Gary Beban
| No. 16 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | August 5, 1946 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | San Francisco, California | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| College: | UCLA | ||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 1968 / Round: 2 / Pick: 30 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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| TD–INT: | 0–0 |
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| Yards: | 0 |
| QB Rating: | 39.6 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Gary Joseph Beban (born August 5, 1946) is a former American football player. Beban won the Heisman Trophy, and the Maxwell Award in 1967 while playing quarterback at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He played professional football for two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Washington Redskins. Beban was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1988.
The son of an Italian-born mother and a first-generation Croatian-American father, Beban graduated from Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California.
Beban, known as "The Great One", excelled in both academics and athletics, majoring in European history while quarterbacking the Bruins across three straight winning seasons. As UCLA quarterback, he was named to the all-conference team three times, and led the Bruins to a 24–5–2 record. His school record for total offense lasted for 15 years. As a sophomore, he threw two touchdown passes in the last four minutes to rally the Bruins over crosstown arch-rival, USC, 20–16. In the 1966 Rose Bowl, Beban scored both UCLA's touchdowns in the Bruins' 14–12 victory over No. 1 ranked Michigan State.
In his senior year, Beban played in the 1967 USC vs. UCLA football game, widely regarded as one of the best college football games of all time. The game pitted No. 4 AP (No. 2 UPI) ranked USC, and their Heisman Trophy candidate running back O. J. Simpson, against the No. 1 ranked Bruins and Beban—also a Heisman Trophy candidate—with both the AAWU and national championships on the line. Badly injured with torn rib cartilage and in great pain, he still threw for over 300 yards and two touchdown passes to lead the Bruins in scoring. Although USC eventually won the game 21–20 on a blocked PAT, and went on to the Rose Bowl, Beban would go on to win the Heisman Trophy. Both Beban and Simpson were featured on the cover of the November 20 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine. Commenting on Beban's heroic effort playing through injury, famed L.A. Times columnist Jim Murray wrote that if "Gary Beban wins the Heisman Trophy, they ought to fill it with aspirin"
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