Chris Chandler
Position(s): Quarterback	Jersey #: N/A
Date of birth: October 12 1965 (1965--) (age 42)
Place of birth: Everett, Washington
Career information
NFL Draft: 1988 / Round: 3/ Pick 76
College: Washington
Pro Bowls	2
Teams
1988-1989 1990-1991 1991-1993 1994 1995-1996 1997-2001 2002-2003 2004	Indianapolis Colts Tampa Bay Buccaneers Phoenix Cardinals Los Angeles Rams Houston Oilers Atlanta Falcons Chicago Bears St. Louis Rams
Stats at NFL.com
[ Pro Football Hall of Fame, [[{{{HOFYear}}} in sports|{{{HOFYear}}}]]

Chris Chandler is a retired American football player, who played as a quarterback in the National Football League for nearly sixteen years.

Early years

Chris Chandler was born on October 12, 1965 in Everett, Washington. In high school, he was active in basketball, football, track and golf. His high school football quarterbacking stats were 49 TDs, and 2,000 yards passing.

In college, Chandler played for the University of Washington from 1984 to 1987. He finished third in the school's history in total offense with 4,442 yards and 32 touchdown passes, and ended his college career as the Offensive Player of the Game at the 1988 Senior Bowl. He graduated with an economics degree.

Professional career

Chandler played in the NFL for 17 seasons, from 1988-2004. He played for eight teams, a record shared with Mark Royals and Karl Wilson (although Chandler is the only player to have started for eight different teams). He threw for 28,480 yards, and had a career passer rating of 79.3. At the time of his retirement, he was ranked 30th in all-time pass completions, with 2328. He was continually bothered by injuries, which earned him the unflattering moniker of "Crystal Chandelier" amongst his detractors.

1988-1996

He was taken in the third round of the draft by the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts deemed Chandler expendable due to his poor play, and the fact that they selected Jeff George with the first overall choice in the 1990 draft. Chandler joined Tampa Bay in 1990, but struggled, and left after the 1991 season; as a Buccanneer, he had an 0-6 record as a starter, and never had a season passer rating greater than 47.6.

From 1992-1994 he played reasonably well as a starter and backup for the Phoenix Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. After joining the Houston Oilers in 1995, he would earn the starting job. However, late in 1996, Jeff Fisher decided that Steve McNair was ready to start, and Chandler was traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a fourth-round draft choice.

1997-2004

Chandler's best seasons were with Atlanta; coached by Dan Reeves. Chandler was a Pro Bowl quarterback in 1997 and 1998. The 1998 season saw Chandler lead the Falcons to their only Super Bowl appearance, but he lost to John Elway and the Denver Broncos (coached by Mike Shanahan).

Following the 2000 season, Chandler's record as a starting Atlanta quarterback was 28-25, which prompted the Falcons to consider recruiting a new quarterback. Atlanta held the fifth overall pick in the 2001 draft, and traded it along with Tim Dwight to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for the first overall pick. With that, the Falcons selected quarterback Michael Vick. Nonetheless, Chandler would start most of the 2001 season, but would be replaced by Vick in 2002 as the starting quarterback. Chandler left the Falcons ranked third in team history with 13,268 passing yards, but never achieved back-to-back winning seasons, which has plagued the Falcons throughout their history.

In 2002, Chandler was picked up by the Chicago Bears, and spent two seasons there before rejoining the Rams, which had moved to St. Louis. In his first start as a Ram in 2004, he threw six interceptions, a team record. The following week, his poor play led to coach Mike Martz saying "It is tragic that, that position [when played by Chandler] holds this team hostage." [1] As a result, Chandler was the first Ram to be released in the off-season, saving St. Louis $665,000 in cap space.

Personal life

He is the son-in-law of former San Francisco 49er quarterback, John Brodie.

References

External links

• Stats at Pro-Football-Reference.com

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