Andre Ware
 Ware with the Houston Cougars | |||||||||||||||
| No. 11, 10, 1 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | July 31, 1968 Galveston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Dickinson (Dickinson, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Houston (1987–1989) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1990 / Round: 1 / Pick: 7 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Career CFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||||
Andre Trevor Ware (born July 31, 1968) is an American
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
Ware grew up in the
NFL Draft
, foregoing his senior year.
Professional football career
Ware became the top draft pick of 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
Berlin Thunder, a German NFL Europe
team.
Broadcaster
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 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
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
- List of NCAA major college football yearly passing leaders
- List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders
- Racial issues faced by black quarterbacks
- List of black quarterbacks
References
- ^ 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".
- NFL.com.
- ^ "QB Andre Ware led the revolution at Houston". reviewjournal.com. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
- ^ https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/page/theseason0807ware/houston-andre-ware-changed-game-25-years-ago
- ^ "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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andre Ware.
- Andre Ware at the College Football Hall of Fame
- Andre Ware at Heisman.com
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference