Lee Grosscup

{{Short description|American football player and sportscaster (1936–2020)}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name = Lee Grosscup

| image = Lee Grosscup 1958.jpeg

| alt =

| caption = Grosscup, circa 1958

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|12|27|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Santa Monica, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|06|01|1936|12|27|mf=y}}

| death_place = Alameda, California, U.S.

| number = 11, 17

| position = Quarterback

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 1

| weight_lbs = 187

| high_school = Santa Monica

| college = Utah
Santa Monica College
Washington (1955)

| draftyear = 1959

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 10

| pastteams =

New York Giants ({{NFL Year|1959}}–{{NFL Year|1961}})
New York Titans (1962)
Saskatchewan Roughriders ({{CFL Year|1963}})
Oakland Raiders (1964)
Hartford Charter Oaks (1965–1966)

|highlights =

First-team All-American (1957)

| pfr = GrosLe00

}}

Clyde Lee Edward Grosscup (December 27, 1936{{snd}}June 1, 2020){{Cite web|url=https://www.si.com/college/cal/news/lee-grosscup-dies-at-83|title=Lee Grosscup dies at the age of 83|website=SI.com|date=June 3, 2020 }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/collegesports/article/Longtime-Cal-football-broadcaster-Lee-Grosscup-15311917.php|title=Longtime Cal football broadcaster Lee Grosscup dies at 83|date=2 June 2020}} was an American professional football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and the Utah Redskins and was selected by the New York Giants in the first round of the 1959 NFL draft.

He later became a sportscaster.

Early life

Grosscup was born on December 27, 1936, in Santa Monica, California.{{Cite web |title=Lee Grosscup Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft, College |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GrosLe00.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He was raised in Santa Monica, and attended Santa Monica High School.{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Trevor |date=2020-06-01 |title=Former Utah Heisman Trophy Finalist Quarterback Lee Grosscup Passes Away At Age 83 |url=https://kslsports.com/ncaa/utah/former-utah-heisman-trophy-finalist-quarterback-lee-grosscup-passes-away-at-age-83/435359 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=KSL Sports |language=en-us}} In 1954, he was an All-American quarterback at Santa Monica High.{{Cite web |last=Del Grande |first=Dave |date=2008-01-01 |title=Alameda’s Grosscup knows Heisman |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2008/01/01/alamedas-grosscup-knows-heisman/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}} He played high school football under coach Jim Sutherland.{{Cite journal |last=Murray |first=James |date=September 22, 1958 |title=A Cactus Plant In Stanford's Ivy |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1958/09/22/a-cactus-plant-in-stanfords-ivy |journal=Sports Illustrated}}

Collegiate career

Grosscup was a quarterback for the University of Washington in Seattle in 1955. However, there was a player revolt against heavy-handed head coach John Cherberg.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-03 |title=Lee Grosscup (1936-2020): Greatest Husky QB That Never Was |url=https://www.si.com/college/washington/legends/lee-grosscup-became-a-quarterback-legend-for-utah-after-leaving-washington |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Washington Huskies On SI |language=en-US}} Grosscup and three former high school teammates left the school shortly after their freshman season; deciding to sit out a year instead of continuing to play for the "tyrannical" Cherberg in Seattle.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LEozAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1O4HAAAAIBAJ&pg=4396,2175557 |newspaper=Lodi News Sentinel |location=(California) |title=4 frosh players desert Huskies |agency=United Press |date=January 23, 1956|page=8}} Cherberg, who was fired, had also revealed there was an alumni slush fund to pay players, which created a scandal. Years later, Grosscup revealed he had received $100/month from the fund, in addition to his scholarship.

Grosscup considered returning to Washington in 1956, to play under new coach Darrell Royal, but instead attended Santa Monica College for a year.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0JYzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-OYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1589%2C552770 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Ex-Husky frosh enrolls at Utah |date=May 2, 1957 |page=18}} He then transferred to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1957, leading a passing offense under head coach Jack Curtice that was advanced for its time.{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1957/10/28/605549/cactus-jack-and-his-kokomos |magazine=Sports Illustrated |last=Maule |first=Tex |author-link=Tex Maule |title=Cactus Jack and his Kokomos |date=October 28, 1957 |page=36}} Grosscup considered Curtice a genius in developing the passing game.

