Mark Rypien

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Mark Rypien
Mark Rypien at the Redskins-Seahawks game in 2008. courtesy: ethaninseattle
Position(s): Quarterback	Jersey #(s): 11
Born: October 2, 1962 (1962-10-02) (age 45) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Career Information
Year(s): 1987–2001
NFL Draft: 1986 / Round: 6 / Pick: 146
College: Washington State
Professional Teams
Washington Redskins (1986-1993) Cleveland Browns (1994) St. Louis Rams (1995) Philadelphia Eagles (1996) St. Louis Rams (1997) Indianapolis Colts (2001) Rochester Raiders (GLIFL) (2006) *Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career Stats
TD-INT	115-88
Yards	18,473
QB Rating	78.9
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
2x Pro Bowl selection (1989, 1991) 1x Super Bowl MVP (XXVI) 2x Super Bowl champion (XXII, XXVI) 1991 NFL-NFC Off. P.O.Y 70 Greatest Redskins

Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League.

He played college football at Washington State University, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He then left college early and was selected in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft. He spent the next two years on the Washington Redskins injured reserved list. He watched from the sidelines as the Redskins won Super Bowl XXII under coach Joe Gibbs in January 1988. With Doug Williams aging and the trading of Jay Schroeder to the Los Angeles Raiders, Rypien emerged. In his first full year as a starter, he threw for 3,768 yards with 22 touchdowns. He also gained his first Pro Bowl berth, albeit as an injury replacement.

1991 was arguably Rypien's best season; he threw for 3,564 yards and 28 touchdowns with 11 interceptions, leading the Redskins to Super Bowl XXVI after recording a 14-2 regular season record. He was named the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the game, passing for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and leading his team to a 37-24 win over the Buffalo Bills. Rypien was named to the Pro Bowl in both 1989 and 1991.

Rypien was one of several players to benefit from the team's success following their championship season. The Redskins signed him to a 3-year, $9 million deal entering the 1992 season. However, the team battled age and injuries and finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, barely making the playoffs. His passing yardage was a respectable 3,282 yards, but his passer rating fell from 97.9 in 1991 to 71.7 in 1992 and his interceptions outnumbered his touchdowns 17 to 13. Although a dominant team performance in the playoffs brought victory over the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC Wild Card away game, the Redskins eventually lost on a rainy, muddy field in a bruising game vs. the San Francisco 49ers, and the Rypien era was essentially over.

Under new Head Coach Richie Petitbon, Rypien had his best training camp in 1993 and expectations were high following a Monday Night win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. However, Rypien injured his knee in Week 2 against the Phoenix Cardinals and the team began a precipitous slide toward a 4-12 season finish. When he was healthy enough to return, Rypien performed spot duty, sharing time with the newly acquired Rich Gannon.

The Redskins hired Norv Turner as their head coach in 1994. Rypien participated in off season workouts, but the team quickly decided to release him from his contract and drafted Heath Shuler in the first round. Shuler turned out to be one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history and the Redskins struggled through the remainder of the 1990s, battling the salary cap and overall lack of talent.

Rypien went on to become a journeyman backup, serving with the Cleveland Browns in 1994, the St. Louis Rams in 1995 and 1997, the Philadelphia Eagles in 1996, and the Indianapolis Colts in 2001.

His last touchdown pass came in relief of Eagles quarterback Ty Detmer. It was an 8-yarder to Irving Fryar with five seconds remaining in a 37-10 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. His last professional game was June 10, 2006; as part of a promotional gig, Rypien played one game for the Rochester Raiders of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League.

[edit] Passing statistics

Year	Team	GP	GS	Att	Com	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Rate
1988	Washington Redskins	9	6	208	114	54.8	1730	18	13	85.2
1989	Washington Redskins	14	14	476	280	58.8	3768	22	13	88.1
1990	Washington Redskins	10	10	304	166	54.6	2070	16	11	78.4
1991	Washington Redskins	16	16	421	249	59.1	3564	28	11	97.9
1992	Washington Redskins	16	16	479	269	56.2	3282	13	17	71.7
1993	Washington Redskins	12	10	319	166	52.0	1514	4	10	56.3
1994	Cleveland Browns	6	3	128	59	46.1	694	4	3	63.7
1995	St. Louis Rams	11	3	217	129	59.4	1448	9	8	77.9
1996	Philadelphia Eagles	1	0	13	10	76.9	76	1	0	116.2
1997	St. Louis Rams	5	0	39	19	48.7	270	0	2	50.2
2001	Indianapolis Colts	4	0	9	5	55.6	57	0	0	74.8
Career Totals		104	78	2613	1466	56.1	18473	115	88	78.9

Key to Abbreviations
GP= Games Played
GS= Games Started
Att= Passes attempted
Com= Passes Completed
Pct= Completion percentage
Yds= Yards
TD= Touchdowns
Int= Interceptions
Rate= Passer rating

[edit] Notes

Rypien is one of five players to throw for at least 300 yards in his first NFL game and also has the distinction of becoming the first Canadian-born player to receive the Super Bowl MVP in the Washington Redskins Super Bowl XXVI victory.

In his 11 NFL seasons, Rypien completed 1,466 of 2,613 passes for 18,473 yards and 115 touchdowns, with 88 interceptions. He also rushed 127 times for 166 yards and 8 touchdowns.

He signed with the Atlanta Falcons for the 1998 season but never made it to Atlanta. His son's death from a malignant brain tumor that August caused Rypien to leave the game (although he would return in 2001 for a stint with the Colts).^[1]

In August of 2002, Mark was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as a backup quarterback, played in two pre-season games and finished 13-of-21 passing for 97 yards, but was cut early in September.

Mark is a member of Delta Tau Delta International fraternity.

Two of his cousins are NHL players Rick Rypien and Shane Churla.

Mark had a brief stint in NASCAR racing as a team owner, and was the original owner of the 2004 Sprint Cup championship-winning #97 team, having sold it to Jack Roush in 1998.

An avid golfer, Rypien has been known to participate in charity tournaments at various locations across the nation.

Preceded by Doug Williams	Washington Redskins Starting Quarterbacks 1988-1993	Succeeded by Heath Shuler
Preceded by Ottis Anderson	NFL Super Bowl MVPs Super Bowl XXVI, 1992	Succeeded by Troy Aikman