Background and career
Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973–1987). After a relatively undistinguished first five seasons in the league, Fouts came to prominence as an on-field leader during the Chargers' Air Coryell period. He led the league in passing yards every year from 1979 to 1982, throwing for over 4,000 yards in the first three of these—no quarterback had previously posted consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. Fouts was voted a Pro Bowler six times, first-team All-Pro twice, and in 1982 he was the Offensive Player of the Year. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility. Fouts played college football for the Oregon Ducks, where he broke numerous records, and was later inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame. He was a third-round draft pick by the Chargers in 1973. Fouts struggled during his first three seasons in the league. His form began to improve in 1976, but he was discontented over the direction of the team and the restrictions of the NFL's free agency rules so he refused to play during the majority of the 1977 season. Early in 1978, Don Coryell became the head coach of the Chargers and he instituted the pass-oriented Air Coryell offensive scheme, allowing Fouts to throw the ball with unprecedented frequency. He led the NFL in passing yards for four straight years from 1979 to 1982 (still a consecutive-years record), and he became the first player in league history to throw for 4,000 yards in three straight seasons, breaking the NFL single-season record for passing yards each time. Fouts' performance was rewarded by six Pro Bowl selections (1979–1983 & 1985) and four All-Pro selections (first team in 1979 and 1982, second team in 1980 and 1985). In the strike-shortened 1982 season, he passed for 2,883 yards in only nine games, winning the Associated Press (AP) Offensive Player of the Year and Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) NFL Most Valuable Player honors. Fouts led the Chargers to three consecutive AFC West division titles – 1979, 1980 and 1981 – and a playoff appearance in 1982. He was the winning quarterback of the Epic in Miami, when he broke the league playoff single-game record by passing for 433 yards. The Chargers advanced to the AFC Championship Game twice during his career, but never reached the Super Bowl. Fouts was the first quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame without appearing in either the Super Bowl or an NFL championship game. After retiring from the league, Fouts was a color analyst for NFL games on CBS television and Westwood One radio. He is the son of Bay Area Radio Hall of Famer Bob Fouts.
Dan Fouts was born in San Francisco on June 10, 1951, to Julie and Bob Fouts, the fourth of five children. His father was a sports broadcaster who commentated for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL for over 20 years. As a child, Dan acted as a stats-keeper for Bob and worked for the 49ers as a ballboy. One of his first sports heroes was John Brodie, the 49ers' starting quarterback at that time. At the age of 11, when Fouts asked his parents' permission to play football, they told him that he would have to be a quarterback, as he had shown a good throwing arm while playing Little League baseball. He played Pop Warner football for the Drake Junior Pirates, where his coach described him as an "outstanding quarterback" in 1964. Fouts attended Marin Catholic High School, located just north of San Francisco in Kentfield, California, for his first two years of high school football and had his first starts as a sophomore in 1966. He temporarily lost his starting position after his play was described as "extremely jittery" by the local San Rafael Daily Independent Journal, but an end of season report from the same paper stated that he should improve with better protection. The team had a record of 0–6 and Fouts finished the season with nine interceptions and only one touchdown. While at Marin Catholic, he also played varsity basketball as a forward. Fouts transferred to St. Ignatius College Preparatory, also in San Francisco, for his final two years of high school. Explaining the switch to St. Ignatius in 2013, he said, "My dad told me 'You're not going to get a scholarship at Marin Catholic; you're going to get it at St. Ignatius.'" In 1967, Fouts' junior year, St. Ignatius was the champion of the West Catholic Athletic League with a 6–0 record, and Fouts was named to the WCAL All-Star first-team. He nearly reversed his touchdown to interceptions ratio, with 16 touchdowns and two interceptions. St. Ignatius went 5–1 in Fouts' senior year but he passed much less as his team focused more on their running game.
Fouts was not a highly sought recruit when he accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Oregon to play for the Ducks in Eugene. It was the only offer from a major college that he received. Fouts did not play for the main Ducks team during his first year at Oregon (1969); instead he started for the freshman team, composed of first-year players. In the 1970 season, he began as a backup to established passer Tom Blanchard. In the opening game, a 31–24 victory over California, Fouts came off the bench and threw for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner in the final two minutes; Fouts and Blanchard combined to set a new Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) record with 424 passing yards that day. Fouts got his first chance to start two weeks later when Blanchard was out due to injury. He kept the role for the rest of the season and the Ducks finished 6–4–1. Fouts went on to set Oregon single-game records for the most attempts, completions and yards, and single-season records for completions and touchdowns. His 16 touchdowns ranked second in the Pac-8, while his 212.1 yards of total offense per game were tenth in the nation. United Press International (UPI) named him as an honorable mention in their season-ending all-coast team. The Salem Capital Journal described Fouts as a sophomore with "the poise of a senior". Fouts entered the 1971 season as an established and highly rated starter. He missed two and a half games of the Ducks' 5–6 season due to knee ligament damage, but he still ranked third in the Pac-8 for passing yards. When Oregon replaced their head coach Jerry Frei at the end of the year, Fouts was one of seven players on the committee of fifteen who chose the replacement, Dick Enright. Fouts broke the Oregon record for career passing yardage early in the 1972 season, which ended with a 4–7 record. In his last game as a Duck he threw a 65-yard touchdown pass and Oregon beat Oregon State for the first time in nine years. At the end of the season, Fouts ranked second in the Pac-8 for passing yards and touchdowns behind Mike Boryla of Stanford. The Capital Journal compared the two quarterbacks, stating that Fouts faced "trying conditions" with a relative lack of support on offense. He was named to the All-Pac-8 team as chosen by the conference's coaches, as well as the UPI All-Coast team and the Associated Press (AP) All-West Coast team. Fouts was invited to the East–West Shrine Bowl (which he missed due to a foot injury), the Senior Bowl, and the Coaches All-America Game (where he broke his collarbone on his first play from scrimmage). At the end of his college career, Fouts' career passing yardage ranked No.1 in Oregon history, No. 2 in the Pac-8 and No. 7 in the NCAA. He set 19 Oregon records, including career passing yardage (5,995) and total offense (5,871), and he was inducted into the university's hall of fame as part of the inaugural 1992 class.
