Daryl lamonica biography

American football player (–)

American football player

Position:	Quarterback
Born:	()July 17, Fresno, California, U.S.
Died:	April 21, () (aged&#;80) Fresno, California, U.S.
Height:	6&#;ft 3&#;in (&#;m)
Weight:	&#;lb (98&#;kg)
High school:	Clovis (Clovis, California)
College:	Notre Dame
NFL draft:	&#;/ round:&#;12&#;/ pick:&#;
AFL draft:	&#;/ round:&#;24&#;/ pick:&#;
3× AFL champion (, , ) AFL Championship MVP () 2× AFL Most Valuable Player (, ) 2× First-team All-AFL (, ) Second-team All-Pro () 3× AFL All-Star (, , ) 2× Pro Bowl (, ) 2× UPI AFL Player of the Year (, ) 2× AFL passing touchdowns leader (, ) AFL passing yards leader () AFL rushing touchdowns co-leader () Third-team All-American ()

Daryle Pasquale Lamonica (July 17, – April 21, ) was an American professional footballquarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders.^[1] Lamonica was drafted by the NFL Green Bay Packers in round 12 with the th overall pick.

He spent his first four seasons mostly as a backup for the Buffalo Bills, who selected him in the 24th round of the AFL Draft. Lamonica played his next eight seasons as the primary starter of the Raiders, including after they joined the NFL through the AFL–NFL merger.

Nicknamed "the Mad Bomber" due to his affinity for throwing the long pass in virtually any situation, Lamonica led the Raiders to four consecutive division titles between and , along with an appearance in Super Bowl II.

Lamonica was twice named AFL Most Valuable Player (the only player to win multiple league MVPs in its history), in addition to receiving three AFL All-Star selections, two NFL Pro Bowl selections, and two first-team All-AFL honors. He was also the AFL leader in passing touchdowns during both MVP seasons and the passing yards leader during the second.

Lamonica holds the NFL's second-highest quarterback winning percentage and the AFL's highest quarterback winning percentage.

Early life

Of Italian and Irish ancestry, Lamonica grew up on a ranch in the Central Valley of California.^[1] Lamonica played in the first Little League World Series.^[2] He lettered in four sports and was an all-state quarterback at Clovis High School in Clovis, a Fresno suburb.

In , the high school named its football stadium after him.^[3] After high school, he turned down a professional baseball contract with the Chicago Cubs.^{[citation needed]} Lamonica played college football at the University of Notre Dame, and was the team's starting quarterback for three seasons. In 30 total games from through , he had 99 completions for attempts for a completion percentage and 1, yards, with eight touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

He rushed times for yards and 10 touchdowns.^[4] He participated in the East-West Shrine Game held at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, passing for with yards while being named Most Valuable Player.^[5]

Buffalo Bills

Lamonica was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 24th round of the AFL draft.

He was also selected by the two-time defending NFL champion Green Bay Packers in the 12th round of the NFL draft. He chose to go with the Bills, as he perceived his chances of playing were better there. In his rookie year, he played sparingly in games with Jack Kemp being the primary quarterback while Lamonica came into duty after injuries or ineffectiveness, which led to him being dubbed "the Fireman".

However, he was tasked to start the last two games for the Bills. In each, he led them to victory, notably going for with yards with a touchdown in a 45–14 win over the New York Jets. For the season, he had 33 completions on 71 attempts for yards, with three touchdowns and four interceptions.^[6] In the tiebreaker playoff for the division title, he came on for Kemp late in the game, going 9-for for yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, as the Bills lost 26–8 at home to the Boston Patriots.^[7]

Lamonica had much of the same in terms of playing time in , going 55 of with 1, yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.

On rushing, he was most efficient, having 55 carries for yards (a average per carry) for six touchdowns, which was tied for the most in the league alongside others such as Sid Blanks and his teammate . He started one of the last games of the season against the Denver Broncos, going 6-of for 89 yards with a touchdown and interception, but Buffalo prevailed 30–^[8] In , the same was true once again.

He went 29 of 70 for yards, with three touchdowns and six interceptions. For the third and final season, he started a game for the Bills, going 3-of for 83 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 29–18 win over the Houston Oilers.^[9] For his fourth and final year in Buffalo in , he went of for yards, having four touchdowns and five interceptions.

In the three Buffalo runs to the AFL title game from to , he had minimal participation, throwing only one pass.^[10]

Oakland Raiders

On March 14, , Lamonica was traded to the Oakland Raiders with Glenn Bass for Art Powell and Tom Flores. He played with Oakland until his final year in With John Rauch at the helm as coach, Lamonica thrived from the start.

In he threw for for 3, yards with thirty touchdowns and twenty interceptions while rushing for four touchdowns. The team went 13–1 in the regular season and won the division title with Lamonica at the helm; in the AFL title game against the Oilers on December 31, he went of for yards with two touchdowns as the Raiders won, 40–7, to win their first championship as a franchise.

Two weeks later, he faced off against the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II. He went of for yards, with two touchdowns and one interception (returned by Herb Adderley for a touchdown), as the Raiders lost 33– Lamonica was given the American Football League Most Valuable Player Award for the season by United Press International, the Associated Press, and The Sporting News.^[11]

In he was efficient once again, going of for 3, yards in thirteen games (Lamonica missed the ninth game of the season, which George Blanda started).

He threw 25 touchdowns and fifteen interceptions. His longest completed pass was 82 yards, his longest as a Raider for his career. He threw yards per game, a career high. In the infamous Heidi Game, he went of for yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions, with his final touchdown to Charlie Smith being the deciding points in a nail-biting victory.^[12] The Raiders charged to a 12–2 record, tied with Kansas City for the best record in the Western Division.

