Steve Grogan Steve James Grogan ( born July 24 , 1953 ) is a former American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League . Grogan played for the Patriots for his entire NFL career , from 1975 to 1990 . High school and college . Grogan had a standout prep career in Kansas at Ottawa High School where he led his team to state titles in track in 1970 , basketball in 1971 , and a state runner - up finish in football . Grogan spent his collegiate career at Kansas State University , where he started as a quarterback for his junior and senior years . He threw for 2 , 214 yards , completing 166 of 371 pass attempts , with 12 TDs and 26 interceptions . He ran for 585 yards and six touchdowns on 339 attempts , punted 7 times for 279 yards ( a 39 . 9 yard average ) and as a senior caught one touchdown pass of 22 yards . Against Memphis in 1973 , he had a 100 yard rushing game . New England Patriots : 1975 - 1990 . Grogan was selected in the fifth round ( 116th overall ) in the 1975 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots . Although he would start every game for four consecutive seasons early in his career , his career was also marked by injuries and quarterback controversies , with Grogan competing with other quarterbacks for the starting job . His second through his fifth season were the only times he would start every game in a season . Besides taking the starting job from former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett as a rookie , Grogan would later face competition from Matt Cavanaugh , Tony Eason , Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie , and Marc Wilson . ( By the time Wilson came to the Patriots , he had spent several years battling the displaced Plunkett for the starting job of the Raiders . ) In his first season , Grogan played in 13 games out of the then - 14 game regular season , starting 7 of the last 8 . Grogan threw for 1 , 976 yards , 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions . The Patriots finished with a 3 - 11 record , and traded Plunkett , their starter for the previous four years , in the off - season . ( Plunkett would eventually lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories . ) For the Patriots 1976 season , Grogan led the Patriots to an 11 - 3 record and the franchise ' s first playoff berth since 1963 . The eleven wins were the most Patriots wins in a season since the club ’ s inception . Along the way the Patriots defeated the defending Super Bowl champion , Pittsburgh Steelers ( 30 - 27 ) , although they lost the divisional playoffs ( 24 - 21 ) to the Oakland Raiders . Grogan scored 12 rushing touchdowns in 1976 , breaking a record of 11 previously held by Tobin Rote and Johnny Lujack . His record would stand for 35 years until the Carolina Panthers ' Cam Newton broke that record in 2011 . In the Patriots 1978 season , Grogan led the Pats to an 11 - 5 record , a division title and the organization ' s first ever home playoff game , a 31 - 14 loss to the Houston Oilers . The Pats set the all time single season team rushing record with 3 , 156 yards ( Grogan rushing for 539 yards and 5 touchdowns himself ) . That record still stands as the most productive rushing team ever in the history of the NFL . It is also the only season an NFL team has had 4 players rush for over 500 yards apiece . In the early 1980s , Grogan suffered several injuries , and the Patriots drafted quarterback Tony Eason in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft . By the Patriots 1985 season , Eason had taken the starting quarterback position and led the Patriots to a 2 - 3 record initially . Coach Raymond Berry benched Eason for Grogan . The Patriots won 6 straight wins behind their old quarterback , only to lose Grogan when he suffered a broken leg in Week 12 against the New York Jets . Filling in again at QB , Eason and the Patriots lost that Jets game 16 - 13 in overtime , and relinquished 1st place in the AFC East Division . With Eason ' s return , the Patriots went 3 - 2 in their remaining five games . Finishing the season with an 11 - 5 record , the Patriots earned a wild card berth into the playoffs and eventually reached Super Bowl XX , where they faced the Chicago Bears , who , with their defensive coach Buddy Ryan ' s " 46 " defense , had gone 15 - 1 during the regular season . Eason , who had led the Patriots to victory in the wild card , divisional , and conference playoff games , started the game , but the Patriots could do little against the Bears ' defense and Eason went 0 - 6 in passing attempts ; Coach Berry replaced him with Grogan . Grogan went on to connect on 17 of 30 passes for 177 yards , a touchdown , but also two interceptions , in the 10 - 46 loss . Of little solace was the fact that the Patriots were the only team to score against the Bears in the playoffs that season . At the time of his retirement , Grogan led the franchise as the all - time leader in passing yards ( 26 , 886 ) and passing touchdowns ( 182 ) . He is third in passing yards and passing touchdowns behind Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe . His 16 seasons are the most ever for a Patriots player . He also held the Patriots previous single - game record with a 153 . 9 quarterback rating , achieved by completing 13 - of - 18 passes for 315 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions against the New York Jets on September 9 , 1979 , before Drew Bledsoe posted a perfect 158 . 3 rating against the Indianapolis Colts on December 26 , 1993 . Statistically , Grogan ' s best season was the Patriots 1979 season , when he completed 206 of 423 passes for 3 , 286 yards and 28 touchdowns , rushing for 368 yards and 2 touchdowns . His 28 touchdown passes led the league , tied with Brian Sipe of Cleveland , and his rushing yards led the league for quarterbacks . Grogan rushed for 2 , 176 yards ( 4 . 9 per carry ) and 35 touchdowns during his career , a mark which places him as the Patriots ' fourth overall in rushing touchdowns . With Grogan , the Patriots made the playoffs five times ( 1976 , 1978 , 1982 , 1985 , and 1986 as a backup ) . Before Grogan was drafted , the Pats made the playoffs just once from 1960 - 1974 . Grogan ' s injuries and his toughness in response to them are also part of his legacy . One sports writer for the main Massachusetts paper , the Boston Globe , wrote of the " Grogan Toughness Meter " in 2003 . The writer , Nick Cafardo , gave a partial listing of Grogan ' s injuries over his 16 - year career : " Five knee surgeries ; screws in his leg after the tip of his fibula snapped ; a cracked fibula that snapped when he tried to practice ; two ruptured disks in his neck , which he played with for 1 1 / 2 seasons ; a broken left hand ( he simply handed off with his right hand ) ; two separated shoulders on each side ; the reattachment of a tendon to his throwing elbow ; and three concussions . " During his career with the Patriots , Grogan would play with some other great NFL players , such as Sports Illustrated ' s " Greatest Offensive Lineman of All Time " , John Hannah . Honors . Grogan ' s high school , Ottawa High School in Ottawa , Kansas has named its football stadium after him . Kansas State has retired the number Grogan wore for the Wildcats , # 11 , to jointly honor him and Lynn Dickey , who also wore # 11 . It is the only number retired by Kansas State . ( Grogan wore # 14 with the Patriots . ) Grogan was named to the Patriots 35th Anniversary Team in 1994 , and was elected into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1995 . He was also elected to the Patriot ' s All - Decade teams of the 1970s and the 1980s . His # 14 has yet to be retired by the Patriots . Statistics . Playoffs . Stats from Database of Football , the NFL , and Pro - Football - Reference . com . Injury information from New England Patriots .