Elvis Grbac

Elvis M. Grbac (born August 13, 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. During his career he was a starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Baltimore Ravens.

College career

Elvis Grbac played college football at the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1992. He led the Wolverines to two Rose Bowls in 1991 and 1992 and is best remembered for throwing to wide receiver Desmond Howard during the latter's Heisman-winning campaign in 1991. Grbac finished his career at Michigan as the school's all-time leader in passing attempts (835), completions (522), passing yards (6,460), and passing touchdowns (71). These marks were later broken by John Navarre in 2003 and surpassed by Chad Henne in 2006-07.

NFL career

Grbac was drafted in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the 49ers. He served as Steve Young's backup from 1994 to 1996. In 1997, Grbac signed with the Kansas City Chiefs to be their starting quarterback. His best season statistically came in 2000 when he passed for 4,169 yards and 28 touchdowns with a passer rating of 89.9 en route to the Pro Bowl.

Grbac also played for the Baltimore Ravens before unexpectedly retiring in 2001 when the Ravens cut him in a salary cap move after he refused to renegotiate his contract. Grbac retired because he did not want to uproot his family again to move to another city. Many speculated he retired in part because of the treatment he received by the Baltimore fans and press. At the time of his retirement, Grbac had been in negotiations with the Denver Broncos—Denver was interested in signing him as a backup to starting quarterback Brian Griese, but Grbac opted for retirement.

The Baltimore Ravens were defending Super Bowl champions when Grbac replaced quarterback & fan favorite Trent Dilfer at the start of the 2001 season. Grbac posted mediocre passing statistics that year, but still managed to lead the Ravens to a 10-6 regular season record and a playoff win over the Miami Dolphins before losing in the second round to the Pittsburgh Steelers. During the season, he was viciously taunted by the fans and harshly criticized by the Baltimore press, who felt that the team should have kept Dilfer as the starter. When Grbac was injured midway through the season and replaced by backup Randall Cunningham, the critical taunt "Elvis has left the building" was used. Grbac was jeered upon his return to the lineup after Cunningham went 2-0 as a starter.

People Magazine

Grbac was featured as People Magazine's Sexiest Athlete in 1998.

While Grbac is a pleasant-enough looking fellow^{[citation needed]}, Jeff Pearlman claims this was because of a mistake by a photographer, told to photograph "the Chiefs quarterback," who photographed Grbac instead of Rich Gannon. [1]

See also

• Lists of Michigan Wolverines football passing leaders