Ron Jaworski

Ronald Vincent Jaworski (born March 23, 1951), nicknamed "Jaws", is an American former football quarterback who played 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

He played college football for the Youngstown State Penguins and was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 1973 NFL draft.

Jaworski was selected in the second round of the 1973 NFL draft by the Los Angeles Rams.

Jaworski was named the third-string quarterback, backing up John Hadl and James Harris, and only appeared in a total of five games through his first two seasons.

In 1975, Jaworski saw his first major playing time in Week 13, when starter James Harris suffered a shoulder injury three plays into the game.

Jaworski led the Rams to a 22–5 victory over the Green Bay Packers, where he completed 14 of 24 passes for 174 yards and an interception.

The next week, Jaworski made his first career start for the final week of the season, where he led the Rams to a 10–3 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Entering the playoffs, there was speculation as to whether James Harris was healed enough to return or if Jaworski would start for the divisional round game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

It was only minutes before gametime when Jaworski was informed by head coach Chuck Knox that he would be starting.

In his playoff debut, Jaworski completed 12 of 23 passes for 203 yards with both a passing and rushing touchdown, en route to a 35–23 victory to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

Despite Jaworski's performance, he was not named the starter for the NFC Championship, as James Harris was deemed healthy enough to return.

However, Harris reaggravated his shoulder injury after just two passes in the game, and Jaworski came in as a backup.

He completed 11 of 22 passes for 147 yards, but threw two interceptions in the 37–7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Entering the 1976 season, Jaworski was named the Week 1 starter after James Harris fractured his thumb.

In the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, however, Jaworski left the game due to a fractured right shoulder.

Backup Pat Haden relieved Jaworski, and led the Rams to a 30–14 victory.

In Week 6 against the Chicago Bears, Haden was injured, and Jaworski, although not yet fully recovered, came in and preserved a 20–12 victory.

Jaworski started the next week against the New Orleans Saints, but he was benched for Haden in the fourth quarter after completing just 3 of 11 passes for 15 yards.

James Harris would start at quarterback for the remainder of the season, and Jaworski would only appear in two other games.

After spending four seasons mostly as a backup for the Rams, Jaworski was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1977, where he would lead the Eagles to four consecutive playoff appearances, including a division title and the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance in 1980.

After ten seasons with the Eagles, Jaworski signed with the Miami Dolphins, where he would spend two seasons as a backup.

In March 1977, Jaworski was traded by the Rams to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for former All-Pro tight end Charle Young.

Jaworski would be reunited with former Rams quarterbacks coach Dick Vermeil, who was now the head coach for the Eagles.

In the 1977 season, Jaworski started all 14 games for the Eagles, leading them to a 5–9 record on the season.

In 1978, Jaworski led the Eagles to a 9–7 record, clinching both a wild card spot and the franchise's first postseason appearance in 18 years.

In the Wild Card game against the Atlanta Falcons, Jaworski helped the Eagles jump to a 13–0 lead that they would hold into the fourth quarter.

However, Steve Bartkowski and the Falcons responded late with two touchdowns, and although Jaworski brought the Eagles to the Falcons' 16-yard-line with just 13 seconds to play, punter/kicker Mike Michel missed what would have been a game-winning 34-yard field goal, and the Eagles fell 14–13.

As of 2024, this Falcons-Eagles playoff game is believed to be first and only time in NFL history where both starting quarterbacks were of Polish heritage.

In 1979, Jaworski led the Eagles to an 11–5 record and a second-straight wild card berth.

In the Wild Card game against the Chicago Bears, Jaworski led the Eagles out of a 17–10 halftime deficit as the Eagles rallied to beat the Bears 27–17.

Jaworski completed 12 of 23 passes for 204 passing yards with three touchdowns and one interception.

In the divisional round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Eagles quickly fell behind to a 17–0 deficit.

He then spent one season with the Kansas City Chiefs as a backup before retiring after the 1989 season.

After his playing career, Jaworski worked as an NFL analyst on ESPN from 1990 to 2017.

From 2004 to 2019, he served as an executive of the Philadelphia Soul franchise of the Arena Football League, where he also briefly served as the league's Executive Committee Chair from 2018 to 2019.

He is also the founder and CEO of Ron Jaworski Golf, which owns and manages several golf courses across the Delaware Valley region.

Jaworski was born and raised in Lackawanna, New York.

A three-sport star in high school, he turned down a Major League Baseball offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to attend college at Youngstown State University, where he was nicknamed "Rifle Ron" and the "Polish Rifle", a reference to his Polish ethnicity.

At Youngstown State, he showcased his skills as a quarterback for a pass-oriented offense, earning a selection in the Senior Bowl.

Jaworski set several school records during his tenure at Youngstown State, including single-season passing completions (139), career passing completions (325), single-season passing yardage (2,123), career passing yardage (4,612), single-season passing touchdowns (18), and career passing touchdowns (32).