Joe Zuger
| Date of birth | February 25, 1940 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Homestead, Pennsylvania |
| Career information | |
| Status | Retired |
| CFL status | International |
| Position(s) | P/QB |
| College | Arizona State University |
| NFL draft | 1961 / Round: 18 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1962–71 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Awards | 1967 - Grey Cup Most Valuable Player |
| Honors | Grey Cup champion - 1963, 65, 67 |
Joe Zuger (born February 25, 1940) is a former American football and Canadian football player.[1]
College career
Zuger attended Arizona State University, between 1959 and 1961, where he excelled on offence, defence and as a punter. As quarterback, he compiled a 24-7 record in three years as a starter. He also played defensive back and punter. During his senior season in 1961, Zuger completed 67 of 133 passes (50.4 percent) for 879 yards and eight touchdowns, and led the team and ranked among the nationally with 10 interceptions (the third best single-season mark in ASU history), and had a 42.1-yard punting average. He has been inducted into the Arizona State University Sports Hall of Fame.
CFL playing career
Drafted by the NFL's Detroit Lions in the 18th round (248th overall)[2] Zuger came to Canada for what would be a ten-year career (1962 to 1971) with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. In 1962, his rookie season, Zuger shared quarterback duties with Frank Cosentino,[3] as the #1 starter, Bernie Faloney, was injured.[4] Zuger turned heads immediately when in his very first game as the starting quarterback he threw for a team record 572 passing yards and a league record 8 TD passes in a 67-21 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. That year, Zuger completed 55.7% of his 113 passes for 1070 yards and had a 15 to 6 TD to Interception ratio. In addition, he intercepted 4 passes as a defensive back and was the regular punter with a 43.3 yard average. With Faloney back in 1963, Zuger became a full-time defensive back and had 5 interceptions. Injuries limited Zuger to just 8 games in 1964, and in 1965, with the trading of Faloney to Montreal, Zuger moved back to the quarterback position, sharing duties with Cosentino again, as well as in 1966, before taking over as the sole #1 quarterback in 1967 and leading Hamilton to victory in the 55th Grey Cup game against Saskatchewan, named as the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player. That year and 1968 were Zuger's best as quarterback, both with over 300 pass attempts and passing for 2771 and 2616 yards, respectively. Injuries cut Zuger back to 11 games in 1969 and 9 in 1970. In his final season, in 1971, Zuger returned to play all 14 games, completing 48.6% of his 265 passes for 1632 yards, but he had a bad 8 TD 19 interception ratio.
Zuger was one of the greatest punters the CFL has ever seen, with a league record 45.5-yard punting average over his career. Three times, Zuger averaged over 48 yards a punt over a season and had punts of over 80 yards at least 4 times, including one of 85 yards in 1968.
He played in 5 Grey Cup games, winning 3 (1963, 1965, 1967).
Post-playing CFL career
Zuger would later serve in Hamilton's front office. In 1981, he was appointed as General Manager,[4] a position he served for over a decade.
References
- ↑ Kelly, Graham (2005-11-08). Greatest Grey Cups: The Best of Canadian Football. Heritage House Publishing Co. pp. 52–. ISBN 978-1-55439-056-4. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
- ↑ Arizona State Bulldogs and Sun Devils, 1930-1970, who signed on with professional football teams
- ↑ http://www.cflapedia.com/Players/z/zuger_joe.htm
- 1 2 Who's Who in Canadian Sport, Volume 4, p.490, Bob Ferguson, Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd., Markham, ON and Allston, MA, ISBN 1-55041-855-6