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| Erik Kramer |
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Former Lions and Bears quarterback
Falcons (1987), Lions (1991-93), Bears (1994-98), Chargers (1999)
Nos. 12/18
Age: 44
Height/weight: 6-1/204 pounds
Born: 11/6/1964, Encino, California
Resides: Agoura Hills, Calif.
College: North Carolina State
Drafted: Undrafted
NFL experience: 11 years (1987, 1990-1999)
Career NFL stats: 1,317 completions on 2,299 attempts (57.3 %) for 15,337 yards, 92 TDs, 79 INT.
Best season: Chicago Bears, 1995. Started all 16 games, 315 completions on 522 attempts (60.3%) for 3,838 yards, 29 TDs, 10 INT.
Finished career as Bears’ all-time leader in passing efficiency
Best game: Sept. 27, 1998, 31-28 loss to Minnesota, 25-for-39 (64.1%), 372 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT.
Best Big game: Jan. 5, 1991. Playoffs: Detroit 38, Dallas 6. 29-for-38 (76%), 341 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT.
Family: Wife, Marshawn, married 22 years, two boys Griffen, 15, and Dillon, 10.
PERSONAL FILES
My nickname, Brass:
My first NFL game—non-strike—was in 1991. The year before, in 1990, I made the Lions roster as a walk-on free agent after playing in Canada for two years and the 1987 strike year I spent in Atlanta. I started the 1991 season as the backup to Rodney Peete even though the team drafted Andre Ware in the first round the year before. In Week 2 against Indy, Rodney went down in the 1st quarter with an injury. In my first series on third-and-one, Dave Levy, the offensive coordinator, called for a handoff to Barry Sanders. But as I got to the line, I saw Willie Greene, a second-year receiver who was my after-practice pass-catching buddy, had one-on-one press coverage. So, forgetting that it was third down, and forgetting about the future Hall of Fame running back behind me, I naturally called an audible for a fade-stop to Willie, who caught it for a TD. Nothin’ to this NFL thing! As I triumphantly jogged back to the sidelines, I noticed Jerry Wampfler, our O Line coach, bent over laughing as he shook his head. As I strode by, Jerry turned, still laughing and said, “You’re lucky that 3rd down audible was caught for a TD or you might have been cut before you got to the sidelines.” I turned to Willie with a look of shock and asked, “that was 3rd down?” I really did forget. When I got on the bus, two offensive linemen, Ken Dalifior and Eric Williams, started calling me “Brass” and it stuck. See? Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
Wackiest training camp prank:
The most elaborate prank I ever took part in was for a TV show in Detroit and it took a couple of days to set up. Rodney Peete had just bought a new red Mercedes two-seater convertible, which had just come out on the market in the early ’90s. In Detroit, it really stood out because almost every other car on the road was a blue Taurus. We were roommates at the Holiday Inn, about a mile from the Pontiac Silverdome where we practiced. As Rodney and I pulled in, we had it set up to look like a big landscaping crew was doing work in the parking lot for the hotel. They had cones and trucks and landscape-looking guys in green jump suits who were guiding everybody else’s cars around to the back of the hotel. But as Rodney waited to pull around the back, the guy bent down and offered Rodney a spot right in front. “You’ll be fine here, Mr. Peete,” he assured Rodney. We went upstairs and while Rodney was taking a nap I took his keys and moved his car around the corner. Where his car had been, we had them dump a full load of wood chips out of the dump truck and left the hauling bed in the fully unloaded position pointing down at the heap. They placed a Mercedes hood ornament, a red Mercedes door, and his license plate around to look like his new baby was buried underneath. Then we had the front desk call up to tell Rodney there was a terrible mistake and he needed to come down immediately. When he came down, there was an “officer” taking a report from the “foreman.” Trying to get a rise out of Rodney, the foreman noted that Rodney had “insisted” on parking in front. The funny thing was, Rodney didn’t go crazy like we hoped. He never quite took the bait. Later, I asked him how he stayed so calm. He said, “Willie (his dad) always told me that’s why you buy insurance.” That’s Rodney…always cool under pressure.
Best defense I ever faced:
There were a few. When I was with Detroit, the Bears still had McMichael, The Fridge, and Singletary. Green Bay had Reggie White, Sean Jones and LeRoy Butler. Dallas was winning Super Bowls back then. They had a stable of guys on the defensive line and Deion Sanders behind them. Anyone with Deion had a good defense.
Best I ever played with:
Barry Sanders. Period.
Best/worst cities to play in:
Best: Chicago. It’s as metropolitan as a city can be but with Midwest values. The stadium is located in the heart of the city and on the edge of Lake Michigan. In the old Soldier Field you could see the magnificent skyline while you played the game. But the city’s architecture and restaurants are what always get me. Chicago oozes history. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was filmed there. That alone says it all.
Worst: Saskatchewan. It’s an open-air stadium in the middle of a prairie wind-tunnel. So I’m not sure if it actually qualifies as a city.
Closest friends in football:
Rodney Peete, Ryan Wetnight and Curtis Conway.
Favorite foods:
I hate to say it, I’m kind of a blue-collar guy, but I do like my lobster.
Favorite movies:
All the classics: “Caddyshack,” “Weird Science,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Braveheart.”
What’s in your iPod?
When I had an iPod, before I lost it, I had Bush, 3 Doors Down, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones.
Favorite hangouts:
Joe’s Crabhouse in Chicago for the stone crab claws. When I’m in a mafia mood, I go to Gene & Georgetti’s. After dinner in Chicago we would usually drop by Jilly’s piano bar for a couple.
My hero is:
Joe Montana. As a kid, it was Roger Staubach, but as I grew older and got into the pros I had a chance to watch a lot of film of other quarterbacks. Knowing by then all the difficult things a quarterback had to do to be successful, I quickly began to appreciate the way Joe made the difficult look easy. It was like watching Baryshnikov play quarterback while wearing No. 16. The most fluid quarterback ever.
Passion:
Teaching kids to play quarterback. www.erikkramer.com |
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