Ty Detmer Ty Hubert Detmer ( born October 30 , 1967 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League ( NFL ) for twelve seasons . He played college football for Brigham Young University ( BYU ) , where he broke several NCAA records and won several national awards including the Heisman Trophy . A late - round pick in the 1992 NFL Draft , he played for five NFL teams , mostly in a back - up role . Early years . Detmer was born in San Marcos , Texas . He attended Hobby Middle School , Mount Sacred Heart Middle School , and United Middle School in Laredo , Texas , and Southwest High School in San Antonio , Texas . He earned letters in golf , football , basketball , baseball , and track . As a senior , Detmer won high school All - American honors in football and was the Texas Player of the Year . He also won all - state honors in baseball and all - district accolades in basketball . College career . Detmer attended Brigham Young University , where he played for the BYU Cougars football team from 1987 to 1991 . In deciding which college to attend , he was in part attracted by BYU ' s alcohol - free environment . He redshirt ed for the Cougars during the 1987 season , and shared quarterback duties with Sean Covey as a redshirt freshman in 1988 . Detmer started only one game that year , but he made the most of the opportunity , passing for 333 yards and five touchdowns in a 65 - 0 victory over New Mexico . Later , he was named Most Valuable Player of the 1988 Freedom Bowl , after entering the game as a substitute and leading BYU to a come - from - behind 20 – 17 victory over the Colorado Buffaloes . Detmer became the full - time starter in 1989 . He emerged as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation , passing for 4 , 560 yards and 32 touchdowns during the regular season . His passer rating of 175 . 6 led the NCAA , and he finished second to Houston ' s Andre Ware in total offense . He led BYU to a Western Athletic Conference ( WAC ) Championship , the team ' s first since 1985 . Detmer finished the season with a strong performance against Penn State in the 1989 Holiday Bowl , setting NCAA records for most passing yards ( 576 ) and most yards of total offense ( 594 ) in a single bowl game . He finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting . Detmer ' s 1990 junior season ranks as one of the greatest seasons for a quarterback in college football history . He passed for 5 , 188 yards and 41 touchdowns in 12 regular season games , and finished the year with 42 NCAA records ( and tied for five others ) . The highpoint of the season was BYU ' s 28 - 21 upset victory over the top - ranked Miami Hurricanes ; Detmer led the Cougars by passing for 406 yards and three touchdowns against the defending national champions . For his efforts , he was awarded the Heisman Trophy , and received many other honors including the Maxwell Award and the Davey O ' Brien Award . He was recognized as a consensus first - team All - American , having been named to the first teams of the Associated Press , UPI , Newspaper Enterprise Association , Football Writers Association of America , Walter Camp Foundation , " Football News " , Scripps Howard , and the " Sporting News " . Unfortunately for Detmer and BYU , the season ended in disastrous fashion : the Cougars lost 59 - 28 in their final regular season game against Hawaii , then lost 65 - 14 to Texas A & M in the 1990 Holiday Bowl . Detmer was knocked out of the game against Texas A & M , suffering two separated shoulders that required off - season surgery . The 1991 season started poorly for BYU . With inexperienced teammates , Detmer could not get BYU ' s offense going , and the Cougars lost their first three games ( road contests against Florida State , UCLA , and Penn State ) . After an 0 – 3 start , Detmer and BYU turned things around . The Cougars won eight straight games , and clinched their third consecutive WAC championship with a spectacular 52 – 52 tie against San Diego State in their final regular season game . In that contest , BYU fell behind 45 – 17 before Detmer led a comeback . He finished the game with 599 passing yards and six touchdowns , both career highs . In his final game as a Cougar , Detmer passed for 350 yards to lead BYU to a 13 – 13 tie against heavily favored Iowa in the 1991 Holiday Bowl . He totaled 4 , 031 passing yards and 35 touchdowns in regular season play during his senior year . He finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting , but won the Davey O ' Brien Award again and also earned the Sammy Baugh Trophy and Today ' s Top VI Award . Additionally , he was again recognized as a consensus first - team All - American . Detmer finished his college career with the following totals : 1 , 530 pass attempts ; 958 completions ; 15 , 031 passing yards ; 121 touchdown passes ; 14 , 665 yards of total offense ; 135 touchdowns responsible for ; and 162 . 