League 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 ...

(CFL). He was selected in the 18th round (248th overall) by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in the

1962 NFL Draft The 1962 National Football League draft was held on December 4, 1961 at the Sheraton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. The Washington Redskins used the first overall pick of the draft to select running back Ernie Davis, then subsequently traded him ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

College career

Zuger attended

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

, between 1959 and 1961, where he excelled on offence, defence and as a punter. As

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 ...

, he compiled a 24–7 record in three years as a starter. He also played defensive back and punter. During his senior season in 1961, Zuger completed 67-of-133 passes (50.4%) for 879 yards and eight touchdowns, and led the team and ranked among the nationally with 10 interceptions (the third best single-season mark in ASU history), and had a 42.1-yard punting average. He has been inducted into the Arizona State University Sports Hall of Fame.

CFL playing career

Drafted by the

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 ...

in the 18th round (248th overall) Zuger came to Canada for what would be a ten-year career (1962 to 1971) with the

. In 1962, 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, Zuger shared

duties with

Frank Cosentino Frank Cosentino (born May 22, 1937) is a former Canadian football quarterback in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and a former head coach in University football. He played professionally for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Edmonton Eskimos and Toron ...

, as the #1 starter,

Bernie Faloney Bernie Faloney (June 15, 1932 – June 14, 1999) was a professional football player in the Canadian Football League (primarily with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats) and an outstanding American college football player at the University of Maryland. Born in ...

, was injured.Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Volume 4, p.490, Bob Ferguson, Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd., Markham, ON and Allston, MA, Zuger turned heads immediately when in his very first game as the starting quarterback he threw for a team record 572 passing yards and a league record eight touchdown passes in a 67–21 win over the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. That year, Zuger completed 55.7% of his 113 passes for 1,070 yards and had a 15-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In addition, he intercepted four passes as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and was the regular punter with a 43.3 yard average. With Faloney back in 1963, Zuger became a full-time

and had five interceptions. Injuries limited Zuger to just eight games in 1964, and in 1965, with the trading of Faloney to Montreal, Zuger moved back to the quarterback position, sharing duties with Cosentino again, as well as in 1966, before taking over as the sole #1 quarterback in 1967 and leading Hamilton to victory in the

55th Grey Cup The 55th Grey Cup was played between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Saskatchewan Roughriders on December 2, 1967, at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, before 31,358 fans and was won by the Tiger-Cats by a score of 24–1. Box Score First Quarter Ham ...

game against Saskatchewan, named as the

Grey Cup Most Valuable Player The Grey Cup's Most Valuable Player (MVP) award is awarded annually since 1959 to the player of the winning team who deemed to have had the best performance in the Grey Cup Game, the Canadian Football League's championship game. This award is prese ...

. That year and 1968 were Zuger's best as quarterback, both with over 300 pass attempts and passing for 2,771 and 2,616 yards, respectively. Injuries cut Zuger back to 11 games in 1969 and nine in 1970. In his final season, in 1971, Zuger returned to play all 14 games, completing 48.6% of his 265 passes for 1,632 yards, but he had a bad 8-19 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Zuger, as a punter recorded a league record 45.5-yard punting average over his career. Three times, he averaged over 48 yards-per-punt over a season and had punts of over 80 yards at least four times, including one of 85 yards in 1968. He played in five

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

games, winning three (1963, 1965, 1967).

Post-playing CFL career

Zuger would later serve in Hamilton's front office. In 1981, he was appointed as General Manager, a position he served for over a decade.

References

External links

CFL statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuger, Joe 1940 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arizona State Sun Devils football players Canadian football quarterbacks Hamilton Tiger-Cats general managers Hamilton Tiger-Cats players People from Homestead, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the Pittsburgh metropolitan area