Jim Zorn

James Arthur Zorn (born May 10, 1953) is an American former professional football player and coach.

Zorn was a left-handed quarterback, and is best known as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks for their first eight seasons.

He became a starter as a senior in 1970 and graduated in 1971.

Zorn played at the junior college level at Cerritos College for two years.

He was benched midway through his sophomore season in 1972 because the head coach didn't like his leadership style.

In 1973, he transferred to Cal Poly Pomona after accepting their half-scholarship offer.

As a junior that season, he registered 2,367 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, receiving Little All-American, Little All-Coast, and Southern California College Division Player of the Year honors.

As a senior in 1974, Zorn's play was affected by coaching changes, posting 1,783 passing yards and six touchdowns.

He finished his collegiate career with ten school records, 5,314 total yards, 4,150 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, 1,164 rushing yards and 18 rushing touchdowns.

Zorn also threw the javelin for the Broncos' track team.

Zorn was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys in 1975, the same year they had their famed Dirty Dozen draft.

He was the Cowboys' last cut two days before the start of the 1975 season, to make room for running back Preston Pearson, who had been waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

He had a try-out with the Los Angeles Rams, but was not signed.

The Seattle Seahawks signed him as a free agent in 1976, reuniting with Dick Mansperger, who was the Cowboys' director of player personnel the previous year.

He would become a star starting QB for the Seahawks in their early days from 1976 to 1983, before his position was taken by Dave Krieg and he was demoted to second-string quarterback midway through the 1983 season.

After spending a year out of football, he signed as a free agent with the Seattle Seahawks in 1976.

Zorn is closely associated with his favorite passing target, Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent.

Zorn was named AFC Offensive Rookie of the Year by the National Football League Players Association following the team's inaugural 1976 season.

He was also the Seahawks' team MVP, throwing for 12 touchdowns and rushing for four touchdowns.

He earned second-team All-Pro honors for the 1978 season, when the Seahawks had the third-best offense in the league.

He held second-string/backup quarterback positions with the Seahawks (1983–84), the Packers (1985), the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (1986), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1987), before retiring from football following the 1987 NFL season.

He was succeeded by Dave Krieg midway through the 1983 season, the year the Seahawks first made the NFL playoffs.

Zorn stayed with the team as a second-string quarterback until the end of the 1984 season.

The Green Bay Packers signed Zorn to the second-string quarterback position in 1985.

The Packers finished the season 8–8, 2nd in the NFC Central, but did not make the playoffs.

The Packers released Zorn in the off-season, and he decided to take a season off from the NFL and signed on to a backup quarterback position with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1986, where he dressed for nine games before leaving the team and being released once again.

Zorn returned to the NFL in 1987 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He played one final game as a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike before officially retiring.

Largent was the first Seahawk inducted into the team's "Ring of Honor" (1989), and Zorn was second (1991).

He was the quarterback coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 2001 until the 2007 season.

His three consecutive 3,000-yard seasons were tops in team history, since broken by Matt Hasselbeck in 2005, and he was the first Seattle quarterback to record back-to-back 300-plus yard games—a feat he accomplished twice.

Before the 2008 season Zorn was originally hired by the Washington Redskins to serve as offensive coordinator.

Two weeks after being hired, he was promoted as the team's head coach.

Zorn was well known as one of the more prolific scrambling quarterbacks of his day, and he was named the eighth-best mobile quarterback by NFL.com in 2008

Shortly after being fired following the 2009 season, Zorn was hired as quarterbacks coach of the Baltimore Ravens.

Zorn spent one season as the Ravens' quarterback coach before serving two years as the quarterback coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011 and 2012.

Most recently, Zorn was the head coach and general manager of the Seattle Dragons of the second incarnation of the XFL prior to the league's folding midseason.

Born in Whittier, California, Zorn attended Gahr High School in Cerritos, where he competed in football, baseball, basketball, track, and speed skating.

He didn't start playing organized football until his sophomore season.

The next year, Zorn broke his wrist after being put in at the end of a game to play quarterback.