Kim McQuilken

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Kim McQuilken
No. 11
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1951-02-26) February 26, 1951 (age 73)
Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:206 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:William Allen
(Allentown, PA)
College:Lehigh
NFL draft:1974 / Round: 3 / Pick: 69
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Passing yards:1,135
TD–INT:4–29
Passer rating:17.9
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Kim McQuilken (born February 26, 1951) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins and the USFL with the Washington Federals.

Early life[edit]

McQuilken was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and attended William Allen High School. He started as quarterback during his junior and senior seasons. During his senior year, McQuilken suffered a fractured clavicle in a pre-season scrimmage and missed the first three games.

Lehigh University[edit]

McQuilken was offered only one football scholarship after high school.  The offer was from Lehigh University and Head Coach Fred Dunlap.  Lehigh had not had a winning season in the previous 10 years.  Moreover, Lehigh employed a ground offensive attack not suited to McQuilken’s passing skills. But Fred Dunlap convinced McQuilken the passing game would open up if he enrolled at Lehigh. The coach was true to his word[1]

In 1971, McQuilken’s sophomore season the team posted its first winning record in over a decade going 8-3 and setting numerous offensive records. McQuilken passed for over 2,000 yards in ‘71 setting new Lehigh records for yardage, attempts, and completions. By the middle of his junior year (1972) McQuilken would own every Lehigh game, season, and career passing record. In his 1973 senior season, Lehigh went 7-3-1 and won the Lambert Cup [1]

Professional career[edit]

McQuilken was drafted in the third round of the 1974 NFL Draft by Atlanta, and installed as the Falcons' third-string quarterback, behind Bob Lee and Pat Sullivan. He got in five games his rookie season and started the last two, including a 10–3 win over Green Bay. With the season-ending 3-11 record, none of the Falcons QBs experienced much success.[2]

Statistically, McQuilken was one of the poorest passers in NFL history that actually received significant playing time; for his seven-year career, he had a 17.9 passer rating, second-worst ever among players with at least 200 attempts.[note 1] He won only two of his seven starts as a Falcon, reaching his arguable nadir in a 1975 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, when McQuilken made 26 attempts with only five completions – and five interceptions. For his career, McQuilken would throw 29 picks against just four touchdowns, also one of the worst ratios in NFL history. In 1978, he went to the Washington Redskins as Joe Theismann's backup, appearing in just three games in 1979.

Out of football for three years, McQuilken, still popular in the Washington area, joined the Washington Federals of the United States Football League in their 1983 inaugural season and emerged as their opening-day starter. Ultimately he would complete 188-for-334 passes for 1,912 yards, seven touchdowns, and 14 interceptions for the season. However, the Feds would finish just 4–14 in front of small crowds, and the 32-year-old McQuilken retired.

NFL career statistics[edit]

Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season[edit]

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks Fumbles
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg TD% Int% Att Yds Avg TD Sck Yds Fum Lost
1974 ATL 5 2 1—1 34 79 43.0 373 4.7 0 9 18.0 0.0 11.4 2 1 0.5 0 9 113 0 0
1975 ATL 3 2 0—2 20 61 32.8 253 3.1 1 9 12.6 1.6 14.8 4 26 6.5 0 5 45 3 0
1976 ATL 8 3 1—2 48 121 39.7 450 3.7 2 10 21.7 1.7 8.3 9 26 2.9 0 17 164 6 0
1977 ATL 7 0 0–0 5 7 71.4 47 6.7 1 0 129.2 14.3 0.0 2 -1 -0.5 0 0 0 0 0
1979 WSH 3 0 0–0 1 4 25.0 12 3.0 0 1 0.0 0 25.0 2 -3 -1.5 0 0 0 0 0

After football[edit]

McQuilken went on to become executive vice president of Cartoon Network, before leaving the network in 2006 to set up his own sports and entertainment marketing and licensing consulting business.[3]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The worst score, 17.0, belongs to Hugh McCullough, who played in the less pass-oriented 1930s and 1940s.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Lehigh alumnus and NFL quarterback reflects on collegiate and professional career". The Brown and White. 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2024-05-17.
  2. ^ Reinhard, Paul (2017-02-04). "For former Lehigh and Falcons QB Kim McQuilken and his wife, Super Bowl is serious business". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
  3. ^ Eggerton, John. "McQuilken Exiting Cartoon". www.broadcastingcable.com. Retrieved 1 February 2013.