Jim Del Gaizo (born May 31, 1947) is a former professional

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 Am ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the t ...

, and

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 divisio ...

. His career 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 majo ...

(NFL) lasted five seasons

Early life

Born in

Everett, Massachusetts Everett is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, directly north of Boston, bordering the neighborhood of Charlestown. The population was 49,075 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. Everett was the last city in the Un ...

, and raised in Revere, Del Gaizo was the star quarterback for Revere High School, and still holds the Patriots' most notable passing records.

Career

After playing

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at both

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

and

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

, Del Gaizo went unselected in the

1971 NFL Draft The 1971 National Football League draft was held January 28–29, 1971, at the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York. The Boston Patriots, who did not officially change their name to New England Patriots until after the draft, used th ...

, which had only three quarterbacks taken in the first six rounds and only seventeen selected over the entire seventeen rounds. He is one of only two quarterbacks ever to play at Tampa who appeared in the NFL. Del Gaizo made the Dolphins' roster as an

undrafted 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 i ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

and spent the season as the third-string quarterback and was not activated the entire season. In Del Gaizo's rookie season (his second season although his first one on an active roster), he was the backup quarterback in four appearances during the Dolphins' undefeated season in

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 ...

that culminated in a victory in

Super Bowl VII Super Bowl VII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

. Del Gaizo completed 5 of 9 passes for two

touchdowns 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 one

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 ...

; he also lost one fumble. The Dolphins did not retain Del Gaizo's services for the

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

season; however, his stock had risen after two good preseasons coupled with his game performances in the 1972 season, and he was traded to the

Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the thi ...

for two second round picks (one in 1974 and one in 1975). Green Bay is where he saw his most extensive game action, appearing in eight games while starting three. He suffered a separated shoulder early, and his final statistics were: 27 completions in 69 passing attempts with two touchdowns, six interceptions, and one fumble. In the strike season of 1974, he was traded to the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

for a third round draft pick. Del Gaizo's final season 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. ...

was spent with the Giants, where he appeared in four games (one start), completing 12 of 32 passes with no touchdowns and three interceptions. The Giants released him and Del Gaizo never appeared in another NFL regular season game. However, he was re-signed by the Dolphins for the second half of the

season after injuries had sidelined both Bob Griese and

Earl Morrall Earl Edwin Morrall (May 17, 1934 – April 25, 2014) was an American football player who was a quarterback (and occasional punter) in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, both a starter and reserve. In the latter capacity, he be ...

, and was on the roster for the final three games of the season, but did not play. He was invited to camp the following season, and played in the 1976 pre-season for the Dolphins, where he completed 25 passes out of 40 attempts, for 372 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions; however, he was cut by the Dolphins. Del Gaizo entertained starting job offers from the Atlanta Falcons and Buffalo Bills, as well as a back-up offer from the Pittsburgh Steelers (which he was quoted as saying later he should have probably accepted); however, disillusioned with both pro football and the Miami Dolphins (where he felt he had earned his spot), he decided to retire at the age of 29. Since retirement, Del Gaizo has enjoyed a successful career as a mortgage broker.

References

Career statistics at pro-football-reference.com

Update on Del Gaizo (follows golf story)

* "Downfield! Untold Stories Of The Green Bay Packers", by Jerry Polling. Copyright 1996 * The Miami Herald, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 1976 Front Page Article of Section D, "Del Gaizo Losses QB Roulette"

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Gaizo, Jim 1947 births Living people People from Revere, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts American football quarterbacks Green Bay Packers players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Syracuse Orange football players Tampa Spartans football players Revere High School (Massachusetts) alumni