Strong Arm Tactics:

A History and Statistical Analysis of the Professional Quarterback

 

The Canadian Football League

There have been a number of leagues that have challenged the NFL over the past century. Red Grange's American Football League in 1926 and two subsequent AFL's prior to World War II did not last long and did not leave a full statistical record of their games. Both the All America Football Conference and the AFL from the 1960s left a much bigger footprint and are covered fully in the book. However, the Canadian Football League has fancied itself as an alternative for certain modern periods and has supplied the NFL with a good number of quarterbacks as well. A merger of two Canadian leagues formed the CFL in 1954 so official statistics date from either 1950 when the Western league began keeping them or from the merger year of 1954. This table lists the leading CFL passers of the past 50+ years.

CFL Quarterbacks (Minimum 5,000 Yards), by Yards, through 2007

Quarterback League Years Att Comp % Yards Y/Att TD Int Rating
Damon Allen CFL 1985-07 9138 5158 56.4% 72381 7.9 394 278 83.8
Danny McManus CFL 1990-06 6689 3640 54.4% 53255 8.0 259 281 76.0
Anthony Calvillo CFL 1994-07 6238 3792 60.8% 53050 8.5 285 171 92.0
Ron Lancaster CFL 1960-78 6233 3384 54.3% 50535 8.1 333 396 72.4
Matt Dunigan CFL 1983-96 5476 3057 55.8% 43857 8.0 306 211 84.5
Doug Flutie CFL 1990-97 4854 2975 61.3% 41355 8.5 270 155 93.9
Tracy Ham CFL 1987-99 4945 2670 54.0% 40534 8.2 284 164 86.6
Tom Clements CFL 1975-79, 1981-87 4657 2807 60.3% 39041 8.4 252 214 86.1
Kent Austin CFL 1987-96 4700 2709 57.6% 36030 7.7 198 191 79.2
Dieter Brock CFL 1974-84 4535 2602 57.4% 34830 7.7 210 98 88.3
Sam Etcheverry CFL 1952-60 3428 1944 56.7% 30435 8.9 183 163 84.3
Tom Burgess CFL 1986-95 4034 2118 52.5% 30308 7.5 190 104 82.1
Condredge Holloway CFL 1975-87 3013 1710 56.8% 25193 8.4 155 94 88.4
Russ Jackson CFL 1958-69 2530 1356 53.6% 24592 9.7 185 125 91.0
Bernie Faloney CFL 1954, 1957-67 2876 1493 51.9% 24264 8.4 151 201 68.9
Roy Dewalt CFL 1982-88 3130 1803 57.6% 24147 7.7 132 96 83.5
Danny Barrett CFL 1983-96 3078 1656 53.8% 23419 7.6 133 83 81.8
Dave Dickenson CFL 1996-07 2412 1630 67.6% 22834 9.5 154 50 110.5
Joe Kapp CFL 1959-66 2709 1476 54.5% 22725 8.4 136 130 79.2
Henry Burris CFL 1998-00, 2003-07 2658 1537 57.8% 22678 8.5 138 92 88.7
Tom Wilkinson CFL 1967-81 2662 1613 60.6% 22579 8.5 154 126 87.5
Joe Paopao CFL 1978-88 3008 1721 57.2% 22474 7.5 117 157 72.1
Ricky Ray CFL 2002-07 2652 1771 66.8% 21793 8.2 127 74 96.3
Mike Kerrigan CFL 1986-96 2870 1534 53.4% 21714 7.6 126 163 69.1
John Hufnagel CFL 1976-87 2694 1495 55.5% 21594 8.0 127 131 77.2
Khari Jones CFL 1997-05 2648 1513 57.1% 21383 8.1 145 104 85.2
Pete Liske CFL 1965-68, 1973-75 2571 1449 56.4% 21266 8.3 130 133 78.8
Warren Moon CFL 1978-83 2382 1369 57.5% 21228 8.9 144 77 93.8
