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Rex Grossman
Date of birth	August 23, 1980
Place of birth	Bloomington, Indiana
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Florida
NFL Draft	2003 / Round 1/ Pick 22
Statistics	Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
2003-present	Chicago Bears

Rex Grossman (born August 23,
1980 in

Bloomington, Indiana) is an

American football player and a

quarterback. Grossman currently plays in the

National Football League for the

Chicago Bears. Grossman played

college football at the

University of Florida, where he set multiple school passing records, was a
finalist for the

Heisman Trophy, and received national recognition.

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[edit] High school career

Grossman played quarterback for
Bloomington High School South in

Bloomington, Indiana. In his senior year, Grossman led his team to the
1998 5A state title, throwing 216 yards and five touchdowns in a 35-14 victory
over

Homestead High School in

Fort Wayne, Indiana

[1]. Grossman's five touchdown passes set a record for the most touchdown
passes thrown in an Indiana state high school championship game.

[edit] College career

Grossman elected to attend the
University of Florida rather than the school in his hometown,

Indiana University, where both his father and grandfather played football.
After

redshirting his freshman year, in 2000 Grossman found himself the
third-string quarterback in an extremely competitive group that included
senior
Jesse
Palmer and highly rated true freshman
Brock
Berlin. Nevertheless, after an injury to Palmer, he quickly established
himself as the Gators' starter, achieving the third highest

passer efficiency rating in the history of the

NCAA. His sophomore year he came second to

University of Nebraska quarterback
Eric
Crouch in the closest vote in

Heisman Trophy history. His sophomore campaign culminated in the famed
"Slinging in the Rain" game against LSU. In this game, Grossman threw 22
completions in 32 attempts, for 464 yards and 5 touchdowns, en route to a
victory over the Tigers. He broke or approached many records set by

Danny Wuerffel.

After his junior season in 2002 under new Florida head coach Ron Zook,
who had replaced

Steve Spurrier at the end of the previous season, Grossman opted to forego
his final year of collegiate eligibility and declare for the
NFL draft.

[edit] Professional career

The Chicago Bears selected Grossman during the first round of the
2003 NFL Draft. Under the coaching of
Dick
Jauron, Grossman was sidelined in favor of veteran quarterbacks

Chris Chandler and

Kordell Stewart. Grossman only saw playtime during the final three games
of the season, after the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs. Grossman was
removed from the final game of the campaign after breaking a finger in his
left (non-throwing) hand.

Before the start of the
2004 NFL season, the Bears fired Jauron and hired
Lovie
Smith, who declared Grossman the team's starting quarterback. Grossman was
criticized when he threw a game-ending interception against the Detroit Lions
on opening day. Criticism of his durability intensified when he damaged his
knee
ligaments while scrambling for a touchdown. The injury forced Grossman to
spend the remainder of the season recuperating.

Grossman missed most
2005 NFL season after breaking his ankle in a pre-season game. Grossman
appeared in a press conference after the game, where he remarked, “Shit
happens” to crowd of spectators.[2]
On
December 18, 2005,
Lovie Smith choose to substitute a fully recovered Grossman in favor of
Kyle
Orton. Although Grossman only played for one half, he managed to lead the
Bears to 16-3 victory over the

Atlanta Falcons. Grossman continued his momentum that following week by
leading the Bears to 24-17 victory over the

Green Bay Packers. After a loss to the Vikings, Grossman and the Bears
prepared to battle the

Carolina Panthers. In Grossman’s first playoff game, he completed 17 of 41
passes, and threw one interception and touchdown for a 29-21 loss.

During a Chicago FOX Sports interview before the

2006 season, Grossman stated that he was eager to leave his injury-prone
past behind him. Despite a sub par pre-season performance, Grossman led the
Bears to a 26-0 victory over the

Green Bay Packers. The following week, Grossman spearheaded the Bears to a
34-7 victory over the

Detroit Lions by throwing four touchdowns. Grossman's week two performance
earned him the "FedEx
Air & Ground Player of the week award", as well as the NFL's highest overall
quarterback rating.

On September 28, Grossman was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Month for

September 2006

[3]. Three days later, Grossman lead the Bears to a 37-6 victory over the

Seattle Seahawks, throwing two touchdowns and 232 yards. Grossman's week
four stellar performance earned him another "FedEx Air & Ground Player of the
week award". The following week, Grossman lead the Bears to 40-7 victory over
the
Buffalo Bills, marking the Bears' best start since

1986.

Grossman's productive performance was ran aground during a
Monday Night game against the

Arizona Cardinals. Over the course of the

game, Grossman threw four interceptions, fumbled twice, and only threw for
134 yards. Despite his poor performance, the Bears' defense and special teams
managed to rally 24 points in the second half. After leaving the game,
Grossman remarked, "I've never played so bad and won a game like that."

[4].

[edit] Personal life

Grossman has been married to Alison Miska since 2005.

[edit] Trivia

• Besides football, Rex enjoys playing
  
  basketball in his free time
  
  [5].
• Despite the bitter rivalry between the
  Chicago Bears and
  
  Green Bay Packers, Rex Grossman has always admired
  Brett
  Favre.
• Rex claims his most prized NFL career moment
  came when he returned to the football field on
  
  December 18th,
  2005, and lead the Bears to a victory over the
  
  Atlanta Falcons.
• Grossman is a third-generation football player. Both his father, Daniel, and paternal grandfather, Rex Sr., played football for
  
  Indiana University.
• Grossman's grandfather (Rex Sr.) also played for the
  Baltimore Colts in the late 1940s.
• Grossman is a frequent guest on FOX News Chicago's
  The Final Word. During one interview, Grossman admitted to being a
  fan of
  
  Vanilla Ice's smash hit,
  Ice
  Ice Baby.
• Grossman nickname while at the University of Florida was ' Sexy Rexy'. Grossman's head coach while at Florida,
  
  Steve Spurrier, is said to have given him this nickname.
  
  Muhsin Muhammad, the first Bears player to publicly use the nickname,
  anncouced Rex Grossman as 'Sexy Rexy' on
  
  ESPN Monday Night Football against the
  
  Arizona Cardinals on
  
  October 2006 during the starting line up segment.
  
  [6]
  
  [7]