Michael Jay Boryla (born March 6, 1951) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1970s. 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 ...

Stanford University 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 consider ...

, where he was the team's MVP during his senior season in

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

and was first-team All-Pacific-8. Selected by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

in the fourth round of the

1974 NFL draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers to have h ...

, Boryla was soon traded to the Eagles for first- and sixth-round draft picks after Cincinnati acquired another quarterback in Wayne Clark; Boryla had threatened to defect to the new

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

if not traded. The move reunited Boryla with Eagles head coach

Mike McCormack Michael or Mike McCormack may refer to: * Michael McCormack (Australian politician) (born 1964), Australian politician and former Deputy Prime Minister (2018-2021) * Michael McCormack (judge) (born 1939), justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court * Mich ...

, who worked with him at that year's Senior Bowl. Boryla spent much of his tenure in Philadelphia sharing quarterbacking duties with veteran Roman Gabriel. 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. ...

, he was named to the Pro Bowl roster despite losing the starting job partway through the season opener and throwing for just 996 passing yards, six touchdowns, and twelve interceptions. Boryla, who had planned to attend the New York University School of Law, was approached by the NFL to play in the game in New Orleans as other

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

quarterbacks were injured and declined their invitations. He threw two touchdown passes in the final minutes of the Monday night game at the Louisiana Superdome, including a trick play he created called the "Boryla Special", to lead the NFC to a 23–20 win. Boryla started ten games for the Eagles 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 ...

before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. After missing the year with a knee injury (which head coach John McKay called "the most devastating single blow we've had"), he played one more game in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

before ending his playing career. After retiring, he attended the Stetson University College of Law before becoming a lawyer and mortgage banker in Denver. In 2014, Boryla made his professional acting debut at

Plays and Players Theatre Plays and Players Theatre, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest professional theater companies in the United States, founded in 1911. The theater building was designed and constructed in 1912 by Philadelphia architect Amos W. Bar ...

in Philadelphia performing ''The Disappearing Quarterback'', a one-man autobiographical theatrical performance that includes history, wit, and thinly veiled opinions regarding professional sports concussions. His father

Vince Boryla Vincent Joseph Boryla (March 11, 1927 – March 27, 2016) was an American basketball player, coach and executive. His nickname was "Moose". He graduated from East Chicago Washington High School in 1944. He played basketball at the University of N ...

was an

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

player and executive; he also acted as his

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

during his NFL career.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boryla, Mike 1951 births Living people American football quarterbacks American people of Polish descent National Conference Pro Bowl players Sportspeople from Rockville Centre, New York Players of American football from Nassau County, New York Philadelphia Eagles players Stetson University College of Law alumni Stanford Cardinal football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players