Tracy Ham(born January 5, 1964) is an American former professionalfootballquarterbackwho played in theCanadian Football League(CFL). He played for theEdmonton Eskimos,theToronto Argonauts,theBaltimore Stallions,and theMontreal Alouettes.He was known for his abilities as adual-threat quarterback.He playedcollege footballfor theGeorgia Southern Eagles,where he became the first quarterback to rush for 3,000 yards and pass for 5,000 yards in a career. Ham is an inductee of both theCollege Football Hall of Fameand theCanadian Football Hall of Fame.Ham is currently the Senior Associate Athletics Director forGeorgia Southern University.[1]
| No. 8, 1 | |
| Born: | January 5, 1964 Gainesville, Florida,U.S. |
|---|---|
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | QB |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
| College | Georgia Southern(1983–1986) |
| High school | Santa Fe (Alachua, Florida) |
| NFL draft | 1987,round: 9, pick: 240 |
| Drafted by | Los Angeles Rams |
| Career history | |
| As coach | |
| 2002–2003 | Clark Atlanta |
| As player | |
| 1987–1992 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 1993 | Toronto Argonauts |
| 1994–1995 | Baltimore Stallions |
| 1996–1999 | Montreal Alouettes |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| CFL All-Star | 1989 |
| CFL West All-Star | 1989 |
| Awards | |
| Retired #s | Georgia Southern Eagles No. 8 |
| Records |
|
| Career stats | |
| Passing attempts | 4,943 |
| Passing completions | 2,670 |
| Completion percentage | 54% |
| TD–INT | 284–164 |
| Passing yards | 40,534 |
| Passer rating | 86.6 |
Playing career
editCollege
editWith theGeorgia Southern Eagles,Ham helped lead the team to back-to-backDivision I-AAtitles. The Eagles defeatedFurmanin the1985 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game,with Ham throwing for 419 yards and four touchdowns along with running in atwo-point conversion.[2]The following year, the Eagles defeatedArkansas Statein the1986 NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship Game,with Ham rushing for 180 yards and three touchdowns, while also passing for 306 yards and one touchdown.[3]In 2007, Ham was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame.
Professional
editAfter his college career, Ham was selected by theLos Angeles Ramsin the ninth round of the1987 NFL draft.[4]However, on May 22, 1987, Ham signed a three-year deal with theEdmonton Eskimosof the CFL due to a belief that NFL teams wanted him to play a position other than quarterback.[5]With the Eskimos, he served as the third-string quarterback behindMatt DuniganandDamon Allen.He was a member of theirGrey Cupwinning team that season. With the trading of Dunigan to theBC Lionsand injuries to Allen, Ham established himself as their new starting quarterback. He passed for 2,840 yards and ran for another 628. In 1989, he won theCFL's Most Outstanding Player Awardin leading the Eskimos to a 16-2 record, throwing for 4,366 yards on 268 completions out of 517 attempts with 30 touchdowns to 18 interceptions. Ham became the first CFL quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards with 1,005 on 125 carries and 10 touchdowns. Unfortunately for the Eskimos, they were upset in the West Division Final by the 9-9 Saskatchewan Roughriders, who went on to win the Grey Cup.
In 1990, Ham added another 1,000 yard rushing season with 1,096 and passed for 4,286 yards leading the Eskimos to the Grey Cup. However, the team was handily beaten by theWinnipeg Blue Bombers50-11. The next year Ham ran for 998 yards and passed for 3,862. Ham endured an injury plagued season in 1992 but played well enough to pass for 3,655 yards and run for 655. He was dealt to theToronto Argonautsin a blockbuster eight-for-eight trade in 1993, but the Argos suffered through a 3-15 record. He threw for 2,147 yards and ran for 605, struggling to adapt to theRun & Shootoffense.
With theCFL expanding into the United States,Ham joined the newly-established Baltimore team in 1994. He gained his last plus 4,000 yard passing season with 4,348 and ran for 613 yards. Ham led the team, not yet named the Stallions, to the Grey Cup, where they were defeated by the Lions. Finally, in 1995, Ham led the Stallions to the only Grey Cup win by a US-based team in a 37-20 defeat of theCalgary Stampeders;he wonGrey Cup MVPhonours for his efforts. In the regular season, he passed for 3,357 yards and ran for 610.
With the demise of the US-based teams, the core of the Stallions franchise was transferred to Montreal where they became the third incarnation of the Alouettes. The team's offense was geared to the running attack, especially whenMike Pringlereturned from the NFL midway through the 1996 season. Ham would spend two seasons as the clear-cut starting quarterback, but in 1998 he began to share passing duties withAnthony Calvilloand he retired after the 1999 season.
In his career from 1987 to 1999 Ham accumulated 40,534 passing yards which currently ranks seventh all-time. He threw 4,943 times with 2,670 completions, 164 interceptions and 284 touchdowns. His 8,043 rushing yards presently puts him in tenth all time and second among quarterbacks, behind onlyDamon Allen.He tallied 1,059 carries with 62 touchdowns. In 2010, Ham was inducted into theCanadian Football Hall of Fame.
Coaching career
editIn 2002, Ham was hired to serve as head coach of theClark Atlanta Panthers footballteam.[6]He led the Panthers to records of 2–9 in 2002 and 0–11 in 2003 before he was fired prior to the start of the 2004 season.[6]
Head coaching record
edit| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clark Atlanta Panthers(Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)(2002–2003) | |||||||||
| 2002 | Clark Atlanta | 2–9 | 1–7 | 9th | |||||
| 2003 | Clark Atlanta | 0–11 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
| Clark Atlanta: | 2–20 | 1–15 | |||||||
| Total: | 2–20 | ||||||||
References
edit- ^"Tracy Ham - Senior Associate Athletics Director, Administration - Staff Directory".Georgia Southern University Athletics.RetrievedSeptember 19,2024.
- ^"NCAA Official Scoring Summary"(PDF).December 21, 1985.RetrievedMay 3,2019– viaAmazon Web Services.
- ^"NCAA Official Scoring Summary"(PDF).December 19, 1986.RetrievedMay 2,2019– viaAmazon Web Services.
- ^"1987 NFL Draft Listing".Pro-Football-Reference.com.RetrievedOctober 1,2023.
- ^"Ham rejects Rams to sign with Eskimos".The Desert Sun.Palm Springs, California.AP.May 23, 1987. p. H1.RetrievedSeptember 28,2017– via newspapers.com.
- ^ab"Tracy Ham fired as Clark Atlanta head coach".August 4, 2004.RetrievedFebruary 27,2013.