Joe Ferguson

Joseph Carlton Ferguson, Jr. (born April 23, 1950), is an American former football quarterback in the National Football League.

Biography

Ferguson played high school football in Shreveport, Louisiana, for Woodlawn High School. He guided the Knights to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAA (the top classification at the time) state championship in 1968. Ferguson succeeded Terry Bradshaw as Woodlawn's starting quarterback.

Ferguson played college football at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where he held the school's single game record for most completions until broken in 2012 (31 against Texas A&M in 1971) and in that same season was named the Southwest Conference's Offensive Player of the Year.

The Buffalo Bills selected Ferguson in the third round of the 1973 NFL Draft. Although he is most famous for playing with the Bills from 1973 to 1984, Ferguson also played three seasons for the Detroit Lions and two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one final season with the Indianapolis Colts.

Joe Ferguson (baseball)

Joseph Vance Ferguson (born September 19, 1946 in San Francisco, California) is a retired Major League Baseball player who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros, and California Angels from 1970 through 1983. A catcher/right fielder, he was listed at 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m), 200 lbs., batting and throwing right-handed.

Career

Ferguson reached the majors in 1970 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, becoming their everyday catcher in 1973. He set a major league record for catchers by committing only three errors, leading the National League catchers in fielding percentage (.996) and double plays (17), while hitting .263 with a .369 on-base percentage. He also reached career-highs in games played (136), home runs (25), RBI (88), runs (84), doubles (26) and walks (87).

When Steve Yeager became a regular in the 1973 midseason, Ferguson shared catching duties and played right field against left-handed pitchers. He soon became known for having one of the strongest throwing arms of any outfielder in the major leagues. This came into play during Game One of the 1974 World Series against the Oakland Athletics, when Ferguson made a memorable play in right field in the top of the eighth inning, running in front of teammate Jimmy Wynn to catch a fly ball off the bat of Reggie Jackson, and then firing a 300-foot strike to Yeager to gun down Sal Bando, who was trying to score from third base. In Game Two, Ferguson hit a two-run homer off Vida Blue to provide the only Dodgers' victory in the Series. He enjoyed another fine season in 1977 with Houston, catching 122 games and hitting 16 home runs with 61 RBI and a .379 OBP. Reacquired by the Dodgers in the 1978 midseason, he helped his team reach the 1978 World Series.

Joe Ferguson (disambiguation)

Joe Ferguson is a former American football quarterback in the NFL.

Joe Ferguson may also refer to:

Joe Ferguson (rugby league)

Joseph "Joe" Ferguson (April→June 1879 – October→December 1936 (aged 57)) born in Ellenborough, Cumberland, was an English professional rugby league footballer of the 1890s…1920s playing at representative level for England, Cumberland, and Lancashire, and at club level for Oldham, as a fullback, prop, hooker, or second-row, i.e. number 1, 8 or 10, 9, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested scrums, his death was registered in Oldham district.

Playing career

International honours

Joe Ferguson won a cap for England in the 3-9 defeat by Other Nationalities at Central Park, Wigan on Tuesday 5 April 1904, in the first ever international rugby league match, that was an experimental 12-a-side match, he also won caps for England while at Oldham in 1905 against Other Nationalities (a 15-a-side match), in 1908 against New Zealand (a 13-a-side match), and in 1909 against Wales (a 13-a-side match).

Joe Ferguson was considered a "Probable" for the 1910 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand, but ultimately he was not selected, as he declined an invitation to tour due to business reasons.