Boomer Esiason is the best quarterback to come out of Maryland. But certainly not the only one.
The Terrapins have produced 12 NFL quarterbacks who combined to start 442 games and thrown for 91,795 yards and 564 touchdowns. And those stats don’t include Bernie Faloney and King Corcoran. Faloney won three Grey Cups and has been enshrined in the CFL Hall of Fame. He was the league’s MVP in 1961 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Corcoran led the World Football League in passing for the Philadelphia Bell in its only full season in 1974.
Five Maryland quarterbacks enjoyed NFL careers of at least 10 seasons – Esiason (14), Neil O’Donnell (13), Frank Reich (13), Shaun Hill (11) and Dick Shiner (10). Esiason went to four Pro Bowls and was the NFL MVP in 1988. O’Donnell is the only other Maryland quarterback to go to a Pro Bowl.
O’Donnell started a Super Bowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Reich went to four of them as Jim Kelly’s backup in Buffalo. He is now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. In addition, Stan Gelbaugh was the World League MVP in its inaugural season in 1992.
Esiason would be the starting quarterback on the all-time University of Maryland NFL team, having passed for 37,920 yards and 247 touchdowns in his career. Two Pro Football Hall of Famers would join him on the team, defensive tackle Randy White and guard Stan Jones.
Here is the all-time Maryland NFL team:
QB—Boomer Esiason, 4 Pro Bowls, 1988 NFL MVP
HB—LaMont Jordan, 9 seasons, 3,734 yards, 31 touchdowns
FB—Dick Bielski, Pro Bowl, 9 seasons, 107 catches
WR—Gary Collins, 1960s NFL all-decade team
*-WR—Stefon Diggs, 2020 NFL receiving champion
TE—Vernon Davis, 3 Pro Bowls, 14 seasons, 583 catches, 63 TDs
T—Walter Rock, Pro Bowl, 11 seasons, 126 starts
T—Clarence Jones, 10 seasons, 88 starts
G—Stan Jones, Hall of Fame
G—Ron Solt, Pro Bowl, 9 seasons,113 starts
C—Kevin Glover, 3 Pro Bowls, 15 seasons, 175 starts
*-DE—Yannick Ngakoue, Pro Bowl, 6 seasons, 66 sacks
DE—Eric Hicks, 10 seasons, 45 sacks
DT—Randy White, Hall of Fame
DT—Kris Jenkins, 4 Pro Bowls, 10 seasons, 24 tackles
LB—Shawne Merriman, 3 Pro Bowls, 8 seasons, 46 sacks
LB—E.J. Henderson, Pro Bowl, 9 seasons, 752 tackles
LB—D’Qwell Jackson, Pro Bowl, 10 seasons, 1,192 tackles
CB—Chad Scott, 11 seasons, 21 interceptions
CB—J.B. Brown, 12 seasons, 16 interceptions
S—Lloyd Burruss, Pro Bowl, 11 seasons, 22 interceptions
S—Tony Greene, Pro Bowl, 9 seasons, 37 interceptions
K—Nick Novak, 10 seasons, 802 points, 182 field goals
P—Adam Podlesh, 8 seasons, 42.4-yard average
KR—Jermaine Lewis, 6 punt returns for TDs, 11.1-yard average
ST—Jeff Dugan, 7 seasons, 38 offensive touches
LS—Jon Condo, 2 Pro Bowls, 14 seasons, 181 games
*-Still active
