Thomas Scott "Tim" Van Galder (May 26, 1944 – January 26, 2022) was an American 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) with the St. Louis Cardinals (1967, 1971–1972) and 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 ...

(1973). 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

at Iowa State University and the

New Mexico Military Institute New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI) is a public military junior college and high school in Roswell, New Mexico. Founded in 1891, NMMI operates under the auspices of the State of New Mexico, under a dedicated Board of Regents that reports t ...

. While at Iowa State he earned all Big Eight Conference honors in both sports. He was later a sportscaster on St. Louis television. Van Galder was born in Racine, Wisconsin on May 26, 1944. Although drafted in 1966 by the Cardinals he spent most of his first 3 seasons on their taxi squad, only being briefly activated but not playing in 1967. His first NFL action came on opening day of 1972 when he started at quarterback for the Cardinals and led them to a 10–3 victory over the Baltimore Colts. He started 4 more games for the Cardinals that season but the Cardinals did not win any of them; he missed several games with a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

suffered in game 3, and he ended the season with a 34.5 quarterback rating on 79 passes (with 7

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s). He was waived by the Cardinals and picked up by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

before the 1973 season to replace the injured Virgil Carter as Ken Anderson's backup. The Bengals released him after an opening game loss in which Van Galder did not play and replaced him with Mike Ernst. He was signed in October by the

to back up 3rd string quarterback Bill Demory after their top two quarterbacks,

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "Broadway Joe", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seaso ...

and Al Woodall, were hurt. The Jets released him after two games in which Van Galder did not play. In 1973, Van Galder became a sportscaster in St. Louis for KMOV, where he spent 13 years. Van Galder died from cancer in St. Charles, Missouri, on January 26, 2022, at the age of 77.Former NFL Quarterback Has Died At 77
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Galder, Tim 1944 births 2022 deaths American football quarterbacks Iowa State Cyclones football players New York Jets players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players New Mexico Military Broncos football players Players of American football from Racine, Wisconsin Cincinnati Bengals players Madison West High School alumni Deaths from cancer in Missouri