25 most sought after NFL quarterback draft prospects of all time
By Zach Bigalke
Indianapolis native Jeff George spent his first year of college in-state at Purdue, but transferred once Fred Akers brought his run-heavy offense to West Lafayette. Recognizing he would have no real shot at excelling under the new head coach, George opted to transfer inside the Big Ten to Illinois. George sat out the 1987 NCAA season before starting two years in Champaign.
In his final year in 1989, George completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 22 touchdowns and more than 2,700 yards to lead the Big Ten in pretty much every passing category. For the effort, he earned the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the top college passer in the nation.
There was no way that the Indianapolis Colts were going to let the homegrown star — who played his high school ball in the city at Warren Central — go to any other NFL team.
The Colts traded up with Atlanta for the No. 1 overall pick to ensure that they would land the top player on their draft board, then handed George a $15 million contract that was at the time the largest rookie contract in NFL history.
It was an experiment that never quite panned out for Indianapolis. George went 14-35 as the Colts starter between 1990 and 1993, throwing 41 touchdowns against 46 interceptions.
A contract dispute led his hometown team to trade George to Atlanta after the 1993 NFL season, where he played out two seasons as the starter before an altercation with head coach June Jones led to a benching.
George played out his last five seasons in the NFL bouncing from Oakland to Minnesota to Washington. While his career ultimately did not live up to the expectations foisted on the No. 1 overall picks, George played a dozen respectable seasons of journeyman football. Over 12 years, George threw for more than 27,000 yards and racked up 154 touchdowns and 113 interceptions.