1980 Topps Football Player Profile: Jim Zorn

As far as first quarterbacks in an organization’s history go, the Seattle Seahawks didn’t do too badly with Jim Zorn.

Zorn was born in 1953 in Whittier, California, and while at Gahr High School in Cerritos, he was busy athletically, participating in football, baseball, basketball, track, and (assuming Wikipedia is correct, since the school doesn’t seem to offer it) speed skating. His organized football career started his sophomore season, initially starting as a defensive back and receiver, but after the coach saw him throwing the ball, asked him if he’d play quarterback. Apparently the coach had a decent eye for talent. It would just take a while to bloom. Zorn played one game his sophomore year, then broke his wrist his junior year, then came back his senior year and became the starting quarterback.

He graduated in 1971 but wasn’t offered a scholarship anywhere, so he went to Cerritos Junior College, playing football there, but was benched his sophomore season. He still managed to get a scholarship offer, albeit a half-scholarship, to play at Cal Poly-Pomona, a Division II school. It seemed to be the right move, as Zorn led the nation in total offense as a junior, including more than 2,300 yards passing and 16 touchdowns, and was named a Little All-American. He would finish his college career with more than 5,300 total yards, including 4,150 passing yards, and along with 22 passing touchdowns, another 18 rushing touchdowns, and would set 44 school records.

Even after that success with the Broncos (where he also threw the javelin for the track and field team), Zorn wasn’t picked in the 1975 NFL Draft. He did sign an unrestricted free agent deal with the Dallas Cowboys, but they cut him before the first game. The Los Angeles Rams then signed but never played him. That’s when the expansion Seattle Seahawks came knocking, wanting him to be their starting quarterback for the inaugural 1976 season. It would be another situation where all he needed was the opportunity to demonstrate his talents.

In his rookie season, Zorn would throw for 2,571 yards (then a rookie record and an expansion record), lead the league in passing attempts, and be named Offensive Rookie of the Year by the NFLPA (the league’s players association), but the team finished 2-12 as he also led the league in interceptions with 27. After a down year in 1977 when he only played 10 games, Zorn would come back in 1978 to pass for more than 3,000 yards and be named Second Team All-Pro in 1978 and finish third in both MVP and Offensive Player of the Year voting. In 1979 and 1980, he would also pass for more than 3,000 yards, and in 1978 and 1979, the Seahawks finished with identical 9-7 records, but weren’t able to make the playoffs either year. Those were the last winning seasons Zorn would have as a starting QB with the Seahawks, where he would play until 1984. During that time, he was able to throw to one of the best wide receivers in football in Steve Largent, who had four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons two different times (1978-81 and 1983-86), only interrupted by the strike season of 1982.

In the 1983 season, Dave Krieg took over as starting QB in the middle of the season, Zorn serving as backup through the 1984 season. In 1985, the Green Bay Packers signed him to be their backup quarterback, and he ended up starting five games for the team, winning three of them. In 1986, Zorn had the opportunity to back up another team - in Canada, with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That would only last nine games before he was released. The following year, he was back in the NFL, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, starting one game as a replacement player during the 1987 NFL strike, and then he officially retired. He finished his NFL career with more than 21,000 passing yards and 111 passing touchdowns, while rushing for more than 1,500 yards and 17 touchdowns, and is among the top five in multiple passing categories for the Seahawks.

Zorn wouldn’t be out of football very long as he joined the staff of the Boise State University Broncos as their quarterback coach in 1988, serving in that position for four seasons. He then became the offensive coordinator with Utah State for three seasons, followed by two seasons with the University of Minnesota as their quarterback coach. In 1997, he returned to the NFL, where he would remain for the next 16 seasons in various coaching capacities, including a stint as a head coach with the Washington Commanders for two seasons, finishing with a record of 12-20. In 2019, he was named GM and head coach of the XFL’s Seattle Dragons, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced the league to cancel the season after five games, the Dragons finishing 1-4.

Zorn is a member of the Cal Poly Pomona Athletics Hall of Fame (being inducted in 1987), the Seahawks Ring of Honor (inducted in 1991), and the State of Washington Sports Hall of Fame (inducted in 2008).

Set Profile: 1974 Fleer Immortal Roll

1974 was the third year that Fleer distributed their football cloth patches, but it was the first year the packs included the Immortal Roll cards.

There were 50 cards in the unnumbered set, each of which had a member of the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, which had been established in 1963 and had enshrined 77 people by 1973. The cards were a bit oversized, half an inch taller than most trading cards, which are 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.

The backs of the cards include biographical information and a drawing of the Hall of Fame building, and were successful enough that Fleer produced another set in 1975, this time with 84 cards.

A variety of single cards in this set are available on sites like eBay, while Larry Fritsch Cards (who had cards for sale back in the 1980s when I was first collecting) is offering the set for $102.95. There was also an uncut sheet of the set that sold late last year for $115 (including buyer’s premium).