Jim Everett

by Mike Magers

Jim graduated from Albuquerque’s Eldorado High School where he played basketball, wrestling, golf and football.  Only a starter at quarterback his senior year (1980), he led the team to a 13-0 record and a New Mexico State Championship in football under Coach Jerry Hall for a 14-11 victory over Clovis (11-2).  In that game, Everett also played safety on defense.  The same two teams had met in the championship two years earlier with Clovis taking a close 7-3 victory.

 

Jim attended Purdue University on a football scholarship where after redshirting his freshman year, he went on to pass for 7,411 yards and 572 completions in 965 attempts (7.7 yards per attempt), 43 touchdowns.  His senior year numbers were outstanding with 3,651 passing yards and 285 completions in 450 attempts.  Everett finished 6th in the 1986 Heisman Trophy balloting behind winner Bo Jackson and such other players as Miami’s Vinnie Testaverde.

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Everett was selected in the 1986 NFL draft by the Houston Oilers, the third player taken in the first round, but was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in September.  He became the Ram’s starting quarterback, going on to pass for 3,000 yards in five consecutive seasons with the club.  He played 8 seasons in all for the Rams (1986-1993), three seasons for the New Orleans Saints (1994-1996) before retiring after the 1997 season with the San Diego Chargers.

In Everett’s 12 year NFL career, he was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1990 and the UPI Second Team All NFC in 1988.   He amassed 34,837 passing yards (20th in the NFL) with 2,842 completions in 4,923 attempts, 203 touchdowns against 175 interceptions.  Everett appeared in 158 games, starting all but five of them.  His career passing completions and attempts rank rank 23rd and 22nd in the NFL, respectively.

Jim earned a BS degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, minoring in Computer Science and an MBA from Pepperdine University.  He is now a Registered Investment Advisor and for many years has headed up his own firm, The Jim Everett Company.  He is active in local charities through the Jim Everett Charity Foundation and is a founder and board member of Quarterback Greats, which represents the NFL group rights to outstanding retired NFL quarterbacks.

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