Background and career
Robert Allen Griese ( GREE-see; born February 3, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 14 seasons with the Miami Dolphins of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He earned All-American honors playing college football for the Purdue Boilermakers before being selected by the Dolphins of the AFL in the 1967 NFL/AFL draft, at number 4 in the 1st round. Widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami's undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990. He later worked as a television commentator, calling NFL games for NBC Sports and college football for ESPN and ABC Sports. Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue to win the Super Bowl (along with Len Dawson and Drew Brees).
Griese was born in Evansville, Indiana, to Ida (Ulrich) and Sylverious "Slick" Griese. Slick owned a plumbing company in Evansville and died in 1955 when his son was ten years old. Bob primarily played baseball and excelled as a pitcher. He also played basketball and football at Evansville's Rex Mundi High School, and earned 12 varsity letters for the Monarchs.
In the summer of 1963, Griese led his American Legion Baseball team, Funkhouser Post #8 of Evansville, Indiana, to the American Legion Baseball World Series as the Region 5 champion. His team did not reach the finals, as the Arthur L. Peterson Post of Long Beach, California, won the title.
He led the basketball team to the No. 1 ranking in Indiana during the 1962–63 season and a record of 19–3. He scored 900 points in his high school career and while being named All-Sectional, he could not lead the Monarchs past Evansville Bosse in the highly competitive Evansville IHSAA Sectional.
The Monarchs were 15–5 during his Junior (9–1) and Senior (6–4) seasons, as he was named 1st Team All-City for three seasons. After being recruited by several colleges for football, Bob chose Purdue University, where he majored in management (Krannert School of Management) and became a three-sport star.
While at Purdue, Griese became a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. Griese pitched for the Purdue baseball team, going 12–1 one season, played guard on the Purdue basketball team, and played quarterback, kicker, and punter for the Purdue football team. There are at least four football games in which Griese was in some way responsible for all of Purdue's points. As of the beginning of the 2016 NCAA football season, Griese ranks #10 in all-time scoring at Purdue; #5 in scoring among non-kickers and #4 among kickers. Griese's passing skills greatly improved under the tutelage of head coach Jack Mollenkopf and quarterback coach Bob DeMoss. In his junior year at Purdue in a game against the top-ranked Notre Dame, Griese completed 19 of 22 passes as he led the Boilermakers to an upset win. Griese was a two-time All-American at Purdue, finishing at No. 8 in the 1965 Heisman Trophy race and was the runner-up to Steve Spurrier for the 1966 Heisman Trophy. Purdue finished second in the Big Ten in 1966, and he led the school's first appearance in the Rose Bowl, where they defeated USC 14–13. He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1992. He also won the Big Ten Medal of Honor for excellence in athletics and academics. Griese's achievements during his college career earned him induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984. Purdue does not have a practice of retiring jersey numbers, but he was inducted as an inaugural member of the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994. On December 11, 2014, the Big Ten Network included Griese on "The Mount Rushmore of Purdue Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Griese was joined in the honor by Drew Brees, Rod Woodson, and Leroy Keyes.
