Marc Wilson ( American football ) Marc Douglas Wilson ( born February 15 , 1957 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League ( NFL ) for eleven seasons during the 1980s and 1990s . He played college football for Brigham Young University , and was recognized as an All - American . A first - round pick in the 1980 NFL Draft , he played professionally for the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders and the New England Patriots of the NFL . Early years . Wilson was born in Bremerton , Washington . Raised in the greater Seattle area , he attended Shorecrest High School in Shoreline , Washington . College career . Wilson attended Brigham Young University , where he played for the BYU Cougars football team from 1976 to 1979 , and was one of the first in BYU ' s celebrated line of quarterbacks . Cougars coach LaVell Edwards operated a passing - oriented offense that allowed his quarterbacks to throw the ball almost every single down . Thus , Wilson was able to pile up huge passing numbers in an era when most teams mainly focused on running the ball . Marc first got a chance to start in the fifth game of the 1977 season , replacing All - American Gifford Nielsen , who had gone down after four contests with an injury . During that 1977 season , his sophomore year , he threw for seven touchdown passes in one game against Colorado State University , his first start . After that , he started most of BYU ' s games over the next two - and - a - half seasons , racking up a 22 - 4 record , though he did yield a few starts to budding star Jim McMahon . In 1979 , he threw 250 completions for 3 , 720 yards and 29 touchdown passes , becoming the school ' s first consensus All - American . Highlights of his 1979 season included leading the team to an undefeated regular season and a berth in the Holiday Bowl , where he shared the MVP trophy with Indiana University cornerback Tim Wilbur in BYU ' s 38 - 37 loss . He finished fourth in the nation in passing efficiency , third in the Heisman voting , and was named the Senior Bowl MVP . Wilson ' s success paved the way for McMahon , Steve Young , Robbie Bosco , Ty Detmer , and other BYU quarterbacks , all of whom had similar performances in Edwards ' system . Pro football career . In the 1980 NFL Draft , Wilson was selected by the Oakland Raiders . He was a backup to Jim Plunkett on the Raiders ' 1980 championship team , then led the team in passing in 1981 before throwing only two passes as a backup to Plunkett in the strike - shortened 1982 season , the team ' s first in Los Angeles . He took over for Plunkett as the starter midway through the 1983 season but was injured two games later ; Plunkett returned and lead the Raiders to victory in Super Bowl XVIII in January 1984 . Despite leading the Raiders to the AFC West title in 1985 , Wilson never established himself as an elite NFL quarterback ; he threw three interceptions in a home playoff loss to New England that year and never played in the postseason again . He was outplayed and replaced by the aging Plunkett in 1984 and 1986 , and in 1987 was the quarterback of record in the Raiders ' first losing season since 1981 . He never ranked among the top quarterbacks in the NFL , and bowed out after two unproductive seasons with the New England Patriots , the latter being a difficult 1 - 15 year during which Wilson played with a broken throwing hand and separated non - throwing shoulder the entire season . This was a far cry from his outstanding collegiate career at BYU , when 9 - and 10 - win seasons were typical . He spent the 1988 preseason with the Green Bay Packers .