David Archer CFL 1993-96, 98 2434 1388 57.0% 20671 8.5 120 71 89.3
Joe Barnes CFL 1976-86 2454 1350 55.0% 18491 7.5 94 117 72.2
Kerry Joseph CFL 2003-07 2251 1337 59.4% 18413 8.2 103 78 86.5
Jerry Keeling CFL 1961-75 2405 1213 50.4% 18308 7.6 117 157 64.8
Kerwin Bell CFL 1993-95, 1998-01 2254 1395 61.9% 17428 7.7 93 70 86.7
Kevin Glenn CFL 2001-07 2050 1204 58.7% 16667 8.1 101 89 83.2
Jackie Parker CFL 1954-68 2061 1089 52.8% 16476 8.0 88 123 68.8
Kenny Ploen CFL 1957-67 1916 1080 56.4% 16470 8.6 119 106 82.5
Jeff Garcia CFL 1994-98 2024 1249 61.7% 16442 8.1 111 52 94.9
Reggie Slack CFL 1993-99, 2002 2145 1220 56.9% 15759 7.3 83 74 78.6
Frank Tripucka CFL 1953-59, 1963 1930 1090 56.5% 15506 8.0 82 136 67.4
Marcus Crandell CFL 1997-99, 2001-06 2080 1152 55.4% 15321 7.4 74 80 74.8
Don Jonas CFL 1970-74 1930 997 51.7% 15064 7.8 98 130 66.5
Sonny Wade CFL 1969-78 2087 1083 51.9% 15014 7.2 89 169 55.8
Nealon Greene CFL 1998-07 2018 1192 59.1% 14518 7.2 78 56 82.6
Eagle Day CFL 1956, 1961-66 1753 1015 57.9% 14405 8.2 68 71 80.6
Chuck Ealey CFL 1972-78 1726 955 55.3% 13326 7.7 82 69 79.5
Wally Gabler CFL 1966-72 1690 848 50.2% 13080 7.7 61 118 59.1
Joe Zuger CFL 1962-63, 1965-71 1618 814 50.3% 12676 7.8 76 95 67.8
JC Watts CFL 1981, 1983-86 1608 851 52.9% 12414 7.7 66 93 67.9
Jimmy Jones CFL 1973-79 1721 950 55.2% 12405 7.2 72 84 71.7
Jack Jacobs CFL 1950-54 1330 709 53.3% 11094 8.3 104 53 90.7
Ricky Foggie CFL 1988-95 1433 660 46.1% 10743 7.5 64 74 65.1
Bruce Lemmerman CFL 1971-78, 1980 1495 816 54.6% 10522 7.0 63 83 67.8
Tobin Rote CFL 1960-62 1187 663 55.9% 9872 8.3 66 58 81.5
Gerry Dattilio CFL 1975-85 1271 696 54.8% 9825 7.7 53 79 67.9
Norby Wirkowski CFL 1952-60 1166 620 53.2% 9701 8.3 52 65 72.7
Gilbert Renfroe CFL 1986-89, 1991-92, 1994 1296 657 50.7% 9141 7.1 48 55 68.4
Ron Getty CFL 1955-65 992 543 54.7% 8952 9.0 58 60 79.6
Frank Consentino CFL 1960-69 1093 513 46.9% 8890 8.1 58 73 64.9
Don Morehead CFL 1971-75 1134 602 53.1% 8689 7.7 42 58 69.3
Hal Ledyard CFL 1956-58, 1961-65 1057 512 48.4% 8625 8.2 50 77 61.9
Rick Worman CFL 1986-91 1115 563 50.5% 8577 7.7 55 50 74.0
Jerry Tagge CFL 1977-79 989 564 57.0% 7052 7.1 32 38 74.1
Casey Printers CFL 2003-05 712 457 64.2% 6763 9.5 45 16 106.9
Bernard Quarles CFL 1983-86 802 430 53.6% 6489 8.1 30 40 72.2
Michael Bishop CFL 2002-07 813 396 48.7% 6187 7.6 41 43 69.2
Joe Theismann CFL 1971-73 679 382 56.3% 6093 9.0 40 34 85.1
Keith Spaith CFL 1948-54 809 391 48.3% 6017 7.4 23 53 55.5
Arnold Galiffa CFL 1955-56 715 412 57.6% 5968 8.3 42 35 84.1
Sean Salisbury CFL 1988-89 797 393 49.3% 5615 7.0 37 31 71.8
Joe Adams CFL 1982-84 740 391 52.8% 5342 7.2 27 22 76.0
Tom Dublinski CFL 1955, 1957, 1959, 1961-62 619 351 56.7% 5332 8.6 43 53 72.7
Glenn Dobbs CFL 1951-54 657 328 49.9% 5196 7.9 51 31 82.9
Ken Hobart CFL 1985-87, 1989-90 879 415 47.2% 5080 5.8 31 31 62.6

 

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Updated 8/25/09