Jay Schroeder

American football player (born 1961)

Jay Brian Schroeder (born June 28, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins, after which he was selected in the third round (83rd overall) of the 1984 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, where he played for four seasons. He then played for the Los Angeles Raiders for five seasons and spent one season each with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals. While with the Washington Redskins, Schroeder was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1986 season. He also won a Super Bowl when the Redskins defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII.

Schroeder attended Palisades High School and was a high school football teammate of actor Forest Whitaker. He was a third round draft pick in the 1984 NFL Draft by Washington after a college career at UCLA, in which he started only one game. He did produce a memorable moment, throwing a game winning touchdown pass on a deflection to future NFL star Freeman McNeil to beat arch rival USC. He also played minor league baseball in the Pioneer League. Schroeder replaced injured Joe Theismann in a Monday Night Football game against the New York Giants on November 18, 1985. Schroeder's first pass after Theismann was taken off the field was a 43 yard completion to Art Monk. The Redskins came close to a touchdown after the catch, but a fumble by John Riggins inside the five yard line was recovered by Lawrence Taylor. Washington eventually won the game, 23–21. Schroeder led the Redskins to a 4–1 record after that game. He gained the starting spot on the Redskins for the 1986 NFL season, and led them to a 12–4 record while throwing for a then team record 4,109 passing yards, a team record which stood for 29 years, but he remains the third all time leader in single season passing for Washington. It would be the only time in his career that he threw over 3,000 yards in a season. He led Washington to the NFC title game where they were shut out 17–0 by the New York Giants. In a sign of things to come, Schroeder, seeing backup Doug Williams getting on the field (as told by Joe Gibbs), shooed him away during the NFC Championship loss. The following season, Schroeder suffered a separated shoulder in the first game against the Philadelphia Eagles and was replaced by Doug Williams. The two never got along, with Williams stating that Schroeder had an ego problem, especially after making the Pro Bowl, which got worse when he was benched for Williams, who described him as such: "I don't think there was a hat in America that could have fit his head." The 1987 strike proved to be a bewildering one, as three games were played by replacement players before Williams and company returned. Schroeder did get to make a couple of starts later in that season, but was continually nagged by the injury, allowing the more popular Williams to gain the starting position for the Redskins' playoff run; in total, the season saw five quarterback changes (not counting the strike players) that saw Schroeder go 8 2 as a starter that year (with four starts where he threw under 20 passes) but make no playoff starts. Williams led the Redskins to a championship victory that year in Super Bowl XXII. Schroeder was traded the following season to the Los Angeles Raiders for tackle Jim Lachey, who proved to be a perennial Pro Bowl player for the Redskins. Schroeder spent five seasons with the Raiders. After two middling years where he did not play more than half of a season, he had his best year with the team in 1990. He threw for 2,849 yards with 19 touchdowns to nine interceptions. The 12 4 record was good enough to compete in the divisional round, where they faced the Cincinnati Bengals. He went 11 of 21 for 172 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in the 20 10 victory, although the game was marred by the hip injury to star running back Bo Jackson in the third quarter, who would never play football again. In the AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills, Schroeder completed just 13 of 31 passes with five interceptions as the Bills rolled to a 51–3 victory. The following year, the Raiders were 9 6 under Schroeder, but he was replaced by newly drafted Todd Marinovich, who played well enough in the finale to start in the ensuing playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs, with Schroeder kept on the bench. The subsequent disaster of Marinovich in 1992 led to nine starts for Schroeder, but he was waived after the year ended for free agent Jeff Hostetler. 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. He finished with a record of 61 38 in games as a starter.

Schroeder began his sports career in the Toronto Blue Jays minor league system. He was drafted 3rd overall in the 1979 Major League Baseball Draft by the Blue Jays. He had a career batting average of .213 in the minors. He was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.

Starting in 2000, Schroeder was an offensive coordinator at Christian High School in El Cajon, California, a suburb of San Diego, under head coach Matt Oliver. In 2007, he coached at Desert Hills High School, serving as both the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He then became an assistant coach for Oaks Christian High School in California. In December 2010, Schroeder was hired as the director of football operations at Village Christian School in Sun Valley, California. He also coached Varsity and JV golf at Village Christian. He has also occasionally worked as an analyst for Sky Sports' NFL coverage since November 2007. Schroeder was formerly the quarterbacks coach at Desert Hills High School in St. George, Utah. He is currently doing radio live in various parts of the Las Vegas/Henderson area with long time Las Vegas CBS sportscaster, Rich Perez.