Fouts was selected in the third round of the 1973 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers; he was the sixth quarterback taken and 64th overall. At the time he was drafted, NFL scouts questioned Fouts' durability, arm strength and athleticism. He was brought in to back up one of his childhood idols, Johnny Unitas, who had joined the Chargers during the off-season after 17 years with the Baltimore Colts. Unsigned at the time, Fouts broke his collarbone in the Coaches All-America Game on June 23; the Chargers management had not wanted him to play in the game because of the risk of injury. Fouts missed the start of training camp while holding out for more money, then missed the first three preseason games while recovering from his injury. Head coach Harland Svare described Fouts as "about a year behind" in August, and Fouts himself did not anticipate much play as a rookie. Early in the 1973 season, Unitas sustained a career-ending shoulder injury which caused Fouts to see far more play as a rookie than expected. His first appearance came in week 4, when he entered a game at Pittsburgh at the start of the second half with the Chargers trailing 38–0. Fouts threw his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter (a 13-yarder to Jerry LeVias), led two further touchdown drives, and the game finished 38–21. He made his first NFL start the following week, throwing two touchdowns in a 27–17 loss to the Oakland Raiders. United Press International described his performance as that of a "bona fide NFL quarterback." He struggled in his next game, where he was intercepted four times during a 41–0 home loss to Atlanta, with the Associated Press reporting that he "frequently threw off balance and into a crowd of defenders." Fouts finished the season ranked twelfth by passer rating in the 13-team American Football Conference (AFC). He was benched in favor of Wayne Clark for four weeks late in the season as the Chargers struggled to a 2–11–1 record. Speaking in 1985, Fouts described the 1973 Chargers as a team in "turmoil, total disarray", and criticized the coaches for not letting him work with Unitas and benefit from his knowledge.
Unitas announced his retirement before the 1974 season, leaving Fouts to compete with rookie Jesse Freitas for the starting job. New head coach Tommy Prothro singled out Fouts as giving the only good performance during a preseason loss, and he began the regular season as the starter. San Diego lost their first regular season game, but Fouts got his first career win in week 2, leading a 98-yard 4th quarter drive for the winning touchdown. The Chargers lost their next five games, culminating in a 24–14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in which Fouts threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, prompting his home fans to start chanting for Freitas to play. In the same game, Fouts argued with wide receiver Harrison Davis, who he felt did not try hard enough to prevent an interception of an underthrown ball. Davis commented to the media, "Not much I could do about it ... Fouts can yell, that's his privilege, but it was a bad pass." Fouts said, "He's got to fight for the ball. That's gold out there." He threw four touchdowns the following week and continued to start until week 11, when a broken thumb ended his season. Fouts ranked 11th in the AFC for passer rating. Freitas started the final three games and contributed two of the Chargers' five wins on the season; Prothro declined to comment when asked about his future intentions with regard to Fouts and Freitas, except to say that he had no plans to draft another quarterback.
Fouts and Freitas continued to vie for the starting position entering the 1975 season. Both struggled in preseason, and the Chargers added veteran quarterback Virgil Carter to their roster. All three quarterbacks played in the regular season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, generating only 145 yards of offense in a 37–0 defeat. Two weeks later, Fouts was the only quarterback Prothro used against the Oakland Raiders. His home crowd booed him when he was announced before kickoff and he completed 3 of 13 passes for 29 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, while getting sacked five times for the loss of 51 yards. The Chargers lost 6–0. San Diego went on to lose their first eleven games while Fouts missed playing time with a sore ankle and a concussion. He sustained a total of seven injuries during the course of the year. The Chargers avoided a winless season when Fouts led them to a pair of victories in December. With only two touchdown passes all season, Fouts finished with the 12th best passer rating in the AFC. Through his first three seasons in the league, Fouts had thrown 16 touchdowns and 36 interceptions while completing less than half his passes. The following year, he said the Chargers had been running a "very basic, antiquated offense" in 1974 and 1975. Reflecting on his first three seasons in a 1983 interview, he added, "We really didn't have an offensive coordinator or quarterback coach, so I had to fall back on what I'd learned from John Robinson, my offensive coordinator at Oregon."
