Gary Fay Wood (July 9, 1942 – March 3, 1994) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played 63 games 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), for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, from 1964 until 1969. The quarterback was drafted from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in the

1964 NFL draft The 1964 NFL draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL draft was two days e ...

by the

in the eighth round. In his time in the NFL, Wood had a career completion percentage of 46.5%, as well as a

passer rating Passer rating (also known as passing efficiency in college football) is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in gridiron football. There are two formulas currently in use: one used by both the National Football Leagu ...

of 54.5. On March 24, 1996, Wood was inducted into the

National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum, in Commack, New York, is dedicated to honoring American Jewish figures who have distinguished themselves in sports. Its objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics, and to commemo ...

Early and personal life

Wood was born in

Taylor, New York Taylor is a town in Cortland County, New York, United States. The town is in the eastern part of the county and is east of Cortland. The population was 523 at the 2010 census. The town is named after General Zachary Taylor, later the 12th pres ...

, grew up in

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York, United States. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of 2024, the estimated population of Cortland, New York, is 17,196, reflecting a dec ...

, and was Jewish. He played football for Cortland High School in Cortland, New York, at which he never played in a losing game.

College career

Wood played as a three-year

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

, beginning in his sophomore season in 1961. Wood was the leading rusher and passer for the Big Red every year in which he was the starter. In 1962, Wood led the nation in all-purpose yards, with 1,395 (155.0 yards per game). That season, he also set an

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference of eight Private university, private Research university, research universities in the Northeastern United States. It participates in the National Collegia ...

total offense record in a game against Penn with 387 yards (207 rushing, 106 throwing), and was named first-team All-Ivy and to the AP All-East Team.Cornell University – Hall of Fame
/ref> He also lettered as a

center fielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

on the 1962 Cornell baseball team, batting .277 in 17 games, with a six-inning

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

of 1.49. In 1963 during his senior year, Wood was elected

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

, had 545 yards passing and 818 yards rushing (8th in the nation), was again named first-team All-Ivy, and was named to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

All-East team, and was elected to the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

. He was first in the country in kickoff return yardage (618 yards on 19 returns, for a 32.5 average). He was named Ivy League Player of the Week five times in his career, a two-time All-American honorable mention, set five Ivy League career and single-season offensive records (career total offense (3,457 yards); career rushing (1867); single-season total offense (1,616 yards in '62); single-season rushing (813 yards in '62); single-game total offense (387 yards vs. Penn in '62)), and is the only Ivy League player to rush for 2,000 yards and pass for 1,000 more (he rushed for more yards (2,156) than he passed (1,891)). He also set Cornell records for career total offense, single season total offense; career rushing; single season rushing; and single game total offense.

Professional career

In 1964, Wood was selected in the eighth round (109th overall) of the

NFL Draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

by the

. He turned down offers from the American Football League and from Canada to play in the NFL. In his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

season for the Giants he backed-up and frequently replaced injured starter

Y. A. Tittle Yelberton Abraham Tittle Jr. (October 24, 1926 – October 8, 2017) was an American professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants; he also ...

. Wood appeared in an episode of ''

To Tell The Truth ''To Tell the Truth'' is an American television panel show. Four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants (the "team of challengers", each an individual or pair) and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual ...

'' on July 12, 1965. In 1967, Wood was picked up in the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

for the

. After playing two games for the Saints in the 1967 season, Wood was demoted to third string behind

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He was ...

and

Gary Cuozzo Gary Samuel Cuozzo (born April 26, 1941) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers. After football, he had a career as an ...

. Following this season, Wood was then traded back to New York for a draft pick. Wood spent the remainder of his NFL career in New York backing up

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He is wi ...

, and ended his NFL career in 1969 after having played 63 games. In six NFL seasons, he completed 186 of 400 passes for 2,575 yards and 14 touchdowns, with 18 interceptions. After retiring from the NFL, Wood played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

from 1970 to 1971 for the

Ottawa Rough Riders The Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded on September 19, 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup cham ...

. He was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989, as well as the New York Sports Hall of Fame and the

in 1996.

After the NFL

Following his stint in the Canadian Football League, Wood opened an insurance firm in New York City. He helped found Temple Beth Torah in

Melville, New York Melville is an affluent Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Huntington, New York, Town of Huntington in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York (state), New York, United States. The pop ...

. Wood died in March 1994 at the age of 52 of a heart attack at his home in

Dix Hills Dix Hills is a hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set ...

, Long Island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Gary 1942 births American football quarterbacks Cornell Big Red football players Cornell Big Red baseball players New York Giants players Ottawa Rough Riders players New Orleans Saints players People from Cortland, New York Players of American football from New York (state) Jewish American players of American football 1994 deaths 20th-century American Jews Jews from New York (state)

Early and personal life

College career

Professional career

After the NFL

See also

References