BY MELISSA SPELTS
Did you know that Jim McMahon (a famous Hall-of-Fame NFL Quarterback) attended Roy High School back in the day? His family moved from San Jose, California to Roy, Utah during his Junior year in high school. He played football at Roy High, graduating in 1977 as a Roy Royal.
After he graduated, he went to school at BYU and primarily played as the team’s punter during his freshman and sophomore year. When BYU’s quarter back was injured in his Sophomore year, he became the starting quarterback. Jim was always flamboyant and drew the attention of media and fans. His signature look was wearing sunglasses both outdoors and indoors. The glasses were not just a fashion statement. His eye was injured when he was young and, though he didn’t lose any vision, his eye became very sensitive to light; so, he always wears sunglasses. He was a great college quarterback and earned many awards: All-WAC honors, Associated Press Honorable Mention All America, Sports Illustrated National Player of the Week Award, and Deseret News Athlete of the year. He was named to four all-American teams and finished fifth in Heisman Trophy voting, WAC Player of the Year, and unanimous first team ALL WAC, just to name a few. His game fluctuated between amazing and adjusting to cope with injuries, but that didn’t stop him. He worked hard, and in 1980, he became BYU’s starting quarterback. By the end of this college career, he had NFL teams looking at him.
In 1982, he was drafted by the Chicago Bears, with Mike Ditka as his new coach. He played seven seasons with the Bears and won his first Super Bowl. His second Super Bowl win was later in his career when he served as backup to Brett Farve with the Green Bay Packers. After the bears, Jim moved around a bit and was traded to the San Diego Chargers. He played with the Chargers for a year and later was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles from 1990 to 1992, then Minnesota Vikings in 1993. He played with the Arizona Cardinals for the 1994 season under a former Bears assistant, Buddy Ryan, and then Cleveland Browns in 1995. Following the 1996 season with the Green Bay Packers, he retired, which perfectly finished his career with a Green Bay Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots in New Orleans. What a career. What an athlete.
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