Rex Grossman's Kevo

Rex has a rifle of an arm but has been injury prone. 2006 is a huge test for the unproven Chicago QB.

PRO CAREER: Heads into his fourth NFL season as Chicago's starting QB for the third consecutive campaign while playing in the same offensive system in consecutive seasons for the first time since his college career... Missing time due to injury in each of his first 3 NFL seasons, has guided the Bears to a 4-3 record while starting 7 of 8 career games played... Made his post-season debut in 2005 while becoming the 2nd Bears QB to start a playoff game in 11 years... Directed the Bears offense to at least 10 points in 3 of 5 halves played in 2005 compared to 29 halves with other QBs where Chicago scored 10 points just 8 times... In his first 6 starts during his initial 2 seasons in the NFL (2003-04), the Bears offense averaged 80 more total yards per game than in games started by other QBs, highlighted by the 2004 offense that averaged 130 more total yards in his 3 starts... Became Chicago's 7th different opening-day starting QB in as many seasons when he started the 2004 campaign... Despite being the fourth QB chosen in the 2003 NFL Draft, he led all rookie signal-callers that year with a .667 winning percentage and passer rating of 74.8 while helping the Bears post a 2-1 ledger in his starts... Dating back to 1952, he and Craig Krenzel are Chicago's only rookie QBs to win their first 2 starts (Krenzel, 3 in 2004) and the only one during that time to start and win while making his NFL debut... In 10 quarters of action as a rookie he generated 7 plays of 20 or more yards... Just the eighth QB ever drafted by the Bears in the first round and the fourth since 1951.

CAREER TRANSACTIONS: Entered NFL as a first-round selection (22nd overall) by Chicago in the 2003 NFL Draft... Signed contract (7/25/03). SIGNED through 2007

2005 SEASON: Finished season by playing in 2 regular season games and starting the Divisional Playoff after missing first 13 games while recovering from a broken ankle sustained during the preseason... Completed 20-of-39 passes for 259 yards with 1 TD and 2 INTs during the regular season and led Bears by averaging 6.64 yards per pass attempt... Inactive Games 1-12; Played in Game 14; Started Game 15; DNP in Games 13, 16... Suffered broken ankle in preseason game at STL (8/12)... Inactive as third QB at TB (11/27); dressing for a regular-season game for first time since 9/26/04 at MIN... Elevated to No. 2 QB at PIT (12/11), but did not play... Appeared for first time in 27 games when he opened the 2nd half vs. ATL (12/18), leading Bears on two 3rd-quarter scoring drives on 9-of-16 passing for 93 yards... Made first start in 15 months at GB (12/25) and helped Bears clinch the NFC North title and first-round bye in playoffs by completing 11-of-23 passes for 166 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT... Made first career playoff start vs. CAR (1/15) in Divisional Playoff, throwing for 192 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT while completing 17-of-41 passes. GAMES PLAYED-STARTED: 2-1

PREVIOUS SEASON: 2004 -- Started first 3 games of the season and led Chicago in yards per pass attempt (7.23) and ranked 2nd among Bears QBs in completion pct. (56.0%), passing yards (607) and QB rating (67.9)...... Sustained season-ending torn ACL in knee in Week Three while diving for the goal line on his first career TD run... Threw for 227 yards on 16-of-35 passing with 0 TDs and 2 INTs vs. DET (9/12) in first season-opening start... Connected on 10-of-18 passes for 132 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT to win his first career start at GB (9/19)... Completed career high 21-of-32 passes for 248 yards and finished with a career-best 91.9 QB rating at MIN (9/26); rushed 3 times for 20 yards including 6-yard TD run in 4th quarter on which he suffered a season-ending knee injury. 2003 -- Started final 3 games of the season for Chicago, becoming the first Bears rookie QB to win his first NFL start in 22 seasons and the franchise's first player to do so in his first 2 career starts dating back to 1952... Led Chicago in yards per pass attempt (6.07), INTs per attempt ratio (1.4%), passer efficiency rating (74.8) and tied for the team lead in TDs per attempt ratio (2.8%)... Started Games 14-16; DNP as backup QB in Games 6-8, 12-13; Inactive as third QB in Games 1-5, 9-11... Made NFL debut as starting QB vs. MIN (12/14), throwing for 157 yards on 13-of-30 passing with his first completion going to Desmond Clark for 11 yards; led Chicago to a FG on his first drive... Passed for career-high 249 yards on 19-of-32 passing vs. WASH (12/21) with 2 TDs and 1 INT, including a season-long 59-yard completion to Marty Booker for his first career TD pass; completed passes to 9 different receivers, 6 different on first 6 completions... Completed 6-of-10 passes for 31 yards in start at KC (12/28) before leaving in 2nd quarter due to finger injury.

