John Charles Fourcade, Jr. (born October 11, 1960) is a former professional

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 ...

in the

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(NFL) for the

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 ...

. Fourcade was the most valuable player of the 1982

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

after passing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He had gained 6,713 yards at Ole Miss from 1978 to 1981, breaking the career record of

Archie Manning Elisha Archibald Manning III (born May 19, 1949) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons, primarily with the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982. He also h ...

Professional career

Fourcade played as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in four games as a backup to Joe Paopao for the

British Columbia Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

in 1983. As a career journeyman quarterback, he played for the 1984

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

(

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

) and the 1985

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

(

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

) before being signed as a free agent by 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 ...

in May 1986. He then played for the 1987 Denver Dynamite in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

. In 1987, he led the Saints to a 2-1 replacement game record and made the regular roster. Over his career, Fourcade passed for 2,312 yards in 24 games for the Saints, with a passer rating of 70.1. He was waived by the Saints in July 1991. In 1993, he played for the Miami Hooters of the AFL. From 1998 to 2000, he was the general manager, head coach and played in the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

for the Mississippi Fire Dogs. In 2001, he played for the Mobile Seagulls and the

Louisiana Bayou Beast The Louisiana Bayou Beast were a team in the Professional Indoor Football League (1998), Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 1999 and reincarnated in 2001 in the National Indoor ...

in the

Coaching career

Prior to playing for the Saints in the replacement games, J. Fourcade was the QB coach at John Ehret High School, Marrero La. From 1986 to 1987. At John Ehret, Fourcade coached Kordell "Slash" Stewart. Fourcade played with the 1994 Milwaukee Mustangs (AFL), and Coached the 1995 Miami Hooters (AFL), the 1999-2000 Mississippi Fire Dogs ( IPFL), the 2001 Mobile Seagulls/

(NIFL), the 2002 Florida Firecats (

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

), the 2003-2004 Columbus Wardogs (af2), the 2005 Tupelo FireAnts ( UIF) and the 2006 Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings (

). In the 2007 season, Fourcade was the head coach of the IFL's Fairbanks Grizzlies in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a Municipal home rule, home rule city and the county seat, borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior Alaska, interior region of Alaska and the second la ...

. In the 2008 season, he led the Acadiana Mudbugs to the SIFL's first playoffs and finished the season 6-6. For the 2010 season, he was fired after the team's opening game loss (they had since been renamed the Lafayette Wildcatters) and replaced by ex-Arena League and Af2 Coach Skip Foster. On August 20, 2009, it was announced that Fourcade would be the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic SIFL team for its inaugural 2010 season. John Fourcade has since left the SIFL and first moved on to the new Lone Star Football League, in which he was the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic in the 2011 season. On December 26, 2015, John Fourcade was announced as head coach of the Louisiana Cottonmouths indoor football team, but the team folded without ever competing before the season began. In April 2016, Fourcade was named the head coach of the New Mexico Stars, an indoor football team.

Broadcasting career

Fourcade currently serves as an NFL football analyst for

WDSU WDSU (channel 6) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Hearst Television. The station's studios are located on Howard Avenue in the city's Central Business District, and its transmitte ...

(NBC) New Orleans. On September 5, 2013, the "John Fourcade Show presented by Ray Brandt" will premiere on WHNO TV (

LeSEA Broadcasting Family Broadcasting Corporation, formerly known as LeSEA Broadcasting, is an American Christianity, Christian television network. Founded by Lester Sumrall in 1972, Family Broadcasting Corporation is headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, and br ...

) in the New Orleans area. John Fourcade will join with host Mike Detillier to discuss upcoming Saints, NFL, and LSU action. The show will be shot on location at featured Ray Brandt automotive dealerships.

Personal life

Fourcade once dated Marla Maples. Fourcade is the uncle of former Nicholls quarterback Chase Fourcade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourcade, John 1960 births Living people People from Gretna, Louisiana American football quarterbacks Archbishop Shaw High School alumni Players of American football from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Players of Canadian football from Louisiana Ole Miss Rebels football players Canadian football quarterbacks BC Lions players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Denver Dynamite (arena football) players New Orleans Saints players Miami Hooters players Arena Football League coaches Memphis Showboats players Florida Bobcats coaches Af2 coaches Florida Firecats coaches Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings coaches NFL replacement players National Indoor Football League coaches