Neil Vincent Lomax (born February 17, 1959) 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 ...
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), playing his entire career for the
St. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals. 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
Portland State Vikings, setting numerous
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
(NCAA) passing records running head coach
Mouse Davis
Darrel "Mouse" Davis (born September 6, 1932) is a retired American football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he last coached with Jerry Glanville at Portland State University and with ...
's
run and shoot offense. Lomax was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...
in 1996.
College career
From
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the ...
, a suburb south of
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
, Lomax was a standout
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 ...
player at
Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...
, going from fifth-string freshman quarterback in 1977 on a partial scholarship to emergency starter to
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
legend in the
run and shoot offense of head coach
Mouse Davis
Darrel "Mouse" Davis (born September 6, 1932) is a retired American football coach and former player. A veteran coach at the high school, college, and professional levels, he last coached with Jerry Glanville at Portland State University and with ...
.
By the end of his college career in 1980, he held 90 NCAA records, including seven
touchdown
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
passes in the first quarter against
Delaware State, which ended in a
105–0 shutout for the
Division I-AA Vikings.
Two weeks earlier, independent Portland State crushed Division II Cal Poly Pomona 93–7. In his final collegiate game, Lomax threw for 474 yards with five touchdown passes as PSU waxed Weber State 75–0 to finish at 8–3; he ended his college career with more than passing and over a hundred touchdown passes.
Lomax also had a game at Division II Northern Colorado in 1979 where he was 44/77 for 499 yards passing. As of 2012, that game ranks fourth all-time at Portland State for yards thrown in a game.
He graduated with a degree in communications in 1981. He was inducted into the Portland State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1997 and had his #11 retired by the university.
College statistics
Professional career
Lomax was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
in the second round
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...
of the 1981 NFL draft, the 33rd overall pick. Despite his college heroics, he had an up-and-down nine-year career for some very mediocre Cardinals teams, displaying brilliance in his two Pro Bowl years (1984 and 1987), but also occasionally playing poorly enough to be benched.
In Lomax' first season in 1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...
, he played in 14 games while starting seven of them (with 15-year veteran Jim Hart starting the other nine), going 4–3 while throwing four touchdowns and ten interceptions while passing for 1,575 yards on a 50.4 completion percentage. In the strike-shortened nine-game season of 1982, Lomax started every game, passing for 1,367 yards for five touchdowns and six interceptions while having a 53.2 completion percentage. Lomax started the playoff game that the Cardinals had against the Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
, throwing 32-of-51 for 385 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, but the Cardinals lost 41–16. It was his only playoff appearance.
Lomax started 13 games the following year while Hart started the other three. He went 7–5–1 while throwing for 2,636 yards with 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for a 59.0% completion percentage, but the team failed to return to the postseason, finishing 8–7–1 after starting the season 1–5.
On January 3, 1984, the Cardinals released Jim Hart and Lomax became the permanent starter, starting in every game, and he had his best season yet, throwing for 4,614 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions on a 61.6% completion percentage, all career highs. His passing yards rank 20th all-time for a season. He was named to the Pro Bowl that year. Although the Cardinals finished 9–7, the head-to-head record with 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 the Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
(for which the Cardinals went a combined 2–2, along with losing the season finale against the Washington Redskins
The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...
) meant that St. Louis lost out on a playoff spot. Lomax started in each game again in 1985, but the team went 5–11, as he threw for 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 3,214 yards and a 56.3% completion percentage. For 1986, Lomax started 14 games while Cliff Stoudt started the other two, with the former going 4–9–1 over the latter's 0–2 record. He threw for 2,583 yards while having 13 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on a 57.0% completion percentage. The following season was both Lomax's penultimate year as a Cardinal and the final one for the team in St. Louis. He started in 12 games, with Shawn Halloran (who started two games and went 1–1) and Sammy Garza (who started one game, losing it) doing the others; Lomax went 6-6 while throwing for 3,387 yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for a 59.4% completion percentage. He was named to the Pro Bowl that year. In his final year in 1988, the Cardinals' first in Arizona, Lomax started 14 games (while Cliff Stoudt started two others) and went 7–7, throwing for 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions for 3,395 yards and a 57.6 completion percentage.
Lomax was forced to retire before the 1990 season (after missing all of 1989) due to a severely arthritic
Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected jo ...
hip. In 1991, he underwent hip replacement surgery. Lomax finished with a career record of 47–52–2, 136 touchdowns, and over 22,000 yards passing, with those categories (along with completions and attempts) being second most as a Cardinal, after Hart.
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
After football
Lomax was the head coach for Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver ( ) is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, located in Clark County, Washington, Clark County. Founded in 1825 and incorporated in 1857, Vancouver had a population of 190, ...
for two seasons before resigning in January 2020. He resigned as his commute from Wilsonville, Oregon
Wilsonville is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded with the name Boones Landing for the Boones Ferry that crossed the Willamette River, the communit ...
was too much. He was the quarterbacks coach at George Fox University from 2021 to 2024.
References
External links
*
*
*
George Fox profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomax, Neil
1959 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
George Fox Bruins football coaches
Phoenix Cardinals players
Portland State Vikings football players
St. Louis Cardinals (football) players
High school football coaches in Oregon
High school football coaches in Washington (state)
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
National Conference Pro Bowl players
Lake Oswego High School alumni
Players of American football from Lake Oswego, Oregon
Players of American football from Portland, Oregon