02/09/2025
🏈🎂Happy 80th birthday to Bob Griese! Griese was born on February 3, 1945 in Evansville, Indiana. After graduating from Evansville's Rex Mundi High School, Griese attended Purdue University (1963–1966). Griese pitched for the Purdue baseball team, going 12–1 one season, played guard on the Purdue basketball team, and played quarterback, kicker, and punter for the Purdue football team. There are at least four football games in which Griese was in some way responsible for all of Purdue's points. Griese was a two-time All-American at Purdue, finishing at No. 8 in the 1965 Heisman Trophy race and was the runner-up to Steve Spurrier for the 1966 Heisman Trophy. Purdue finished second in the Big Ten in 1966, and he led the school's first appearance in the Rose Bowl, where they defeated USC 14–13. Griese was then selected by the AFL's Miami Dolphins as the fourth player in the 1967 Common Draft. Widely regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami's undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. He played his entire career with the Dolphins (1967–1980). Griese is one of three quarterbacks from Purdue to win the Super Bowl (along with Len Dawson and Drew Brees). Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame and the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1984, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1992. His son, Brian Griese, also played quarterback in the NFL.🎂🏈