7 passer rating — all NCAA records at the time . In total , he finished his college career with 59 NCAA records and tied for three others . Including statistics from bowl games , Detmer amassed 16 , 206 passing yards and 127 touchdown passes at BYU . He graduated with a bachelor ' s degree in recreation administration . In 2012 , Detmer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame . Professional career . Green Bay Packers . Despite his success at BYU , many analysts thought that Detmer was too small to play quarterback in the NFL . The Green Bay Packers drafted him in the ninth round ( 230th pick overall ) of the 1992 NFL Draft . Detmer spent four seasons with the Packers , but appeared in only seven games while serving as back - up to starter Brett Favre . Philadelphia Eagles . Detmer found more playing time after signing a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996 . After Rodney Peete suffered a knee injury , Detmer became the team ' s starting quarterback . Detmer posted a 4 – 0 record in his first four starts . In his first start against the division rival New York Giants , Detmer completed 18 of 33 passes for 170 yards and no interceptions in the 19 – 10 victory . In his second start , he threw four touchdown passes ( all to Irving Fryar ) against the Miami Dolphins . The following week , he passed for a career - high 342 yards against the Carolina Panthers . The next week , he passed for 217 yards and a touchdown and added his first career rushing touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys . It was Philadelphia ' s first victory at Dallas since 1991 , and earned Detmer the Miller Lite NFL Player of the Week award . A few weeks later , Detmer and the Eagles ended a three - game losing streak as they shut out the Giants in the rematch 24 – 0 . Detmer threw three touchdowns in the win . For the year , Detmer passed for 2 , 911 yards and 15 touchdowns ; his 80 . 8 passer rating ranked fourth among NFC quarterbacks . The Eagles posted a 7 – 4 record with Detmer as the starter during the 1996 season , good enough to enter the NFC playoffs . The following season , Detmer shared quarterback duties with Rodney Peete and Bobby Hoying . San Francisco 49ers . Detmer left Philadelphia in 1998 and joined the San Francisco 49ers as a backup to Steve Young . He spent only one season in San Francisco . His lone start came against the Panthers in which he passed for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 49ers ' 25 – 23 victory . Cleveland Browns . Detmer was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 1999 ; the Browns wanted him to mentor rookie quarterback Tim Couch . Detmer started the first game of the 1999 season , then served as backup until Couch sprained his foot in week 15 . He started the final game of the 1999 season . Detmer injured his right Achilles and was inactive the entire 2000 season . Detroit Lions . Detmer spent three seasons ( 2001 to 2003 ) with the Detroit Lions where he started four games during the 2001 season . His first start was a disaster : he threw seven interceptions against the Browns , the second - highest single - game total in NFL history ( tied with seven other players ) . He was eventually replaced as starter , but did start the final two games of the season . He set career highs for attempts ( 50 ) and completions ( 31 ) against the Chicago Bears , finishing with 303 passing yards . He closed out the season with 242 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Cowboys . Atlanta Falcons . Detmer spent the 2004 and 2005 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons , but did not see any action as the third - string quarterback behind Michael Vick and Matt Schaub . In 14 total seasons in the NFL , Detmer played in 54 games ( with 25 starts ) , totaling 6 , 351 yards passing with 34 touchdowns and 35 interceptions . Detmer did not officially retire from football at the time of his release from Atlanta , but he has not played since then . Personal life . Detmer ' s brother , Koy , is also a former NFL quarterback , and their father , Sonny , is a prominent San Antonio high school coach . Detmer became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints during his junior year at BYU . He lives in Austin , Texas , with his wife , Kim , and four daughters – Kaili , Aubri , Mayci , and Rylli . Detmer was a large investor in , and was employed in the Athlete Services Division at , Triton Financial Corporation from 2007 – 2009 , before the firm collapsed and its founder was indicted for fraud . Detmer was not implicated in the scandal , and claims to have lost more money than anyone else . In December 2009 he was announced as the new head football coach at St . Andrew ' s Episcopal School .