Tony Eason
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Tony Eason (born October 8, 1959 in Blythe, California) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for the New England Patriots and New York Jets. Eason retired after the 1990 NFL season and is now living in California.
College career, and the famed 1983 NFL Draft
Eason played college football at the University of Illinois. There, he affectionately earned the nickname "Champaign Tony", based upon the city in which the University is located.
He was drafted in the first round of the now famous 1983 NFL Draft (ie Class of '83), along with quarterbacks John Elway, Dan Marino, and Jim Kelly. In fact, Eason was drafted above Marino (as well as future Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green). The 1983 Draft is still considered the greatest year for quarterback talent coming out of the college ranks.
Professional career
Eason became the starting QB for the Patriots in 1984, taking over for longtime starter Steve Grogan. The following season, he started the season, but was injured. He returned towards the end of the season and helped the Patriots clinch a playoff berth with a 34-23 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the season finale.
Eason led the Patriots offense as they became the first team in NFL history to win three games on the road to reach the Super Bowl. Eason threw three touchdowns against the Miami Dolphins, led by Marino, in the AFC Championship Game, the first time New England had beaten the Dolphins at the Orange Bowl since 1966.
Mostly due to Eason's leadership [neutrality is disputed], and the teamwork displayed by their team as a whole, the Patriots made their first appearance in a Super Bowl in franchise history, meeting the very strong Chicago Bears, led by Jim McMahon and the legendary Walter Payton. However, the Bears' famed "46" defense defeated Eason and the Patriots in Super Bowl XX, as Eason became the first starting quarterback in Super Bowl history not to complete a pass, going 0-for-6. Eason was replaced with Grogan, but it was too late, and the Patriots lost 46-10. He led the Patriots to the AFC East title the following season, but the team was defeated by the Denver Broncos, led by Elway.
Retirement
Later in his career, Eason struggled for a couple of seasons in New England before being traded to the New York Jets during the 1989 NFL season. Eason would share quarterback duties his final season with yet another member of the "Class of '83", Ken O'Brien.
He never achieved quite the same notoriety as John Elway or Dan Marino, each of whom became icons for fans, and both of whom played their entire long careers for the same team to which they were drafted in 1983. However, although his career was brief, Eason's NFL career was exactly what was expected when he was drafted, even more. Instead of it taking years to build up his team and lead it to success, he did it over three short seasons. [neutrality is disputed] He brought Patriots into a championship game, and into the play-offs the following year.