Jack Francis Trudeau (born September 9, 1962) 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

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 ...

for 10 seasons 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) from 1986 to 1995. He 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 ...

for the

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the College athletics, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's Varsity team, varsity sports. The university op ...

and was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the second round of the

1986 NFL draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott M ...

. After his playing career, he was a morning show co-host on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

Early life

Trudeau was born in

Forest Lake, Minnesota Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County, Minnesota, United States, located 27 miles northeast of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. The population was 20,611 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Histor ...

. He graduated from Granada High School in

Livermore, California Livermore is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley, giving its name to the Livermore Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisc ...

College career

Trudeau was the starting quarterback of the

Illinois Fighting Illini football The Illinois Fighting Illini football program represents the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) level. The Fighting Illini are a founding member of ...

team from 1983 to 1985, his sophomore through senior years. As a sophomore, he helped the Illini become the first and only Big Ten team to beat all nine conference opponents in a single season. The Illini went to the 1984 Rose Bowl where they lost to UCLA, 45–9. Trudeau earned All-Big Ten honors in 1984 and 1985. He set Illinois school records in pass attempts (1151), completions (737), yards (8146) and touchdowns (51). He also set an NCAA record with 215 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. In 1984, he finished runner-up to

Doug Flutie Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former professional Gridiron football, football quarterback who played for 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Footb ...

for the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

, given to the top college quarterback in the nation.

Professional career

During 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, Trudeau started eleven games - all Colts' losses. After splitting time with Gary Hogeboom and Blair Kiel in 1987, Trudeau led the Colts to three wins in their final four games and the franchise's first playoff appearance since moving to Indianapolis in 1984. He started the Colts' 38-21 Divisional Round loss in Cleveland, throwing two touchdown passes in the defeat. In 1988, he played in just two games as Chris Chandler supplanted him under center. Trudeau had his best season as a pro in 1989, starting twelve games and throwing for career-highs in yards (2,317) and touchdowns (15) en route to being named the Colts' Offensive MVP. However, in the 1990 NFL draft, the Colts traded with Atlanta to select Indianapolis native

Jeff George Jeffrey Scott George (born December 8, 1967) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, winning the Samm ...

with the first overall pick, and George began that next season as the starter. Over the next four seasons, Trudeau made only fourteen more starts and was mostly a backup. During the 1994 season, Trudeau signed with the

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

to back up

Boomer Esiason Norman Julius "Boomer" Esiason (; born April 17, 1961) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for ...

. When Esiason went down with an injury early in the season, Trudeau started two games - including one against the Colts, his former team. Trudeau was selected by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in the 1995 NFL expansion draft to become the third-string quarterback behind

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

and

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panth ...

in the team's inaugural season. After appearing in just one game with Carolina, Trudeau retired following the 1995 season. Trudeau finished his ten-year NFL career with 10,243 passing yards, 42 touchdowns, 69 interceptions, and a 63.3 passer rating in 67 games.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

He and his ex-wife Lisa have a daughter (Danielle) and three sons (John, Beau, and Trey). His brother Kevin was drafted at age 18 as a pitcher for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

organization. After retiring from football, Jack Trudeau invested to be a co-owner of Wolf Run Golf Club in Indiana. . He was a weekly guest on

The Bob and Tom Show ''The Bob & Tom Show'' is a syndicated US radio program established by Bob Kevoian and Tom Griswold at radio station WFBQ in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 7, 1983, and syndicated nationally since January 6, 1995. Originally syndicated by Pre ...

, broadcast out of

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, for many seasons, discussing the Colts and other happenings in the NFL.

Radio career

In 2010, Trudeau began hosting a local sports talk morning show with Zakk Tyler on

WNDE WNDE (1260 AM) is a commercial radio station in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is owned by iHeartMedia with the broadcast license held by iHM Licenses, LLC. WNDE broadcasts a sports radio format, with some afternoon talk programs, including '' T ...

in Indianapolis. The next year, the show (called ''Zakk and Jack'') was picked up for national syndication by

to replace the departing Stephen A. Smith. The show was cancelled by FSR later that same year, as the pair were replaced by Andy Furman and former NFL defensive back

Artrell Hawkins Artrell Hawkins Jr. (born November 24, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats and was selected by the Cinc ...

. Trudeau was involved in a controversial exchange in August 2011 with then first-year

Indiana Hoosiers football The Indiana Hoosiers football program represents Indiana University Bloomington in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football and in the Big Ten Conference. The Hoosiers have played their home games at Memorial Stadium (Indiana), ...

head coach Kevin Wilson. During the interview, Wilson responded to Trudeau's mocking of Indiana's football team by pointing out the former quarterback's criminal history.

DUI Arrest

Trudeau was arrested for his second DUI in Indiana in July 2015 along with allegations of intimidating a police officer after testing 0.31 on a breath test and threatening to kill an Indiana officer. He was arrested previously in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trudeau, Jack 1962 births Living people People from Forest Lake, Minnesota Sportspeople from Washington County, Minnesota Sportspeople from Livermore, California Players of American football from Alameda County, California American football quarterbacks Illinois Fighting Illini football players Indianapolis Colts players New York Jets players Carolina Panthers players Granada High School (California) alumni