2023
The Official Website of Super Bowl Champion #16 QB Jim Plunkett
Born: December 4, 1947 in San Jose, CA
College: Stanford (1968-1970)
NFL Career: 1971-1986
"I'd always liked him. He is a winner."
– Al Davis
Jim : His Journey, Part I
James William Plunkett was born on December 5, 1947 in San Jose, California. Jim was the youngest of three, and the only boy. Both Mexican-Americans, his parents, William and Carmen, were born in New Mexico.
At 14, Jim won a throwing contest, throwing a football over 60 yards. He attended James Lick High School in East San Jose, California, playing both quarterback and defensive end. Jim also competed in basketball, baseball, track and wrestling, winning a California High School Individual Wrestling Championship. His photo is displayed on the James Lick High School Hall of Fame wall.
Jim had a rough freshman year at Stanford University, having to have a thyroid operation. Originally, Stanford's head football coach John Ralston wanted to switch Jim to defensive end, but Jim was adamant that he remained at quarterback. He threw 500 to 1,000 passes a day to strengthen his arm.
Jim started at quarterback in 1968. In his first game as a starter, he completed 10 of 13 passes for 277 yards and 4 touchdowns. He kept the starting quarterback position the rest of his Stanford career.
In Jim's junior year, he set league records for touchdown passes (20), passing yards (2,673), and total offense (2,786).
In his senior year, Jim led Stanford to a conference championship and Stanford's first Rose Bowl appearance since 1952. Jim led the team to a 27-17 victory of the heavily favored Ohio State Buckeyes. Jim was named Rose Bowl Player of the Game.
Breaking his own record, Jim finished his senior season with 18 passing and 3 rushing touchdowns adding to his 2,715 passing yards. Jim beat out Notre Dame's QB Joe Theismann and Ole Miss' QB Archie Manning to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 1970.
He also won the lesser known, but very prestigious Maxwell Award for the best college player in the nation, and was named Player of the Year by United Press International, The Sporting News, and SPORT Magazine. The American College Football Coaches Association named him their Offensive Player of the Year. Jim became only the second multiple recipient of the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy for the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast, winning the award in 1969 and 1970.
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"Jim Plunkett is the best college football player I've ever seen."
– Washington State Coach Jim Sweeney
Jim : His Journey, Part II
UCLA football coach Tommy Prothro called Jim Plunkett "the best quarterback prospect I've ever seen." High praise considering the other quarterbacks in the same class as Jim; Archie Manning, Joe Theismann, etc.
Jim's college football success and the intangibles like excellent arm strength, great precision, and more, made him very attractive to NFL teams. In the late 1960s, pro teams heavily relied on the passing game much more than most college teams.
In the 1971 NFL draft, Jim was drafted first overall by the Boston Patriots who officially changed their name to the New England Patriots that same year. The first Hispanic heritage football player to become the first overall pick. The second pick in the draft was Archie Manning and third was none other than Dan Pastorini. Amazingly, Joe Theismann slipped all the way to the ninety ninth overall pick in the fourth round.
Ironically, Jim Plunkett's first NFL game was against the Oakland Raiders. He led the Patriots to a 20-6 victory. It was also the first regular-season game the Patriots had played at Schaefer Stadium.
In the fourth quarter during the last game of the season, Jim made an 88-yard touchdown pass to his former Stanford teammate WR Randy Vataha. The Patriots won and dropped the division leading Baltimore Colts to second place in the division behind the Miami Dolphins. Two weeks before the Colts game, Jim engineered a 34-13 victory over the Dolphins.
Jim was named the NFL Rookie of the Year.
He finished second in passing yards in 1973 (2,550) and he led the 1974 New England Patriots to a 6-1 start. It was the team's first winning season record in eight years. The team finished second in team scoring with 348 points.
Unfortunately, Jim suffered a left shoulder separation at the beginning of the 1975 season. The situation gave rookie QB Steve Grogan extensive experience. Under new leadership, the team became more run-oriented. That off-season, Jim was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
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Jim at Stanford
"He (Al Davis) signed me and although I had other offers, I didn’t want to leave California again and go somewhere else. He provided me that opportunity and then my job was to take advantage of that opportunity, and fortunately, I did."
– Jim Plunkett
Jim : His Journey, Part III
After a 6-1 start in 1976, the 49ers sputtered, ending with an 8-6 record. A 5-9 record in 1977, Jim was released that off-season.
Not wanting to leave the bay area, Jim turned down other offers and joined the Oakland Raiders in 1978 in a reserve/backup role that lasted two years. He threw zero passes during the 1978 season and only fifteen in 1979.
Jim began to think his career was going to languish until he retired. He was wrong.
During the fifth game of the 1980 season versus Kansas City, then Raiders starting QB Dan Pastorini fractured his leg. Jim was called on to relieve Pastorini in a losing game.
The Raiders needed to make a decision and chose Jim over the inexperienced QB Marc Wilson to lead the team the remainder of the season.
In his first start for the Raiders, Jim went 11 for 14 with a touchdown and no interceptions. Jim then led the Raiders to 9 victories, just making a playoff spot as a wild card.
Raiders fans were thrilled when Jim and the Raiders won four playoff games, making the Raiders the very first wild card team to ever win the Super Bowl, defeating a shocked Philadelphia Eagles team 27-10 in Super Bowl XV.
Jim threw for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns and was named the Super Bowl MVP. Quite a turnaround for a guy who started the season as a backup.
The NFL awarded Jim Plunkett with the 1980 NFL Comeback Player of the Year award for showing perseverance and overcoming adversity.
The Raiders moved to Los Angeles, and Jim was benched at the beginning of the 1983 season. Once again, the starting QB got injured, this time it was Marc Wilson. Jim took over as starting quarterback and took the team to another Super Bowl appearance. The Plunkett-led Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Theismann-led Washington Redskins 38-9. Jim completed 16 of 25 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.
"He has to be one of the great comeback stories of our time," Raiders owner Al Davis.
Jim retired after the 1987 season as the 4th leading passer in Raiders history and the only NFL quarterback to win two Super Bowls with the same team in two different cities.
Jim was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990, The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, and the California Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
"Jim Plunkett had the biggest heart. The most courage of anybody I ever played with."
– TE Raymond Chester