A quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League, Dan Fouts is widely known as being one of the best quarterbacks who ever played the game. Not blessed with having the strongest arm in the world, Dan Fouts instead sliced apart opposing defenses with his surgeon-like precision, or when necessary, with his extraordinary toughness.
Fouts graduated from the University of Oregon in 1972, and was subsequently drafted in the third round of the 1973 NFL draft. He took over from the 40 year old Johnny Unitas in the fourth game of the 1973 season and held on to the starting job until injuries and age forced him to retire in 1988. He made six Pro Bowl appearances in a seven year span (1979-1985, only missing in 1984), and is 5th on the all-time yardage list with 43,040. Fouts reached many of those milestones under the tutelage of head coach Don Coryell and his "Air Coryell" offense which featured heavy use of the pass. As a result, Fouts threw 254 touchdowns (placing him 10th all-time in that category), and completed 3,297 out of 5,604 passes (both numbers are good for seventh on the all-time list). Fouts was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
As stated before, Fouts was not blessed with a cannon for a arm, but he was regarded as one of the smartest quarterbacks of his time, smart enough to run Coach Coryell's complicated offensive schemes flawlessly. As time wore on however, a once Pro Bowl caliber offensive line crumbled, and the running game weakened, so Fouts had to pass under heavy pressure, taking more hits and sustaining injuries often. Despite this, Fouts showed his toughness week after week, piling up the yards and coming back for more.
While Fouts never won a Super Bowl (the closest he got was the 1981 AFC championship game), fans of the NFL everywhere would admit that Dan Fouts was one of the best quarterbacks in league history.