Burt L. Grossman (born April 10, 1967) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL).

Biography

Before becoming a professional, Grossman played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

where he was a three-time All-ECAC selection. In 1989, he was selected with the eighth overall pick in the first round by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. Grossman played six seasons in the NFL: five for the San Diego Chargers (1989–1993) and one for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

(1994). As an NFL player, Grossman's accomplishments include forty-five

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

s and three safeties. Grossman appeared on the October 15, 1990, edition cover of ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' under the title "Big Mouth," which chronicled his outspoken and outlandish personality. In 1996, he suffered a career-ending neck injury. After football, Grossman was hired by WCAU in Philadelphia for its program, ''Eagles Hour''. The program won an Emmy in 1995, as well as earning him an Emmy as best sports reporter. In 1996, he published the book ''The Way Things Ought to Be'' with Bill Kushner. Currently, he is a contributor for the website "The National Football Post." In 2019, he became the head coach of the San Diego Strike Force of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL). The team went 1–13 in his first season. The team played one game, a 50–36 win over the Bismarck Bucks, before the 2020 season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. San Diego then withdrew from the 2021 season due to the pandemic and Grossman did not return to the Strike Force for the 2022 season. He is a cousin of former

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

Randy Grossman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossman, Burt 1967 births American football defensive ends Jewish American players of American football Players of American football from Pennsylvania Philadelphia Eagles players San Diego Chargers players Pittsburgh Panthers football players Living people Archbishop John Carroll High School alumni 21st-century American Jews Jews from Pennsylvania San Diego Strike Force coaches