Neil Lomax
No. 15 | |||||||
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Position: | Quarterback | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Portland, Oregon,U.S. | February 17, 1959||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Lake Oswego(Lake Oswego, Oregon)[1] | ||||||
College: | Portland State | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1981/ Round: 2 / Pick: 33 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats atPFR | |||||||
Neil Vincent Lomax(born February 17, 1959) is an American former professionalfootballplayer who was aquarterbackin theNational Football League(NFL), playing his entire career for theSt. Louis / Phoenix Cardinals.He playedcollege footballfor thePortland State Vikings,setting numerousNational Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) passing records running head coachMouse Davis'srun and shoot offense.Lomax was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Famein 1996.
College career
[edit]FromLake Oswego, Oregon,a suburb south ofPortland,Lomax was a standoutCollege footballplayer atPortland State University,going from fifth-string freshman quarterback in 1977 on a partial scholarship to emergency starter toNCAAlegend in therun and shoot offenseof head coachMouse Davis.[2]By the end of his college career in 1980, he held 90 NCAA records, including seventouchdownpasses in the first quarter againstDelaware State,which ended in a 105–0shutoutfor theDivision I-AAVikings.[2][3] Two weeks earlier, independent Portland State crushedDivision IICal Poly Pomona93–7.[4]In his final collegiate game, Lomax threw for 474 yards with five touchdown passes as PSU waxedWeber State75–0 to finish at 8–3; he ended his college career with more than 13,200 yards (7.5 miles) passing and over a hundred touchdown passes.[5]
Lomax also had a game at Division IINorthern Coloradoin 1979 where he was 44/77 for 499 yards passing.[6]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 thePortland StateAthletics Hall of Fame in 1997 and had his #11 retired by the university.[7]
College statistics
[edit]Season | Team | Passing | ||||||
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Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | ||
1977 | Portland State | 102 | 181 | 56.4 | 1,670 | 9.2 | 18 | 5 |
1978 | Portland State | 241 | 436 | 55.3 | 3,506 | 8.0 | 26 | 22 |
1979 | Portland State | 299 | 516 | 58.0 | 3,950 | 7.7 | 26 | 16 |
1980 | Portland State | 296 | 473 | 62.6 | 4,094 | 8.7 | 37 | 12 |
Career | 938 | 1,606 | 58.4 | 13,220 | 8.2 | 107 | 55 |
Professional career
[edit]Lomax was selected by theSt. Louis Cardinalsin thesecond roundof the1981 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 in1981,he played in 14 games while starting seven of them (with 15-year veteranJim Hartstarting 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 theGreen Bay Packers,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 theNew York Giantsand theDallas Cowboys(for which the Cardinals went a combined 2–2, along with losing the season finale against theWashington Redskins) 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 whileCliff Stoudtstarted 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, withShawn Halloran(who started two games and went 1–1) andSammy 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 (whileCliff Stoudtstarted 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 severelyarthritichip. In 1991, he underwenthip 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
[edit]Legend | |
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Pro Bowlappearance | |
Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1981 | STL | 14 | 7 | 4−3 | 119 | 236 | 50.4 | 1,575 | 6.7 | 4 | 10 | 75 | 59.9 | 19 | 104 | 5.5 | 22 | 2 |
1982 | STL | 15 | 9 | 5−4 | 109 | 205 | 53.2 | 1,367 | 6.7 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 70.1 | 28 | 119 | 4.3 | 19 | 1 |
1983 | STL | 13 | 13 | 7−5–1 | 209 | 354 | 59.0 | 2,636 | 7.4 | 24 | 11 | 71 | 92.0 | 27 | 127 | 4.7 | 35 | 2 |
1984 | STL | 16 | 16 | 9−7 | 345 | 560 | 61.6 | 4,614 | 8.2 | 28 | 16 | 83 | 92.5 | 35 | 184 | 5.3 | 20 | 3 |
1985 | STL | 16 | 16 | 5−11 | 265 | 471 | 56.3 | 3,214 | 6.8 | 18 | 12 | 47 | 79.5 | 32 | 125 | 3.9 | 23 | 0 |
1986 | STL | 14 | 14 | 4–9–1 | 240 | 421 | 57.0 | 2,583 | 6.1 | 13 | 12 | 48 | 73.6 | 35 | 148 | 4.2 | 18 | 1 |
1987 | STL | 12 | 12 | 6−6 | 275 | 463 | 59.4 | 3,387 | 7.3 | 24 | 12 | 57 | 88.5 | 29 | 107 | 3.7 | 19 | 0 |
1988 | PHX | 14 | 14 | 7−7 | 255 | 443 | 57.6 | 3,395 | 7.7 | 20 | 11 | 93 | 86.7 | 17 | 55 | 3.2 | 13 | 1 |
1989 | PHX | did not play due to injury | ||||||||||||||||
Career | 108 | 101 | 47−52–2 | 1,817 | 3,153 | 57.6 | 22,771 | 7.2 | 136 | 90 | 93 | 82.7 | 222 | 969 | 4.4 | 35 | 10 |
Playoffs
[edit]Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
1982 | STL | 1 | 1 | 0−1 | 32 | 51 | 62.7 | 385 | 7.5 | 2 | 2 | 36 | 82.6 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | 6 | 0 |
Career | 1 | 1 | 0−1 | 32 | 51 | 62.7 | 385 | 7.5 | 2 | 2 | 36 | 82.6 | 4 | 9 | 2.3 | 6 | 0 |
After football
[edit]Lomax was the head coach forFort Vancouver High SchoolinVancouver, Washingtonfor two seasons before resigning in January 2020. He resigned as his commute fromWilsonville, Oregonwas too much.[8]He is now an assistant coach, for quarterbacks, at George Fox University.
References
[edit]- ^"Neil Lomax (1996) - Hall of Fame".National Football Foundation.RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
- ^ab"Who's Neil Lomax?".Lewiston Morning Tribune.(Idaho). Associated Press. November 11, 1980. p. 4C.
- ^"Lomax collars a mark, so do Vikings 105-0".Eugene Register-Guard.(Oregon). wire service reports. November 9, 1980. p. 8B.
- ^"Portland State rolls up 93 points, QBs 603 yards".Eugene Register-Guard.(Oregon). wire service reports. October 26, 1980. p. 8C.
- ^"Lomax gets 5 TDs. 474 yards".Eugene Register-Guard.(Oregon). wire service reports. November 23, 1980. p. 8C.
- ^"Lomax gets records, UNC gets win".Eugene Register-Guard.(Oregon). wire service reports. October 21, 1979. p. 8B.
- ^"Neil Lomax (1997) - Portland State Athletics Hall of Fame".Portland State University.RetrievedJune 14,2023.
- ^Valencia, Paul (January 6, 2020)."Neil Lomax gives advice as he exits Fort Vancouver football | ClarkCountyToday.com".RetrievedOctober 1,2020.
External links
[edit]- Neil Lomaxat theCollege Football Hall of Fame
- "Neil Lomax".The Oregon Encyclopedia.
- Career statistics and player information fromNFL.com·Pro Football Reference
- 1959 births
- Living people
- American football quarterbacks
- Phoenix Cardinals players
- Portland State Vikings football players
- St. Louis Cardinals (football) players
- High school football coaches in Washington (state)
- College Football Hall of Fame inductees
- National Conference Pro Bowl players
- Lake Oswego High School alumni
- Sportspeople from Lake Oswego, Oregon
- Players of American football from Portland, Oregon