List of left-handed quarterbacks

This is a list of notable left-handed quarterbacks who have played professionally or for a major college program. In gridiron football, quarterbacks have been predominantly right-handed; only 32 left-handed quarterbacks have appeared in the National Football League (NFL).[1] The rarity of left-handed NFL quarterbacks has been a topic of discussion and debate among players, coaches, and analysts.[2]

Left-handed quarterbacks were prominent in the NFL during the 1970s to the 2000s, but became mostly absent from the league by the 2010s.[3] Among the most successful have been Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Steve Young and Ken Stabler, 1988 Most Valuable Player Boomer Esiason, and Pro Bowl selections Mark Brunell and Michael Vick. Tua Tagovailoa, who was drafted in 2020, is currently the NFL's only left-handed quarterback.

List

Key
^	Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Ken Stabler was the first left-handed quarterback to be named Most Valuable Player and win a Super Bowl

Prior to his coaching career, Jim Zorn was the original quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks

Boomer Esiason was named Most Valuable Player in 1988 en route to a Super Bowl XXIII appearance

Considered the greatest left-handed quarterback of all time, Steve Young was the first to be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Mark Brunell led the Jacksonville Jaguars to four consecutive playoff runs and two AFC Championship Games in their first five seasons

Michael Vick is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards

Heisman-winner Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos to the 2012 postseason, but would not have another NFL start

As of 2020, Tua Tagovailoa is the NFL's most recent left-handed quarterback and the only currently playing in the league

Name	Career	Teams	Notes	References
Frankie Albert	1942–1953	Stanford (college) San Francisco 49ers (AAFC/NFL) Calgary Stampeders (CFL)	Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame 2× Second team All American 3× Second team All-AAFC Led AAFC in touchdown passes for two years Pro Bowl (1950)	[4]
Terry Baker	1963–1967	Oregon State (college) Los Angeles Rams (NFL) Edmonton Eskimos (CFL)	Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame 1962 Heisman Trophy winner 1962 Maxwell Award winner Consensus All American (1962) Oregon Sports Hall of Fame	[5]
Ken Stabler	1968–1984	Alabama (college) Oakland Raiders (AFL/NFL) Houston Oilers (NFL) New Orleans Saints (NFL)	Super Bowl XI champion 4× Pro Bowl 1974 NFL Most Valuable Player 2× First team All-Pro Posthumously inducted into Pro Football Hall of Fame (2016)	[4]
Bobby Douglass	1969–1978	Kansas (college) Chicago Bears (NFL) San Diego Chargers (NFL) New Orleans Saints (NFL) Green Bay Packers (NFL)	Former holder of several NFL QB rushing records	[4]
David Humm	1975–1984	Nebraska (college) Oakland Raiders (NFL) Buffalo Bills (NFL) Baltimore Colts (NFL) Los Angeles Rams (NFL)	Second team All-Big Eight (1972) First team All-Big Eight (1974) Second team All American (1974) 2× Super Bowl Champion (XI, XVIII)	[5]
Jim Zorn	1975–1987	Cal Poly (college) Dallas Cowboys (NFL) Seattle Seahawks (NFL) Green Bay Packers (NFL) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL)	First team All-Pro (1978) Seahawks Ring of Honor	[4]
Paul McDonald	1980–1987	USC (college) Cleveland Browns (NFL) Seattle Seahawks (NFL) Dallas Cowboys (NFL)	Second team All-Pac-10 (1978) First team All-Pac-10 (1979) Second team All American (1979) NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipient (2005)	[5]
Boomer Esiason	1984–1997	Maryland (college) Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) New York Jets (NFL) Arizona Cardinals (NFL)	4× Pro Bowl First team All-Pro (1988) NFL Most Valuable Player (1988)	[4]
Steve Young	1984–1999	BYU (college) Los Angeles Express (USFL) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) San Francisco 49ers (NFL)	First left-handed QB inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2005) 3× Super Bowl champion (XXIII, XXIV, XXIX) Super Bowl MVP (XXIX) 2× NFL Most Valuable Player 7× Pro Bowl	[4]
Scott Mitchell	1990–2001	Utah (college) Miami Dolphins (NFL) Orlando Thunder (WLAF) Detroit Lions (NFL) Baltimore Ravens (NFL) Cincinnati Bengals (NFL)	Former holder of several Detroit Lions passing records	[3]
Todd Marinovich	1990–93, 1999–2001	USC (college) Los Angeles Raiders (NFL) Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL) BC Lions (CFL) Los Angeles Avengers (Arena Football)	USA Today All-USA high school football team (1987) AFL all-rookie team (2001)	[6]
Mark Brunell	1993–2011	Washington (college) Green Bay Packers (NFL) Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL) Washington Redskins (NFL) New Orleans Saints (NFL) New York Jets (NFL)	1993 Rose Bowl champion Super Bowl XLIV Champion 3× Pro Bowl Pride of the Jaguars	[3]
Doug Nussmeier	1994–2000	Idaho (college) New Orleans Saints (NFL) Indianapolis Colts (NFL) BC Lions (CFL)	Walter Payton Award winner (1993) Holds numerous Idaho passing records Only one of five quarterbacks in NCAA history to pass for over 10,000 yards and rush for over 1,000	[5]
Cade McNown	1999–2008	UCLA (college) Chicago Bears (NFL) Miami Dolphins (NFL) San Francisco 49ers (NFL) Oakland Raiders (NFL)	1998 Consensus All-American 1998 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner	[7]
Michael Vick	2001–2015	Virginia Tech (college) Atlanta Falcons (NFL) Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) New York Jets (NFL) Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL)	Right-handed outside of football[8] Highest rated passer in college football (1999) 2001 first overall pick 4× Pro Bowl 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year Most career rushing yards by an NFL Quarterback	[3]
Chris Simms	2003–2010	Texas (college) Green Bay Packers (NFL) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL) Tennessee Titans (NFL) Denver Broncos (NFL)	Former holder of several Texas Longhorns football passing records Son of quarterback Phil Simms	[3]
Jared Lorenzen	2004–2014	Kentucky (college) New York Giants (NFL) Indianapolis Colts (NFL) Kentucky Horsemen (AF2) Northern Kentucky River Monsters (UIFL/CIFL) Owensboro Rage (CIFL)	Second Team All-SEC (2002) Most pass attempts and yards in Kentucky Wildcats football history Super Bowl XLII champion	[9]
Tyler Palko	2004–2011	Pittsburgh (college) New Orleans Saints (NFL) Arizona Cardinals (NFL) California Redwoods (UFL) Montreal Alouettes (CFL) Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)	USA Today All-America Team (Second-team) (2001) University of Pittsburgh Team MVP (2004) 2× Second-team Big East (2004, 2005)	[10]
Matt Leinart	2006–2013	USC (college) Arizona Cardinals (NFL) Houston Texans (NFL) Oakland Raiders (NFL) Buffalo Bills (NFL)	2004 Heisman Trophy winner 2005 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award winner Inducted into College Football Hall of Fame	[3][11]
Pat White	2009–2014	West Virginia (college) Miami Dolphins (NFL) Virginia Destroyers (UFL) Washington Redskins (NFL) Edmonton Eskimos (CFL)	2× Big East Offensive Player of the Year (2006, 2007) 3× First-team All-Big East (2006–2008) Holder of numerous West Virginia Mountaineers and NCAA passing and rushing records	[10]
Tim Tebow	2010–2015	Florida (college) Denver Broncos (NFL) New York Jets (NFL) New England Patriots (NFL) Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)	2× BCS national champion (2006, 2008) 2007 Heisman Trophy winner 2× First team All American Holder of numerous current and former Florida Gators and SEC passing records	[3][12][5]
Kellen Moore	2012–2017	Boise State (college) Dallas Cowboys (NFL) Detroit Lions (NFL)	Most wins by a quarterback in NCAA Division I FBS history (50) 2× First-team All American	[3][2]
Tua Tagovailoa	2020–present	Alabama (college) Miami Dolphins (NFL)	Right-handed, but throws with his left after being taught to do so by his father[13] 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship winner and MVP 2018 Maxwell Award winner 2018 Walter Camp Award winner	[10]

