American football player and analyst (born 1968)
American football player
Andre Ware
Ware with the Houston Cougars
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Position:
| Quarterback
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Born:
| (
1968-07-31
)
July 31, 1968
(age 55)
Galveston, Texas
, U.S.
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Height:
| 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
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Weight:
| 205 lb (93 kg)
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|
High school:
| Dickinson
(
Dickinson, Texas
)
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College:
| Houston
(1987?1989)
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NFL draft:
| 1990
/ Round: 1 / Pick: 7
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* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
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Passing attempts:
| 161
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Passing completions:
| 83
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Completion percentage:
| 51.6%
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TD
?
INT
:
| 5?8
|
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Passing yards:
| 1,112
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Passer rating
:
| 63.5
|
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Rushing yards:
| 217
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|
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Passing attempts:
| 249
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Passing completions:
| 134
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Completion percentage:
| 58.8%
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TD?INT:
| 10?10
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Passing yards:
| 1,542
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Player stats at
PFR
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Andre Trevor Ware
(born July 31, 1968) is an American
sports analyst
and
commentator
, and a former
football
quarterback
. He played in the
National Football League
(NFL), the
Canadian Football League
(CFL) and the
NFL Europe
. Ware played
college football
for the
Houston Cougars
, winning the
Heisman Trophy
and
Davey O'Brien Award
in 1989. He was the first black quarterback to receive the Heisman.
[1]
In the
1990 NFL Draft
, Ware was selected in the first round by the
Detroit Lions
with the seventh overall pick. He was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
in 2004.
College career
[
edit
]
Ware grew up in the
Galveston, Texas
region, hoping to play football at the
University of Texas
. He said "I was going to Texas. All they had to do was lie to me and tell me I was going to play quarterback once I got there. Thank goodness they told me the truth [that] they were going to move me to defense".
[2]
After graduating from
Dickinson High School
, Ware instead played at the
University of Houston
, where he won the
Heisman Trophy
in 1989, along with the
Davey O'Brien Award
, the latter award given to the most outstanding college quarterback of the year. That season - his junior year - averaging 52 passes per contest (365-of-578, 63.1%), he threw for 4,699 yards (427.18 yds/g or 127 yds/quarter), 46 touchdowns,
[3]
and set 27
NCAA
records over the span of 11 games, seven of which he sat during the fourth quarter. Many of the records (including the notable 340 yards/5 TDs in the first quarter and 517 yards/6 TDs thrown in one half, set on October 21, 1989 in a 95-21 rout against the
SMU Mustangs
[4]
[5]
) were thanks to the innovative use of the
run and shoot offense
, which his successor,
David Klingler
, also used to great effect. The
1989 Cougars
were the first FBS team to have a 4,000-yard passer,
1,000-yard rusher
, and
1,000-yard receiver
in the same season,
[6]
where they ended the season 9-2 after averaging 624.9 y/g and ranked the #14 team in the nation by the
Associated Press
, but were on probation, making Ware the only quarterback to win the Heisman while playing for a team on probation.
[7]
He then declared for the
NFL Draft
, foregoing his senior year.
Ware became the top draft pick of the
Detroit Lions
in the
1990 NFL Draft
.
[8]
Head coach
Wayne Fontes
overrode the advice of the team's scouting director, who resigned the next day. Ware joined the Lions for the
1990 season
, teaming with the previous Heisman Trophy winner from 1988,
Barry Sanders
. Ware spent four years with Detroit, playing 14 games and starting six: Coach Fontes insisted on starting the oft-injured
Rodney Peete
, and usually replacing Peete with
Erik Kramer
when Peete was hurt or played poorly. Fontes generally only played Ware when the Lions were out of the playoffs or already losing a game by a wide margin. Ware's best stretch came late in the
1992 season
when the Lions were out of the playoffs: he won two of three games. He began
1994
on the roster of the
Los Angeles Raiders
, but was released after several games. In 1995, he was signed by the
Jacksonville Jaguars
, one of the NFL's two
expansion teams
that year. As a former Heisman Trophy winner, Ware's presence gathered much local excitement in Jacksonville,
[9]
but ultimately, Ware was cut from the team the week before the regular season began.
It is debated why Ware failed in the NFL despite a prolific college career. While some have argued that Ware's coaches never gave him a fair chance to develop, others have noticed that he was
unable to adapt to an offensive system
other than the run-and-shoot offense at Houston.
[1]
Ware also played in the
Canadian Football League
with the
Ottawa Rough Riders
, the
BC Lions
and the
Toronto Argonauts
(where he backed up fellow Heisman winner
Doug Flutie
). He spent five games with the
Berlin Thunder
, a German
NFL Europe
team.
Broadcaster
[
edit
]
Since 2002, Ware has been a part of the
Houston Texans
' radio broadcast team with
Marc Vandermeer
.
Since 2003, Ware has been a college football analyst for
ESPN
. From 2003 until 2008, he called games on
ESPN
, ESPN2 and
ESPN on ABC
. In July 2009, ESPN announced that Ware would team up with long-time SEC broadcaster
Dave Neal
in the fall of 2009 as color commentator for
ESPN Regional Television
's coverage of
Southeastern Conference
Football. Ware continued in this role until 2013. From 2014 through 2019, he called games for ESPN's
SEC Network
, then joined the ESPN College Football Friday Primetime team in 2020.
[10]
Honors
[
edit
]
In 2004, Ware was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
. On February 29, 2012, he was inducted into the
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
. Other members of his class include
Texas A&M University
Women's basketball Coach
Gary Blair
,
Shawn Andaya
, University of Texas Football Coach
Mack Brown
,
Fred Couples
, Coach
Lovie Smith
,
G. A. Moore
,
Bubba Smith
,
Dave Parks
, and
Tobin Rote
.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Bembry, Jerry (November 23, 2017).
"Andre Ware isn't just an analyst, he's the first black quarterback to win the Heisman"
.
Andscape
. Retrieved
March 20,
2019
.
- ^
Weissman, Steve (host); Ware, Andre; Schad, Joe (April 21, 2014).
College Football Live
. ESPN.
- ^
"Andre Ware"
.
- ^
"Ten unbreakable college football records"
.
NFL.com
.
- ^
"QB Andre Ware led the revolution at Houston"
.
reviewjournal.com
. Retrieved
April 1,
2023
.
- ^
"25 years later, Andre Ware's season matters"
.
ESPN.com
. August 7, 2014
. Retrieved
May 23,
2024
.
- ^
"Andre Ware"
.
- ^
"1990 NFL Draft Listing"
.
Pro-Football-Reference.com
. Retrieved
May 24,
2023
.
- ^
"Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search"
.
news.google.com
.
- ^
"Andre Ware"
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Andre Ware
.
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Offense
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Defense
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Special teams
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