They trounced the Chiefs 41–6 to return to the AFL championship. Playing against the New York Jets at Shea Stadium, Lamonica went of for yards with a touchdown, but the Jets rallied to defeat Oakland 27–^[13]

Lamonica was consistent once again in (the last for the AFL and first for John Madden as coach). He had career highs with completions, attempts, 3, yards, 34 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions.

He had yards per game. The Raiders went 12–1–1, winning the Western Division once again. On October 19, against the Buffalo Bills, Lamonica set a new record with six touchdown passes in the first half, a record that has been matched only once, by Aaron Rodgers against the Chicago Bears on November 9, Lamonica's team went to the playoffs once again, which had been expanded to four teams for the final year of the AFL.

In the divisional playoff game versus overmatched Houston, he threw of for yards with six touchdowns and one interception for a 56–7 victory. In the AFL Championship Game (the last game between two AFL teams), facing the Chiefs in Oakland, Lamonica threw of for yards and three interceptions as the Chiefs won, 17–7, to advance to Super Bowl IV.

Lamonica was given the American Football League Most Valuable Player Award for the season by United Press International and The Sporting News, with Joe Namath being named Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press.^[14][15] It was in Oakland that Lamonica's affinity for - and talent in - long passes earned him the nickname "the Mad Bomber".

Lamonica regressed a bit for , throwing of for 2, yards with 22 touchdowns and fifteen interceptions as the team went 8–4–2. The team was aided by the fourth quarter heroics of George Blanda, who came off the bench for Lamonica in five straight games (games six to ten) in the fourth quarter, helping them win four games and tie once.

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The team snuck through into the NFL playoffs, edging out Kansas City for the newly installed AFC West division title. In their divisional playoff, Lamonica went 8-of for yards and two touchdowns as the Raiders prevailed, 21–14, over the Miami Dolphins in Oakland. In the AFC Championship Game against the Baltimore Colts, Lamonica went 1-of-4 for six yards before a hit by Bubba Smith resulted in him being taken out for Blanda as the Raiders were beaten, 27–^[16]

On September 17, , Lamonica had a perfect passing rating of In a game that was started by Ken Stabler with additional play from George Blanda, Lamonica stepped in to throw 8-of for yards with two touchdowns, turning a 27 –7 trouncing by the Pittsburgh Steelers into a 34–28 loss.^[17] Lamonica started the remaining thirteen games for the season.

He had completions on attempts for 1, yards, having a career-high completion percentage while throwing eighteen touchdowns and twelve interceptions. The team went for the year and won the Western Division title. In the divisional playoff game that year against Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium on December 23, he went 6-of for 45 yards with two interceptions.

Ken Stabler stepped in late in the game, and while he only went 6-of for 57 yards, his thirty-yard rush for a touchdown gave the Raiders a late 7–6 lead with less than two minutes remaining. However, Franco Harris caught a tipped pass from Terry Bradshaw in what is now known as the Immaculate Reception to give Pittsburgh a 13–7 victory.

It was Lamonica's last playoff appearance.^[18]

With Lamonica, the Raiders won four straight Western Division titles (three AFL and one AFC) and one American Football League championship.

Daryle Lamonica, Hard-Throwing Quarterback, Is Dead at 80 Facts NFL History. Daryle Lamonica. Frequently Asked Questions. Bleacher Report.

Lamonica was a three-time American Football League All-Star and twice was selected as the AFL's Most Valuable Player, in and Lamonica went 66–16–4 () as a starter, second-best in NFL history (Otto Graham is the highest at ). In the American Football League, Lamonica's winning percentage as a starter was , on 40 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie in 45 games, the best ever in the AFL.

Although excellent at man-for-man coverage, he had a hard time reading zone defenses, more prevalent in the s, and his throwing was sometimes inaccurate. As a Raider starter from to , his best completion average was % (in ).^[19]

Lamonica was replaced in by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Ken Stabler, who was better at reading defenses and more accurate, leading the team to victory in Super Bowl XI.^[20]

Lamonica was the 25th player to jump from the NFL to the World Football League (WFL) on April 16, , when he signed a multiyear contract to join the Southern California Sun in ^[21] He went 9-of for ninety yards and one touchdown in limited playing time in his only season in the WFL which folded in late October of that year.^[22]

Career statistics

Regular season

Year	Team	Games			Passing									Rushing
		GP	GS	Record	Cmp	Att	Pct	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Int	Rtg	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD
	BUF	14	2	2–0	33	71				93	3	4		9	8		7	0
	BUF	14	1	1–0	55			1,		80	6	8		55			28	6
	BUF	14	1	1–0	29	70				74	3	6		10	30		10	1
	BUF	14	0	–	33	84				55	4	5		9	6		14	1
	OAK	14	14	13–1				3,		72	30	20		22			26	4
	OAK	13	13	11–2				3,		82	25	15		19	98		28	1
	OAK	14	14	12–1–1				3,		80	34	25		13	36		12	1
	OAK	14	14	8–4–2				2,		60	22	15		8	24		13	0
	OAK	14	13	7–4–2				1,		67	16	16		4	16		13	0
	OAK	14	13	10–2–1				1,		70	18	12		10	33		14	0
	OAK	8	3	1–2	42	93				48	2	8		5	-7		6	0
	OAK	4	0	–	3	9		35		13	1	4		2	-3		0	0
Career			88	66–16–6	1,	2,		19,		93							28	14

In later years, he hosted a national fishing show on Fox Sports Net called Outdoors with the Pros.^[2]

In , Football Nation named Lamonica the 67th best quarterback since the merger.^[23] The Professional Football Researchers Association named Lamonica to their Hall of Very Good Class of ^[24]

On April 21, , he died at the age of 80 in his sleep at his home in Fresno, California.^[25][26]

See also

References

External links