References

Holcomb, Dave (16 December 2020). "The most notable lefty NFL quarterbacks". MSN. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
Toney, Nick (August 13, 2018). "Why are there no lefty quarterbacks in the NFL?". NFL.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
Edholm, Eric. "Are Lefty Quarterbacks Going Extinct?". FiveThirtyEight.
Left-handed QBs | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site
Stine, Carl. "Tim Tebow and the 14 Greatest Left-Handed CFB Quarterbacks of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
Todd Marinovich Stats | Pro Football Reference
Cade McNown Stats | Pro Football Reference
"Michael Vick Biography". Biography.com. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
Jared Lorenzen Stats | Pro Football Reference
Brief, Sam (2018-11-02). "Tua Tagovailoa is making left-handed college QB history". SI.com. Retrieved 2019-07-04.
Matt Leinart Stats | Pro Football Reference
Tim Tebow Stats | Pro Football Reference
Casagrande, Michael. "How Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa became left-handed". AL.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

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[Notable-1] Holcomb, Dave (16 December 2020). "The most notable lefty NFL quarterbacks". MSN. Retrieved 17 December 2020.

[noLefties-2] Toney, Nick (August 13, 2018). "Why are there no lefty quarterbacks in the NFL?". NFL.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.

[FiveThirty8-3] Edholm, Eric. "Are Lefty Quarterbacks Going Extinct?". FiveThirtyEight.

[HoF-4] Left-handed QBs | Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site

[BRTop15-5] Stine, Carl. "Tim Tebow and the 14 Greatest Left-Handed CFB Quarterbacks of All Time". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2019-04-05.

[6] Todd Marinovich Stats | Pro Football Reference

[7] Cade McNown Stats | Pro Football Reference

[VickRightHanded-8] "Michael Vick Biography". Biography.com. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.

[9] Jared Lorenzen Stats | Pro Football Reference

[Tua_SI-10] Brief, Sam (2018-11-02). "Tua Tagovailoa is making left-handed college QB history". SI.com. Retrieved 2019-07-04.

[11] Matt Leinart Stats | Pro Football Reference

[12] Tim Tebow Stats | Pro Football Reference

[13] Casagrande, Michael. "How Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa became left-handed". AL.com. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

List of left-handed quarterbacks

List

See also

References