Eric Royce Zeier (born September 6, 1972) is a former

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 his six years in the NFL, he played for the

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(1995),

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

(1996–1998), and the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

(1999–2000). He is a former record-setting quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate at the University of Georgia, where he set 67 school records and 18 S.E.C. records. In 1994, he became the most prolific passer in the history of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

as well as only the third quarterback in

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history to throw for more than 11,000 yards in his career. He earned All-Academic S.E.C. honors in 1992 and 1993 and was named UGA Team Captain in 1993 and 1994. Zeier continues his affiliation with UGA by serving as the color analyst at away games for the University of Georgia Bulldogs radio network and during the Tailgate Show and half time during home games. He currently resides in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia.

Career history

High school

Zeier started his career at Heidelberg American High School in Heidelberg, Germany in the fall of 1988 where he led them to a championship his sophomore year. He played point guard for the varsity basketball team and short stop for the varsity baseball team as well. His father coached the baseball team and was a

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

in the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. The family made a strategic move to Marietta, Georgia in 1990 transferring to Marietta High School in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth larges ...

. His #15 jersey was retired at the school.

College

After graduating from Marietta, Zeier attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. Zeier was one of the first notable

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

players to graduate ahead of his class so as to attend his college early and join the football team for spring practices, enrolling in January 1991. At Georgia, he compiled a 26-14-1 record as a starter. He made his debut as a

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

, a game Georgia won 27-12. Zeier went on to start the final seven games of his freshman season and started every game during his final three seasons at Georgia. His tenure included a 4-0 record against

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, a victory in the 1991

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

over

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, and a victory in the 1993 Citrus Bowl over

Ohio State 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 public ...

. Zeier finished his college career with 67 school records and 18

records. He became the SEC's all-time passing leader with 11,153 yards—a record which has been surpassed only by Peyton Manning and UGA's own David Greene and Aaron Murray. In 1993, his junior season, Zeier threw for 544 yards against

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

, a school record. In 1994, Zeier was named the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

First-team All-American quarterback. Over his four years at Georgia, Zeier completed 877 of 1461 attempts for 11,153 yards, 67 touchdowns, and 37 interceptions.

NFL

Zeier was selected by the

in the third round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Over the next six years he went from Cleveland to the Baltimore Ravens to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and finally back home to the Atlanta Falcons.

Broadcasting

Zeier has returned to the University of Georgia to take over the duty of color analyst on all away games.ESPN - Georgia football won't sound the same without Munson - College Football
/ref> He, along with Scott Howard, is taking the place of long time Georgia announcer Larry Munson. Eric made his first radio start on September 22, 2007 when Georgia played Alabama in which Georgia won in an overtime victory. Eric was heard on the Tailgate Show and halftime during the home games with Loran Smith and Neil "Hondo" Williamson.

References

External links

Former UGA star to lead health-care network

Team Doctors Press Release

Atlanta Business - Lunch with a VIP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeier, Eric 1972 births Living people American football quarterbacks Baltimore Ravens players Cleveland Browns players Georgia Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Pensacola, Florida Tampa Bay Buccaneers players