Jerry Byron Rhome (born March 6, 1942) 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 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

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 divi ...

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 (A ...

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 a ...

and Los Angeles Rams. He closed out his professional career with the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

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 played college football at the University of Tulsa.

Early years

Rhome attended Sunset High School in Texas, where he played football for his father.

Byron Rhome Byron Cogdell Rhome (January 11, 1906 – April 24, 1992) was an American football, basketball, and track and field, track coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Texas Wesleyan College—now known as Te ...

. He also practiced

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , ...

. He became a starter at

as a sophomore, registering 74 completions (led the conference) out of 129 attempts (second in the conference) for 693 yards (second in the conference), one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

and 6 interceptions. In 1961, he transferred to the University of Tulsa after a 2-7-1 football season, and hence the firing of Head Coach

Bill Meek William Meridas Meek (August 14, 1920 – May 28, 1998)''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University (1947 ...

. In 1963 after sitting out a year, Rhome starred at Tulsa, passing for 1,909 yards, 10 touchdowns, and suffering 13 interceptions. He improved as a senior, with 2,870 passing yards, 32 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions, while leading the nation in total offense (3,128 yards). He finished second in the voting for the Heisman Trophy -- to

John Huarte John Gregory Huarte (born April 6, 1944) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and won the 1964 Heisman Trophy. He then played profes ...

of Notre Dame -- in one of the closest elections ever recorded. Rhome held a number of

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 ...

records, including the largest number of

s in a game, in a season, and the most consecutive passes without an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

in a football season and in his career. Rhome also won the

Sammy Baugh Trophy The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More ...

in 1964, and had his Number 17 jersey retired by the school. In 1984, he was inducted into the University of Tulsa Athletic Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He also was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas High School Hall of Fame, the Inaugural Class of the Dallas Independent School District Athletic Hall of Fame and the Sunset High School Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Knowing that he had one more year of eligibility, the

selected him in the thirteenth round (172nd overall) of the

1964 NFL Draft The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL ...

with a future draft pick, as would the New York Jets in the 25th round (195th overall) of the 1964 AFL Draft. Rhome began his professional career in 1965 as the third quarterback behind

Don Meredith Joseph "Dandy" Don Meredith (April 10, 1938 – December 5, 2010) was an American football quarterback, sports commentator, and actor. He spent all nine seasons of his professional playing career (1960–1968) with the Dallas Cowboys of the Nat ...

and

Craig Morton Larry Craig Morton (born February 5, 1943) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. He played college football at California, ...

; he got a chance to start one game that same year against the

(17-23 loss). He would serve in a backup role until the start of the 1969 season when

Roger Staubach Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...

joined the team, and at his request the Cowboys traded Rhome to the

in exchange for a third round draft choice, later used to select

Charlie Waters Charlie Tutan Waters (born September 10, 1948) is a former American football player, a safety in the National Football League for twelve seasons, all with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Clemson University. Early years Born in M ...

in the

1970 NFL Draft The 1970 National Football League Draft was the 35th National Football League Draft and the first of the league's modern era, following the merger of the National Football League with the American Football League. It was held on January 27–28, ...

Cleveland Browns

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, although Rhome was a backup to Bill Nelsen, the information he provided about the Cowboys offense helped the Browns beat them in a 38-14 Conference Championship playoff win. On January 27,

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, he was traded to the

in exchange for a third round draft choice, that they gave back to the

in payment for their original trade.

Houston Oilers

Rhome would only play as a backup for the

for a year. On August 17, 1971, he was waived after the team decided to keep rookies

Dan Pastorini Dante Anthony Pastorini (born May 26, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, primarily with the Houston Oilers. He played college football at Santa Clara University and wa ...

and

Lynn Dickey Clifford Lynn Dickey (born October 19, 1949) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Kansas State and was sele ...

, to back up starter

Charley Johnson Charley Lane Johnson (born November 22, 1938) is a former American football quarterback and retired professor of chemical engineering. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 years with three teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Houst ...

Los Angeles Rams

On August 19, 1971, he was claimed off the waiver wire by the Los Angeles Rams, where he was a backup for one year. On August 24,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, he was released after the Rams acquired quarterback

Pete Beathard Peter Falconer Beathard ( ;

Montreal Alouettes (CFL)

In October

, he signed with the

of the

. On December 18, he announced his retirement.

Coaching life

After he finished his pro playing career, Rhome became an assistant coach at the University of Tulsa. Next, his first of many NFL coaching jobs was with the Seattle Seahawks. Then while with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, he earned a Super Bowl championship ring. Rhome is also credited with the signing of future hall of fame wide receiver

Steve Largent Stephen Michael Largent (born September 28, 1954) is an American former football wide receiver and politician who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. A member of the Republican Party, he serve ...

with the Seattle Seahawks.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhome, Jerry 1942 births Living people American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons coaches Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys coaches Dallas Cowboys players Houston Oilers coaches Houston Oilers players Los Angeles Rams players Minnesota Vikings coaches Phoenix Cardinals coaches San Diego Chargers coaches Seattle Seahawks coaches SMU Mustangs football players St. Louis Rams coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Washington Redskins coaches College Football Hall of Fame inductees Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Dallas