Monday Night Football broadcaster Al Michaels credits Grosscup for developing the shovel pass or "Utah pass," although Grosscup acknowledges that the play was used decades earlier in the 1920s.{{Cite web | url=http://www.utefans.net/home/ancient_ute/utahpass.html | title=Origin of "The Utah Pass" | access-date=2010-05-04 | archive-date=2011-07-24 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724120635/http://www.utefans.net/home/ancient_ute/utahpass.html | url-status=dead }}

Grosscup finished his junior season in 1957, completing 94 of 137 passes (68.6%, a collegiate record at the time), passing for 10 touchdowns and a nation-leading 1,398 yards. His 68.6% completion rate was a Utah school record until 2019, when broken by Tyler Huntley.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-10 |title=Utah Football Legend Lee Grosscup Passes Away |url=https://utahutes.com/news/2020/6/2/utah-football-legend-lee-grosscup-passes-away |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=University of Utah Athletics |language=en}} He only threw two interceptions, also leading the nation. He had a 175.5 college quarterback passer rating.{{Cite web |title=Lee Grosscup College Stats, School, Draft, Gamelog, Splits |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/lee-grosscup-1.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}

He came to national prominence in 1957 with a 316-yard passing game against Army. He was named a first-team All-American by Look, the Newspaper Enterprise Association, the Williamson National Football Rating, and Today and finished tenth in the balloting for the Heisman Trophy, won by John David Crow of Texas A&M.{{Cite web |title=Utah Football 2009 Media Guide (pp. 187-88) Wayback Machine |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09-footbl-mg-184-189.pdf |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20160304035438/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/utah/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/09-footbl-mg-184-189.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=grfx.cstv.com}}{{Cite web |title=1957 Heisman Trophy Voting |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1957.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}}

In 1958, Grosscup passed for 828 yards, three touchdowns, and a 54.8 completion percentage. A shoulder injury had hampered his senior season under first-year head coach Ray Nagel,{{Cite web |title=Ray Nagel College Coaching Records, Awards and Leaderboards |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/ray-nagel-1.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=College Football at Sports-Reference.com |language=en}} but Grosscup was selected to play in the Senior Bowl in early 1959.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RnwsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RswEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2191%2C274340 |newspaper=Spartanburg Herald |location=(South Carolina) |agency=Associated Press |title=Aerial aces to vie in Senior Bowl |date=January 3, 1959 |page=7 }} He was first team All-Skyline Conference in 1957 and 1958.

Professional career

Selected by the New York Giants with the tenth overall pick in the 1959 NFL draft,{{Cite web |title=1959 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1959/draft.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} Grosscup appeared in eight games in his two seasons with the Giants. The Giants were the Eastern champions in 1959 and 1961, but fell in both title games on the road (31–16 against the Baltimore Colts and 37–0 against the Green Bay Packers).{{Cite web |title=Championship - New York Giants at Baltimore Colts - December 27th, 1959 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/195912270clt.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Championship - New York Giants at Green Bay Packers - December 31st, 1961 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196112310gnb.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}

After being waived by the Giants, in August 1962, his contract was purchased for $100 by the second-year Minnesota Vikings,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pc0zAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DOkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1724,1136477 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Vikings buy Lee Grosscup |date=August 4, 1962 |page=8}}{{Cite news |last=Grosscup |first=Lee |date=1975-11-09 |title=The Joe Namath of the Continental League |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/11/09/archives/the-joe-namath-of-the-continental-league.html |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} but he was cut before the beginning of the season. This allowed Grosscup to return to New York in September, this time with the New York Titans of the American Football League (later known as the New York Jets),{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=iHghAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LIkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5435,1078277 |newspaper=Schenectady Gazette |location=(New York) |title=Titans Grab Lee Grosscup |agency=Associated Press |date=September 8, 1962 |page=18 }} in its third season.{{Cite web |title=New York Jets Team Records, Leaders, and League Ranks |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nyj/index.htm |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} He began the season as the starter, but missed six weeks with a knee injury.{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Arthur |date=September 5, 1963 |title=Sports of THE TIMES; End of the Road Wrong Approach The Deprivation Steady Sidetrack |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/09/05/82146590.html?pageNumber=38 |access-date=2025-04-07 |work=The New York Times |language=en |issn=0362-4331}} Grosscup was cut on the final day of the 1963 preseason and signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League three days later.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UcgtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G5wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2291,3455027 |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=(Pennsylvania)|agency=Associated Press |title=Grosscup signs |date=September 8, 1963 |page=35}} That same year, Grosscup released his first book, entitled Fourth and One.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P-ojAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MU8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=7093,4860708 |newspaper=Pittsburgh Press |title=Lee Grosscup plans acting as next field |date=December 13, 1964 |page=4, sec. 4}}

