Buccaneers quarterback Kyle Trask has a chance to be the best Florida Gators Quarterback in NFL history. As someone who thinks anyone who went to college in Gainesville shows a lack of good judgment, I am not terribly excited about his prospects. Just look at the track record for some of the best the school has produced at the position in the league.
Everyone remembers Steve Spurrier best as the head coach of the Gators in the 1990’s. However, the former Heisman Trophy winner had an underwhelming pro career beginning with the San Francisco 49ers from 1967 to 1975. There he spent the majority of time backing up one-time league MVP, John Brodie, and only started 26 of a possible 92 games.
Spurrier played 14 games in 1976 for the expansion Buccaneers and lost all 12 of his starts. He threw for 1,628 yards, seven touchdowns, and 12 picks. That was his final year as a player and he ended his career with just under 6,900 total yards passing, 40 touchdowns, and 60 interceptions.
Danny Wuerffel was the next Heisman Trophy winning Gators quarterback that was supposed to succeed. Heck, he was coached in college by Spurrier himself. Perhaps the career trajectory of the head ball coach rubbed off on Danny because he was horrible, just like his coach in the NFL.
Wuerffel lasted only six seasons, bouncing from New Orleans to Chicago to Green Bay to Washington, where his college coach was now the head man and tried to turn his former star into something he never was: a serviceable NFL signal-caller. A career stat line of 2,123 passing yards, 12 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions is proof that Wuerffel was over-matched at the position on the pro level.
Another Heisman Winning quarterback at Florida was Tim Tebow. I won’t delve too much into his pro career, but clearly he would still be playing if he were any good. Three years of hype and he couldn’t change positions and stick in the NFL.
Quite honestly, non Heisman Winner Rex Grossman was the most successful Gators quarterback in the NFL. He actually guided the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl after the 2006 season where they fell to the Indianapolis Colts 31-17. He also has the most yards passing ever thrown by a Gator in the NFL with 10,232 yards.
The bottom line is that Kyle Trask has a decent chance to surpass all of the previously-mentioned former Gators as the best in the NFL ever at the quarterback position. All he has to do is go out and win a Super Bowl and he goes immediately to the top of the list. Time will tell if he gets the chance to do it with Tampa Bay or if he winds up as another name on the long list of underwhelming field generals from the University of Florida.