Kent Nix Alvin Kent Nix ( born March 12 , 1944 in Corpus Christi , Texas ) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League . Nix played football collegiately at Texas Christian University ( TCU ) . He is the son of Emery Nix , New York Giants quarterback who played for the New York Giants in 1943 and 1946 . Texas Christian quarterback . Nix helped TCU to an upset of Baylor University in October 1964 . He passed 4 yards to Joe Ball for the first score in a 17 - 14 win at Fort Worth , Texas . He led the Horned Frogs on four long scoring drives as a senior quarterback to defeat Baylor in Waco , Texas , the following October . Nix hit on five consecutive passes during a 79 yard drive for a touchdown , in the second quarter . TCU won on a field goal by Bruce Alford in the third period . Nix tied a Southwest Conference record with 4 touchdown passes of 31 , 24 , 12 , and 15 yards , versus Rice University , in November 1965 . He also scored on a one yard plunge to give Texas Christian a 42 - 14 halftime lead . His first two touchdown passes came in the first ninety - three seconds following Rice fumble s . Nix was bothered for much of his collegiate career by a knee injury . While at TCU , he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity . Green Bay Packers ( 1966 ) . Nix was cut by the Green Bay Packers on August 2 , 1966 . He passed through waivers but was retained on the Packers ' taxi squad for the remainder of the 1966 season . After clearing waivers Nix became a free agent . Pittsburgh Steelers ( 1967 " - " 1969 ) . He got his first chance to play in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers in September 1967 . The Steelers regular quarterback , Bill Nelsen , had an injury to his right knee . Nix was the only other quarterback on the roster . He made his debut against the Philadelphia Eagles . Nix connected on an 18 - yard pass to J . R . Wilburn to tie the score , 24 - 24 , midway through the fourth quarter . The Steelers lost in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , 34 - 24 . Nix completed 23 of 34 passes against the Cleveland Browns for 218 yards and one touchdown , in October 1967 . Split end Dick Compton caught ten of his passes . Nix hit rookie Steelers ' running back , Don Shy , for a 27 yard touchdown in a loss to the Giants at Pittsburgh , on October 15 . Tom Landry called Nix the best rookie quarterback he had seen in ten years . Nix guided the Steelers to a 24 - 14 triumph against the Detroit Lions on December 3 . He handed off to Shy for two one yard touchdowns to cap drives of 80 and 64 yards in the first and second quarters . He fooled the Lions ' defense by passing often on first and second down . Most significantly Nix found swift J . R . Wilburn for a 67 yard touchdown with 1 : 49 remaining in the second quarter . He led the Steelers on a 78 yard drive , completed by a Nix to John Hilton 3 yard touchdown pass , which gave Pittsburgh a temporary 10 - 9 lead against the Washington Redskins . During the drive at Pittsburgh on December 10 , Wilburn caught four passes for fifty - five yards . The Steelers traded Nix during the 1970 preseason to the Minnesota Vikings , but he failed to make their roster and signed with the bears before the season started . Chicago Bears ( 1970 " - " 1971 ) . Nix signed with the Chicago Bears and spent the 1970 season on the taxi squad . He rallied the Bears in the fourth quarter for a second straight week , coming from behind to upset the Vikings , 20 - 17 , in September 1971 . He threw touchdown passes of 36 and 26 yards to Dick Gordon in Minneapolis . The latter pass found Gordon in the end zone with 1 : 42 remaining in the game . Bears starting quarterback , Jack Concannon , was knocked out of the game on a hit by Carl Eller . Nix started his first game since 1968 in a 35 - 14 beating of the New Orleans Saints at Soldier Field . He threw touchdown passes of 25 and 35 yards to Bob Wallace and Gordon . Overall he completed 14 of 24 passes for 242 yards . The Bears waived Nix on September 13 , 1972 . In March 1974 Nix filed suit against the Bears , charging they had misdiagnosed a November 1971 hand injury as a " sprained wrist " . He asked for more than $ 10 , 000 . Nix had continued playing following the preliminary diagnosis . In his lawsuit he claimed that the injury was aggravated . A later diagnosis stated that the injury was " a rupture of both tendons of the index finger of the right hand . " Houston Oilers ( 1972 ) . The Houston Oilers signed him to their taxi squad on September 21 . Houston traded Nix along with Ron Billingsley to the New Orleans Saints for Dave Parks , Tom Stincic , and Edd Hargett .