After failing to make the San Francisco 49ers, Grosscup spent the 1964 season on the Oakland Raiders' taxi squad. He was cut by the Raiders the following season and signed with the Hartford Charter Oaks of the newly formed Continental Football League, and became a player-coach.{{cite news |author=Frank Keyes |title=Lee Grosscup to Join Charter Oaks, Former Giant QB Cut by Oakland |work=The Hartford Courant |date=August 26, 1965 }}{{Cite web |last=Del Grande |first=Dave |date=2008-01-01 |title=Alameda’s Grosscup knows Heisman |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2008/01/01/alamedas-grosscup-knows-heisman/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}}

While skilled as a quarterback, Grosscup had the artistic temperament of a poet or writer, rather than the hard-bitten or violent temperament typically associated with professional football at the time. Before joining the NFL, he held a public written correspondence about football with a sportswriter. While popular generally, Grosscup came off as arrogant to his future Giants teammates, who originally isolated him when he joined the team and where he remained on the fringes of the team's players throughout his two years there. Giants coach Allie Sherman disliked Grosscup as a player and a person; and during his short stint in Minnesota, Grosscup infuriated coach Norm Van Brocklin by using the word "deuce" instead of "two" when calling a play, Van Brocklin telling him to use numbers as he did not go for "Madison Avenue stuff". After that, the Vikings players called Grosscup, Deuce or Madison.

Broadcasting career

After the 1966 season, Grosscup began a career in broadcasting. He spent one season calling AFL games for NBC before beginning a twenty-year stint as a college football analyst for ABC, working alongside notable voices such as Bill Flemming, Chris Schenkel, Keith Jackson, Verne Lundquist and Al Michaels and Curt Gowdy.{{Cite web |title=1974 College Football Season - 506 Archive |url=https://archive.506sports.com/wiki/1974_College_Football_Season |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=archive.506sports.com}}{{Cite web |last=Letscher |first=Brian |title=Those Who Stay: The Game (Episode 11) |url=https://wolverineswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/wolverines/football/2019/11/28/those-who-stay-bo-schembechler-historical-fiction-ohio-state-game-1969/79150936007/ |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Wolverines Wire |language=en-US}}

Grosscup was also a broadcaster in the USFL, first as a radio analyst for the Oakland Invaders, then as a television analyst on ABC from 1984–1985{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} or 1982–1985.

Grosscup was the radio analyst for the Sacramento Gold Miners of the CFL during the {{CFL Year|1993}} and {{CFL Year|1994}} seasons.

Grosscup was a voter in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll.{{cite web |url=http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=869530 |title=Rivals.com College Football - Harris Poll voters: Who are these guys? |access-date=2008-11-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202092707/http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=869530 |archive-date=2008-12-02 }}

=California Golden Bears=

Grosscup was a member of the California Golden Bears broadcast team for 32 years, including 17 years as a color analyst and 15 years as part of the team's postgame coverage.{{cite web |last1=Okanes |first1=Jonathan |title=Grosscup Ready For Final Broadcast |url=https://calbears.com/news/2018/12/20/football-grosscup-ready-for-final-broadcast.aspx |website=calbears.com |publisher=Cal Athletics |access-date=15 March 2019 |date=20 December 2018}}

From 1986 to 2003, Grosscup was the radio analyst for broadcasts alongside Joe Starkey. Former Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski took over as radio analyst in 2004 despite Grosscup's willingness to continue until 2007.{{cite news |title=Grosscup Replaced in Cal Booth, Pawlawski is Elevated to Color Analyst for the Football Broadcasts |work=Contra Costa Times |date=9 July 2004 }} Grosscup hosted the postgame radio show for Cal football games from 2004 until his retirement in 2018.

Death

Grosscup died on June 1, 2020, at the age of 83.{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2020 |title=Football Legend Lee Grosscup Passes Away |url=https://calbears.com/news/2020/6/1/football-legend-lee-grosscup-passes-away.aspx |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=California Golden Bears Athletics |language=en}}