John Reaves Thomas Johnson Reaves ( born March 2 , 1950 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for eleven seasons in the National Football League ( NFL ) and three seasons in the United States Football League ( USFL ) during the 1970s and 1980s . Reaves played college football for the University of Florida , and earned All - American honors . He was a first - round pick in the 1972 NFL Draft , and played professionally for the Philadelphia Eagles , Cincinnati Bengals , Minnesota Vikings , Houston Oilers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL , and the Tampa Bay Bandits of the USFL . Early life . Reaves was born in Anniston , Alabama in 1950 , but moved to Tampa , Florida with his mother and grandmother after his father died when he was 9 years old . He attended T . R . Robinson High School in Tampa , where he was a star high school football quarterback for the Robinson Knights . As a senior in 1967 , he led the Knights to the Florida Class 2A football semifinal game before losing to the Coral Gables Cavaliers , who won the state championship and were ranked as the national champions afterward . Reaves was lauded as the State Player of the Year . He also played basketball and baseball and ran track for the Knights , and once scored fifty - two points in a high school basketball game . In 2007 , thirty - nine years after he graduated from high school , the Florida High School Athletic Association ( FHSAA ) recognized Reaves as one of the " 100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years " of Florida high school football . College career . After graduating from high school , Reaves received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , and played quarterback for coach Ray Graves and coach Doug Dickey ' s Florida Gators football teams from 1969 to 1971 . In his first season as the Gators ' starting quarterback , Reaves was part of a group of second - year star players known as the " Super Sophs " that included Reaves , wide receiver Carlos Alvarez and running back Tommy Durrance . Reaves and the Super Sophs led the Gators to their all - time best season record of 9 – 1 – 1 , and an upset 14 – 13 victory over the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1969 Gator Bowl . Reaves and Alvarez subsequently broke every Florida passing and receiving record during their three - season college careers , and Reaves set the National Collegiate Athletic Association ( NCAA ) career passing record of 7 , 581 yards and the Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) career record of fifty - six touchdown s . Reaves was a first - team All - SEC selection in 1969 , a first - team All - American in 1971 , and a team captain in 1971 . As a senior , he received the Sammy Baugh Trophy , recognizing the nation ' s best college passer , and the Gators ' Fergie Ferguson Award , recognizing the " senior football player who displays outstanding leadership , character and courage . " His record as the NCAA ' s all - time career leader in passing yards was achieved after a controversial fourth - quarter play in the last game of the 1971 regular season , when most members of the Florida Gators defense laid down on the field in the fourth quarter , allowing the Miami Hurricanes to score a touchdown with enough time for Florida ' s offense to get the ball back so Reaves could set the record . The event is commonly referred to as the " , " and is often recalled bitterly by Hurricanes alumni and fans . Reaves returned to Gainesville during the NFL off - season and completed his bachelor ' s degree in business administration in 1973 , and he was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 1985 . He was picked as No . 30 among the 100 greatest Gators from the first century of the Florida football program by " The Gainesville Sun " in 2006 . Professional career . Reaves was selected in the first round ( fourteenth pick overall ) of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles , and he played for the Eagles from to . He was then traded to the Cincinnati Bengals in , claimed off waivers by the Minnesota Vikings in , and signed to the Houston Oilers in . Reaves jumped to the expansion Tampa Bay Bandits of the start - up USFL in 1983 ; he was the Bandits ' starting quarterback for three seasons under head coach Steve Spurrier in a pass - oriented offense . After the USFL dissolved after the 1985 season , Reaves returned to the NFL for one final season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in . Reaves ' NFL career was that of a journeyman back - up — and his NFL career total of 3 , 417 yards showed it . In Reaves ' two seasons as the Bandits ' full - time starting quarterback , however , he threw for over 4 , 000 yards passing both years ( 1984 and 1985 ) , and just over 10 , 000 total yards in his three - season USFL career ( 1983 – 1985 ) . Life after the NFL . Reaves was an assistant football coach for the Florida Gators under head coach Steve Spurrier from 1990 to 1992 and again in 1994 , working primarily with the Gators quarterbacks , including Shane Matthews . He left Gainesville to become an assistant coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks under head coach Brad Scott from 1995 to 1997 . Reaves was arrested on gun and drug possession charges in 2008 . Reaves entered an Atlanta area substance abuse rehabilitation program in May 2009 . Football family . Reaves is the father - in - law of former USC Trojans football head coach Lane Kiffin , who is married to Reaves ' daughter Layla . Reaves ' son David was an assistant coach under Kiffin during Kiffin ' s one year as the Tennessee Volunteers football head coach . Reaves ' younger son Stephen was a back - up quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) .