Paul Brian McDonald (born February 23, 1958) 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 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 ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. 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 ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

, earning second-team All-American honors in 1979.

Early years

McDonald attended

Bishop Amat Memorial High School Bishop Amat Memorial High School is a co-ed Catholic high school serving the San Gabriel Valley in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and was founded in 1957. The campus is located in La Puente, California, approximately east of dow ...

. He received All-state honors in football as a senior. He accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. As a true freshman, he was the third-string quarterback behind

Vince Evans Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...

and

Rob Hertel Robert Alden Hertel (born February 21, 1955) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC ...

. As a sophomore, he was promoted to backup quarterback behind Hertel after Evans graduated. As a junior, he was named the starter at quarterback after Hertel graduated. He was part of a backfield that included

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Charles White and

Lynn Cain Lynn Dwight Cain (born October 16, 1955) is a Head Football Coach and retired American football running back in the National Football League. College career After winning All Eastern League Defensive Back with the Roosevelt Roughriders in High S ...

, which helped the team capture a share of the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

with the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

in the 1978 season. He passed for 1,690 yards (led the Pac-10), 19 touchdowns (tied school record), 7 interceptions and led the NCAA in pass efficiency with a rating of 152.8. His only loss in his two years as a starter was against

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 ...

in 1978. Injuries to the Trojans' top two

centers Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

led to several fumbled snaps that opened the door for Sun Devil and future

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 ...

quarterback

Mark Malone Mark M. Malone (born November 22, 1958) is an American former football quarterback in the NFL. Playing career Malone was the nation's most recruited quarterback in 1975 out of El Cajon Valley High School near San Diego, California. He also w ...

to win 20-7. He was a senior in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and he played in a backfield that included future

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winners White and

Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal line and short-y ...

. He posted 2,223 passing yards, 18 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. He led the team to a 17-16 win against

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, after it entered the

1980 Rose Bowl The 1980 Rose Bowl was It was the 66th edition of the college football bowl game, played on Tuesday, January 1, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The USC Trojans, champions of the Pacific-10 Conference, defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, ...

as the number one ranked team in the nation. He finished sixth in the 1979

voting. He was known for his poise and as a winner, finishing his college career with a 22-1-1 record, holding the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

mark for the lowest interception percentage in a career at 2.3% (13 interceptions in 561 attempts) and the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

record of 143 straight passes without an interception. In 2005, he received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

McDonald was selected by the

in the fourth round (109th overall) of the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 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, 1980, at the New York She ...

. He was a backup behind quarterback

Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word meani ...

in his first 4 seasons. In

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

, he replaced Sipe (who was suffering from a sore throwing arm) in the last three games of the strike-shortened season, posting a 2-1 record and helping the team make the playoffs that had been expanded to 16 teams. He started in the first round of the playoffs, which resulted in a 27-10 loss against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, after throwing for 281 yards and 1 touchdown with no interceptions. Sipe won back the starting job the next season. In

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, Sipe regained his starting job and McDonald returned to his backup role. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

, Sipe signed with the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

of the

United States Football League 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 ...

and the Browns gave the starting job to McDonald, who decided to stay in the

, despite also receiving offers to move.

Defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

Marty Schottenheimer Martin Edward Schottenheimer (; September 23, 1943 – February 8, 2021) was an American football linebacker and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) from 1984 to 2006. He was the head coach of the Kansas City ...

took over the Browns head coaching job halfway through the season. McDonald had a 5-11 record after enduring 53 sacks and registering 3,472 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, he had a career-high 320 passing yards on 23 out of 37 attempts (62.2%) and one touchdown. Against 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 ...

, he tallied a career-high 75% completion percentage (18 out of 24). Against the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

, he completed 13 straight passes. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, the team traded for veteran

Gary Danielson Gary Dennis Danielson (born September 10, 1951) is an American college football commentator and former professional American football player. Danielson was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Detroit Lions from ...

and selected

Bernie Kosar Bernard Joseph Kosar Jr. (born November 25, 1963) is a former American football quarterback who played collegiately at the University of Miami where he led the team to a national championship in 1983. He subsequently played professionally in ...

in the first round of the

NFL Supplemental Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, which dropped McDonald to third-string quarterback. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, the team traded for

Mike Pagel Michael Jonathan Pagel (born September 13, 1960) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the fourth round of the 1982 NFL Draft. A 6'2", quarterback from Arizona State, Pagel played in 12 NFL ...

, who passed McDonald on the depth chart, causing him to be waived on June 26. He left the Browns after passing for 5,269 yards, 24 touchdowns and 37 interceptions.

Seattle Seahawks

On July 16,

, he signed as a

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 ...

with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. On August 26, he was released after the team opted to keep only two quarterbacks.

Dallas Cowboys

On November 4,

, he was signed by the

as a

to be the third-string

, after starter

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compass Media Networks' ...

was lost for the season with a broken right wrist he suffered during the 14-17 loss against the

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

. He reunited with pass offense coordinator Paul Hackett, who was one of his coaches with the Trojans and the Browns. McDonald also became the first left hander quarterback to make the team in franchise history. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, he beat rookie Kevin Sweeney for the third-string quarterback job, leading the team with a 92.0 quarterback rating in pre-season. The players went on a strike in the third week of the season. Earlier games were canceled, reducing the 16 game season to 15 games. The

decided that the games were going to be played with replacement players. Sweeney was signed to be a part of the

replacement team. Sweeney had success, and he was kept on the roster for the rest of the year along with McDonald. On August 23,

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

, he was released without playing a down in his time with the team.

Personal life

McDonald went into business after football, working as a Financial Consultant for Merrill Lynch, Vice President for Wells Fargo Bank and Senior Vice President at Fidelity National Title Insurance Company. McDonald did

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

color commentary A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and the ...

for

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

games and lives in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

. He received the award for being the best radio color analyst given yearly by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association in 2002 and 2004. He co-authored the book ''Thru the Tunnel: True Stories of Sports and Life That Empower Your Spirit'' (2022). The book was used to launch GameChange, a sports media and personal empowerment education company that McDonald co-founded with Jack Baric, an Emmy Award winning filmmaker. The company website is gamechangenation.com. McDonald and Baric first met when they collaborated on ''A City Divided'', a documentary film about the USC vs. UCLA football rivalry, which was used as a catalyst of "Rivals United for a Kure," a campaign to raise funds for cancer research. His son Mike, was the third-string quarterback for the USC Trojans behind

John David Booty John David Booty (born January 3, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Booty also played for the Tennessee Titans a ...

and

Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...

, during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He also was a part of two national championship teams. McDonald's middle son, Andrew played quarterback at New Mexico State (2012-2013). His youngest son, Matt, started at quarterback for three years at Bowling Green (2020-2022) after seeing limited playing time for Boston College in 2017-2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Paul 1958 births Living people People from La Puente, California Sportspeople from Montebello, California Players of American football from Los Angeles County, California American football quarterbacks USC Trojans football players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players USC Trojans football announcers Bishop Amat Memorial High School alumni