Billy Joe Tolliver

Billy Joe Tolliver (born February 7, 1966) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) for twelve seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Oilers, Shreveport Pirates, Kansas City Chiefs, and New Orleans Saints.

Over the course of his NFL career, he played in 79 games, completed 891 of 1,707 passes for 10,760 yards, threw 59 touchdowns and 64 interceptions, and retired with a passer rating of 67.7.

He redshirted his freshman season in 1984 and became the starting quarterback in 1985.

On November 9, 1985, Tolliver had his first breakout performance for the Red Raiders as he threw for a record-setting 422 yards and five touchdowns in a 63–7 win over Texas Christian University (TCU), a feat that helped him become a household name in Texas.

As he began his sophomore season, he was considered the lone bright spot on Texas Tech's offense.

Tolliver struggled at the start of the year; by the end of September he had only completed 54 of 123 passes.

After throwing five interceptions in a game against Baylor, he shrugged off the bad game, saying, "even Betty Crocker burns a cake every now and then."

His fortunes continued to sink when in a game in late October against the Rice Owls, he was benched, and backup quarterback Monte McGuire rallied the team to a victory.

However, Tolliver regained his starting job and brought his team to the 1986 Independence Bowl as Texas Tech won six games for the first time since 1978.

He finished the season with 1,802 passing yards and seven touchdowns.

Tolliver began his junior year facing Florida State, a game in which he suffered a hairline fracture in his foot, leaving him doubtful for the match.

He missed the first three games of the season but returned in Texas Tech's fourth game against Baylor, completing 14 of 25 passes for 189 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a 36–22 loss.

Tolliver's next big performance came against TCU, the same team he defeated 63–7 as a freshman.

He threw a touchdown pass to Wayne Walker in the last minute to beat TCU 36–35.

He finished the season having passed for 1,422 yards and seven touchdowns in eight games.

The next season, his senior year, Tolliver and Texas Tech sought to win the Southwest Conference.

He started the season strong, throwing an 85-yard pass against Arizona—it was the third-longest pass in school history—but the Red Raiders started with two losses.

By the end of the season, Tolliver had set 16 school records and was awarded the Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Award by the league's officials.

After four seasons with Texas Tech, he set the school record for career passing yards (6,756), career pass attempts (1,008), career pass completions (493), career touchdown passes (38), season passing yards in 1988 (2,869), and single game passing yards (446) against Oklahoma State University in 1988.

A graduate of Boyd High School and Texas Tech University, Tolliver was selected in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.

He started 19 games in two seasons at San Diego before being traded to Atlanta, where he saw playing time as a backup for three seasons.

Tolliver was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 1989 NFL Draft with the 51st overall pick.

The Chargers traded third, fourth, and seventh-round picks in exchange for the New York Giants' second-round pick in order to draft him.

Tolliver was signed on July 31, 1989, after a short holdout.

He was to compete with Mark Malone and David Archer for the starting job, a spot which eventually went to Jim McMahon after the Chargers traded for him.

As the 1989 season began with McMahon as the helm, Tolliver was slated to play the second half of the final preseason game against the Phoenix Cardinals.

After 13 completions in 23 attempts, Tolliver ran the ball late in the game and broke his collarbone, sidelining him for at least six weeks.

After spending the first seven games on the injured reserve list, Tolliver was taken off the list and named the starter for the game against the Seattle Seahawks on October 29, replacing McMahon who had disappointed at quarterback.

In 1994, he became one of three starting quarterbacks for Houston and then served as quarterback of the Shreveport Pirates in the CFL during their final season of activity in 1995.

After not competing in 1996, Tolliver played for both Atlanta and Kansas City in 1997.

He then started 11 games for New Orleans in two seasons but did not take the field in 2000.

A stint with the Green Bay Packers in the 2001 offseason concluded his professional career.

Tolliver grew up in Boyd, Texas, where he attended local schools.

He played high school football at Boyd High School.

During his senior season, he led the Boyd Yellowjackets to a 15–0–1 record and the 2–A state championship.

He amassed more than 1,000 rushing and passing yards and was named Player of the Year by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Tolliver was a three–sport athlete in high school, averaging 15 points and 17 rebounds in basketball and throwing 14 no-hitters in baseball.

After graduating from high school, Tolliver played college football at Texas Tech University and was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.

His hard throwing style led Texas Tech head coach David McWilliams to say, "He throws the ball harder, and with more velocity, than anyone I've ever seen."

Tolliver was inducted into Texas Tech's Hall of Honor in 2002.