Rich Gannon

Rich Gannon is a former professional football player and a current NFL analyst for CBS sports. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, and Oakland Raiders.

After playing college football for the University of Delaware, Gannon was drafted by the New England Patriots, but was traded to the Minnesota Vikings. Gannon became the Vikings' starting quarterback in 1990, before he was traded to the Washington Redskins in 1993 and then to the Chiefs in 1995.

In February 1999 he was signed as a free agent by the Raiders. He excelled in Jon Gruden's "dink and dunk" offense and was voted to the Pro Bowl in his first year as a Raider, the first of four straight selections. In 2000 and 2001, he won the Pro Bowl MVP award consecutively, a feat achieved by no other NFL player. Gannon won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII. He led the league in attempts with 618, and completions with 418.

Gannon won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award after a record-setting 2002 season, throwing for 4,689 yards and 26 touchdowns and recording a career-high 97.2 passer rating, which helped the Raiders advance to Super Bowl XXXVII. He led the league with 418 completions on 618 attempts. In the Super Bowl, Gannon threw a Super Bowl-record five interceptions – three of which were run back for touchdowns – in a 48–21 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs' defense was aided by the fact that their new head coach was Jon Gruden, who had knowledge of the Raiders' playbook as well as Gannon's mannerisms and even some audibles, which Oakland coach Bill Callahan had left unchanged since Gruden's departure.

Rich's 2003 season was ended by a shoulder injury. A serious neck injury in 2004 effectively ended his career.

In August 2005, Gannon officially retired from football and joined CBS Sports as an NFL analyst. The same year Gannon was inducted into the University of Delaware athletics hall of fame.