Thomas Lyle Flick (born August 30, 1958) 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 seven 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) with five teams. 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 Washington Huskies, and is currently a corporate speaker on leadership and change.

Football

High school

Born in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

and raised in

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside (King County, Washington), Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area, and the f ...

, Flick attended Interlake High School and played football, basketball, and baseball. As the starting quarterback in his junior season (fall 1974), he led the Saints to 10–0 season, the Kingco championship, and a #2 ranking in the state. Leading Interlake to a repeat appearance in the Kingco championship in his senior season, Flick was recruited by many top colleges, ultimately accepting a scholarship to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in nearby

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

to play under second-year head coach Don James in the Pac-10 Conference.

College

Flick

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his sophomore season in 1977, when the #13 Huskies, led by senior quarterback Warren Moon, upset fourth-ranked

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

in the Rose Bowl. Flick became the starting quarterback in October

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, and led the Huskies to bowl games in his final two seasons: the Sun in December

and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

in January 1981. While leading UW to a 9–2 record and the Pac-10 championship in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, he set several records, including most passing yards in a single season (2,460) and longest touchdown pass (84 yards to Willie Rosborough against

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

). Known for his accuracy, Flick set a record in 1980 for career passing percentage (60.4%), including a game against

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

where he set a record for the highest single-game passing percentage, completing 16 of 17 passes () and three touchdowns, while suffering from a concussion. During his senior season in 1980, Flick was voted team captain and most inspirational by his teammates. He was chosen to play in two all-star games in January 1981: the East-West Shrine Game, and Japan Bowl, as the starting quarterback.

NFL

Flick was selected in the fourth round (90th overall) of the 1981 NFL draft by 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 ...

. As the third quarterback taken, he was hand-picked by first-year head coach Joe Gibbs. Traded after his rookie year to the New England Patriots, Flick continued his seven-year NFL career with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

, and

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 ...

. Most of his playing time was with San Diego as the backup quarterback to hall of famer Dan Fouts, earning MVP game honors by completing 16 of 22 passes against the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

-bound

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in 1986.

Speaking career

Known for his leadership skills during his career as a quarterback, Flick transitioned into the realm of inspirational speaking. Founding Tom Flick Communications in 1989, he started off by speaking to educational systems. An expert on leadership and change, Flick has traveled throughout North America and internationally to deliver thousands of keynotes and custom presentations to countless organizations. Clients include

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

Hallmark A hallmark is an official Mark (sign), mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term ''Wikti ...

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

American Express American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

, Ritz Carlton Hotels, and

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. Mentored by leadership and change expert Dennis Goin, Executive Vice President of Kotter International, Flick has an alliance with Kotter International, founded by Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus at the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and Chief Innovation Officer, Dr. John Kotter.

Personal life

Married since 1985, Flick and his wife, Molly, have two children, Jenny and Joe. He currently resides in Redmond, Washington.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flick, Tom 1958 births Living people Players of American football from Maryland American football quarterbacks San Diego Chargers players New England Patriots players Cleveland Browns players New York Jets players Washington Huskies football players Washington Redskins players People from St. Mary's County, Maryland American motivational speakers