Tony Eason Charles Carroll " Tony " Eason , IV ( born October 8 , 1959 , in Blythe , California ) is a former quarterback . He played college football for the University of Illinois ( 1980 – 1982 ) and professional football for the New England Patriots ( 1983 – 1989 ) and New York Jets ( 1989 – 1990 ) . Early years . Eason grew up in Walnut Grove , California , and attended Delta High School in Clarksburg , California , a school with only 250 students at the time . Despite an impressive high school football career , Eason ' s only scholarship offer from a Division I school came from the University of the Pacific in Stockton , California . Eason ' s grades prevented him from enrolling at University of the Pacific , and he opted to attend American River Junior College in Sacramento , California . Eason spent two years playing football at American River in 1978 and 1979 . Illinois . Eason transferred to the University of Illinois and sat out the 1980 season . He was 6 feet , 4 inches tall , and weighed 205 pounds when he took over as the starting quarterback for the Fighting Illini in 1981 . His first start for Illinois matched Eason against Pitt ' s quarterback Dan Marino ; the Illini lost 26 - 6 , but Eason made an impressive debut as he completed 23 of 37 passes for 207 yards ( slightly better than the 204 yards passing by Marino in the game ) . In his first season with the Illini , Eason led the Illini to a 7 - 4 record , but the team was ineligible to play in a bowl game due to sanctions imposed by the Big Ten Conference . Eason completed 248 of 406 passes ( 61 . 1 % ) for 3 , 360 yards and 20 touchdowns . The Illini ranked third in the nation in passing in 1981 , as Eason led the Big Ten in passing efficiency and total offense and set nine conference records , including records for total offense , completions , passing yardage , and passing touchdowns . He also edged out Art Schlichter as the quarterback on the Associated Press ' All Big - Ten football team . Eason earned the nickname " Champaign Tony " while playing at Illinois , based upon the city in which the university is located . As a senior in 1982 , Eason accumulated a school record 3 , 671 passing yards and led the Illini to a 7 - 4 regular season record and its first appearance in a bowl games since the 1964 Rose Bowl . He also broke five NCAA passing records in 1982 and tied four more . The NCAA records set by Eason in 1982 included most total yards per game in a career ( 299 . 5 ) , most passing yards per game in a career ( 300 . 4 ) , most completions per game in a career ( 23 . 9 ) , and most total yards in first two seasons ( 6 , 589 ) . Eason finished second in the voting behind Michigan ' s Anthony Carter for the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten . Eason ' s final game for Illinois was the 1982 Liberty Bowl , which also marked the last head coaching appearance of Bear Bryant for Alabama . Although Illinois lost the game 21 - 15 , Eason registered a record 433 passing yards in the game . Eason also threw four of the Illini ' s seven interceptions in the game . In the 1983 East - West Shrine Game , Eason led the East team to 26 - 25 win over a West team led by John Elway . Eason completed 21 of 34 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns in the game . Eason still holds many of the school ' s all - time passing records , including the following : Professional career . Eason was selected by the New England Patriots in the first round ( 15th overall pick ) of the 1983 NFL Draft . He was one of six quarterbacks picked in the first round of the 1983 Draft along with John Elway ( 1st pick ) , Todd Blackledge ( 7th pick ) , Jim Kelly ( 14th pick ) , Ken O ' Brien ( 24th pick ) , and Dan Marino ( 27th pick ) . Eason appeared in 72 games ( 49 as a starter ) for the Patriots between 1983 and 1989 . His best years were from 1984 to 1986 when he was the Patriots ' starting quarterback . In 1984 , he completed 259 out of 431 passes ( 60 . 1 % ) for 3 , 228 yards and a passer rating of 93 . 4 — third best in the NFL . In 1986 , he completed 276 of 448 passes ( 61 . 6 % ) for 3 , 328 yards and a passer rating of 89 . 2 — fourth best in the NFL . Eason also set an undesirable record in 1984 by being sacked 59 times for a loss of 409 yards ; his 59 sacks was the most in NFL history at the time and currently stands as the ninth highest single season total . Eason also led the NFL in interception percentage in the 1984 season with 1 . 9 % of his passes being intercepted . In the 1985 season , Eason helped the Patriots clinch a playoff berth with a 34 - 23 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale . Eason led the Patriots offense as they became the first team in NFL history to win three games on the road to reach the Super Bowl . He threw three touchdowns against the Marino - led Miami Dolphins in the AFC Championship Game , the first time New England had beaten the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl since 1966 . The Patriots made their first appearance in a Super Bowl in franchise history that year , meeting the Chicago Bears with Jim McMahon and Walter Payton . The Bears ' famed 46 defense defeated Eason and the Patriots in Super Bowl XX , and Eason became the first starting quarterback in Super Bowl history not to complete a pass , going 0 - for - 6 . Eason was replaced with Steve Grogan , but the Patriots still lost the game , by a final score of 46 - 10 , which was the largest winning margin of any Super Bowl up to that time . In 2008 , ESPN ranked Eason ' s performance as the worst ( 82nd out of 82 ) in the history of the Super Bowl , noting , " In addition to his awful passing stats , he lost a fumble and not surprisingly was yanked in the second quarter . " Eason led the Patriots to the AFC East title the following season , but was defeated in the playoffs by John Elway and the Denver Broncos . Eason was traded to the New York Jets during the 1989 NFL season . He appeared in 18 games for the Jets in the 1989 and 1990 seasons , but only two as a starter . Later years . In 2002 , Eason was coaching basketball in the Sacramento area .