COLLEGE: Finished career at Florida (1999-2002) among the all-time passing leaders at UF and the SEC while leading the Gators to 3 bowl games and a 23-9 overall record in 3 years as a starter... The 2001 Heisman trophy runner-up and AP National Player-of-the-Year concluded his career with 9,164 passing yards (3rd at UF, 5th in SEC), 677 completions (3rd at UF), 1,110 attempts (4th at UF), 77 TD passes (2nd at UF, 3rd in SEC) and the lowest career INT percentage in Gator history (3.24)... Also 2nd at UF with a 61.0 career completion percentage... Fifth sophomore in NCAA history to finish in the top two in Heisman voting... Led SEC in passing as a sophomore and junior while tossing an NCAA-record 55 TD passes... Started 32-of-37 games played at UF and threw for 300 yards a school-record 17 times... Second-team All-SEC as a junior started all 13 games and set school records with 287 completions and 503 attempts... Finished career with 21-of-41 passing for 323 yards and 2 TDs vs. Michigan in the Outback Bowl... Heisman runner-up earned recognition as a finalist for the Walter Camp National Player-of-the-Year Award, Maxwell College Player-of-the-Year Award and Davey O'Brien National QB-of-the-Year Award as a sophomore... Earned first-team All-SEC honors and SEC Offensive Player-of-the-Year award while throwing for a Gator-record 3,896 yards (2nd in SEC) and career-high 34 TDs (6th in SEC) while starting 11-of-12 games... Led NCAA in pass-efficiency rating (170.8), passing yards per game (354.2), yards per pass attempt (9.86) and yards per play (9.10)... Threw for over 300-plus yards in 10-of-11 games, the most 300-plus games in a season in UF history, and at least 3 TD passes in 7-of-11 games... As a redshirt freshman, became first freshman QB in UF history to be named first-team All-SEC while starting 8-of-12 games, including the Nokia Sugar Bowl... First freshman named MVP of SEC Championship Game following a regular season in which his pass-efficiency rating led the SEC, ranked 3rd nationally, ranked 3rd by a freshman in NCAA history and was the third-highest season total in UF history... Led SEC in TD passes, tying for most in the nation by a freshman and ranking as the second-best season total for a freshman in SEC history... Practiced on the scout team and did not see any game action as a true freshman... Majored in travel and tourism.

PERSONAL: Passed for 7,518 yards and 97 TDs at Bloomington South (Ind.) H.S. during his prep career... Led team to the 1998 state 5A title, passing for 3,080 yards and 44 TDs as a senior... Honored as the 1998 Indiana Player-of-the-Year by USA Today and Parade All-America team... Tabbed by several recruiting magazines as the top prep QB in the Midwest and among the top 15 in the nation... Ranked by National Recruiting Advisor among the top-5 players in the nation in its "pro-style QB" rating... Son of Daniel and Maureen Grossman... Father and grandfather, Rex, both played football at Indiana University.

9/22/06: Rex Grossman is the highest rated passer in the NFL. Wow. Nobody predicted this amazing turnaround.