Rich Gannon

Richard Joseph Gannon (born December 20, 1965) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years.

Gannon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and played college football for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in coach Tubby Raymond's Wing-T offense. He recorded at least 2,000 offensive yards for three straight seasons at Delaware and was Yankee Conference Offensive Player of the Year as a senior. In the 1987 NFL draft, the New England Patriots selected Gannon in the fourth round intent upon converting Gannon to running back. He was soon traded to the Minnesota Vikings and would play with the Vikings until 1992. Gannon began his career as a backup for Wade Wilson. Gannon started his first games in 1990 in relief of an injured Wilson and would start many games in 1991. In 1992, he formally became the starting quarterback for the Vikings and led the Vikings to an 11–5 season and the playoffs after two consecutive losing seasons.

Gannon played for the Washington Redskins in 1993, the Kansas City Chiefs from 1995 to 1998, and the Oakland Raiders from 1999 to 2004. With the Raiders, he achieved his greatest successes, including four consecutive seasons making the Pro Bowl (1999–2002), three consecutive postseason appearances for the Raiders (2000–2002), two All-Pro selections (2000, 2002), one MVP, and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII. However, Gannon spent much of his final two seasons (2003 and 2004) with injuries, and the Raiders had losing records in those seasons. After retiring from football before the 2005 season, Gannon began a career in sports broadcasting. He served as a sports analyst for NFL on CBS through the 2020 NFL season.