Jay Brian Schroeder is a former professional
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
quarterbackQuarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
who played for the
Washington RedskinsThe Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
(1985–1987),
Los Angeles RaidersThe Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1988–1992),
Cincinnati BengalsThe Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
(1993) and
Arizona CardinalsThe Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1994).
He attended Palisades High School and was a
high school footballHigh school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
teammate of actor
Forest WhitakerForest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
.
A third round
draftThe National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
pick in the
1984 NFL DraftThe 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1-2, 1984. No teams elected to claim any players in the regular supplemental draft that...
by Washington after a moderate college career at
UCLAThe University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
, where he only started one game as the backup to
Tom RamseyTom Ramsey is a former professional American football quarterback, who played four seasons in the NFL for the New England Patriots. Earlier he played for the Los Angeles Express and the Oakland Invaders of the USFL....
, memorable however for throwing a miracle winning touchdown pass on a deflection to future NFL star Freeman McNeil to beat arch-rival USC with college football's version of the "immaculate reception." Schroeder was pressed into service during his
rookieRookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...
campaign after starting quarterback
Joe TheismannJoseph Robert "Joe" Theismann is a former quarterback in the National Football League and Canadian Football League . He achieved his most enduring fame in his 12 seasons playing for the Washington Redskins, where he was a two-time Pro Bowler and quarterback of the winning team in Super Bowl XVII...
suffered a career ending leg injury. His first play as Theismann was being taken off the field was a 50-yard completion to
Art MonkJames Arthur "Art" Monk is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, New York Jets, and the Philadelphia Eagles...
, the first of a four-play drive that led to a touchdown to put the Redskins into the lead and ultimately to win the game. Schroeder gained the
startingA starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...
spot on the Redskins in his second NFL season, and led them to a 12-4 record while throwing for a franchise record 4,109 passing yards and making the
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
. He managed to lead Washington all the way to the NFC title game, where his team was shut out 17-0 by the
New York GiantsThe New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
The following season, Schroeder suffered a
separated shoulderA separated shoulder , is a common injury to the acromioclavicular joint. This is not the same as a shoulder dislocation as that involves a dislocation of the glenohumeral joint...
in the first game against the
Philadelphia EaglesThe Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
and was replaced by
Doug WilliamsDouglas Lee "Doug" Williams is a former American football quarterback and head football coach of the Grambling State University Tigers...
. Schroeder returned that season, but was continually nagged by the injury, allowing Williams to gain the starting position for the Redskins playoff run. Williams led the Redskins to a championship victory that year in
Super Bowl XXIISuper Bowl XXII was an American football game played on January 31, 1988 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 1987 regular season...
. Schroeder was traded the following season for Raiders tackle
Jim LacheyJames Michael Lachey is a former American football offensive tackle who played for ten seasons in the National Football League with the San Diego Chargers, the Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins from 1985 to 1995, missing the 1993 season with a knee injury.Lachey graduated from St...
, who proved to be a perennial
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
player for the Redskins.
He spent several seasons as the Raiders starting quarterback, with varying levels of success. He led the Raiders all the way to the AFC championship game as a starter in the 1990 season. However, his team was blown out by the
Buffalo BillsThe Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
51-3, and Schroeder was intercepted five times during the game.
Schroeder retired in 1995 with 1,426 of 2,808 completions for 20,063 yards and 114 touchdowns, with 108 interceptions, while also rushing for 761 yards and five touchdowns.
Baseball career
Schroeder began his sports career in the
Toronto Blue JaysThe Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....
minor league system. He was drafted 3rd overall in the
1979 Major League Baseball DraftThe 1979 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 5-7, 1979, via conference call.-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.* Did not sign- Background :...
by the Blue Jays. He was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
Coaching career
In 2007, he began coaching at
Snow Canyon High School-Sports:SCHS competes in the 4A division. Prior to 2007, it was in the 3A division. In the 2011-12 school year season it will be returning to the 3A division.-State championships:* Girls volleyball: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010* Baseball: 2001, 2007...
as the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. He then became an assistant coach for Oaks Christian High School in California. In December 2010, Jay was hired as the Director of Football Operations at Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, California.
He has also occasionally worked as an analyst for
Sky SportsSky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...
' NFL coverage since November 2007.
External links