John Sciarra
| No. 6, 21 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Safety / Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | March 2, 1954 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Los Angeles, California | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | UCLA | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: |
1976 / Round: 4 / Pick: 103 (By the Chicago Bears) | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 1983 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||
John Michael Sciarra (born March 2, 1954) is a former professional American football safety in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1978 to 1983. He also played quarterback for the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League. He played college football at UCLA.
Early years
Sciarra played high school football at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California, where he was named the CIF Southern Section Player of the Year in 1971.
College career
Sciarra was an All-American quarterback at UCLA. He starred in the 1976 Rose Bowl in which UCLA upset favored Ohio State University, which was unbeaten ranked number one in the nation, by a score of 23–10. Sciarra was named Most Valuable Player in the game. He ran for the most career yards by a quarterback in UCLA history.[1]
Professional career
BC Lions
After Sciarra was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft and chose not to sign with them, he signed a two-year contract with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League on May 26, 1976.[2] He earned the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie Award in 1976 as a quarterback.[3]
Philadelphia Eagles
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Sciarra, and the Philadelphia Eagles traded an undisclosed draft pick to Tamp Bay in exchange for Sciarra in 1978. While with the Eagles, he played for coach Dick Vermeil, who had been his college coach at UCLA.[3] The Eagles were a successful team at that time and won the NFC Championship in 1980 and played in Super Bowl XV. He was re-signed to a two-year contract on June 15, 1981,[4] and played with the Eagles until 1983.
Awards and honors
On August 8, 1991, Sciarra was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.[5] He will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2014.
Sciarra was the keynote speaker at UCLA's 2009 Sociology Department graduation ceremony, where graduates included Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman, then-current quarterback Kevin Craft, and former linebacker Marcus Reece, who had come back to UCLA to finish his degree.
Personal
John Sciarra Jr., his son, also played football at UCLA, but at the end of the 2003 season, the younger Sciarra transferred to Wagner College.[6]
References
- ↑ Foster, Chris (November 1, 2014). "Brett Hundley ties UCLA record for all-time passing touchdowns with 68". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014.
- ↑ "Sports Briefs". Tri City Herald. May 27, 1976. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- 1 2 "Roses for the Count". The Modesto Bee. April 3, 1978. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ↑ "Football: Eagles sign Sciarra". Lakeland Ledger. June 16, 1981. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ↑ "Ten added to Rose Bowl Hall of Fame". Eugene Register-Guard. August 10, 1991. Retrieved 2010-04-11.
- ↑ Dicker, Ron (September 22, 2004). "The Truth at U.C.L.A. Sets Sciarra Free at Wagner". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-11.