30 NFL quarterbacks who got better after leaving their first team
By Dan Parzych
14. Steve DeBerg
How rough of a start did Steve DeBerg’s NFL career get off to in 1977? It was one thing to watch the quarterback get selected in the 10th round of the draft that year, but seeing the Dallas Cowboys waive him before the season even got underway was the icing on the cake.
On a positive note, at least the release from the Cowboys would eventually lead to DeBerg landing the starting job for the San Francisco 49ers during the 1978 season. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the best experience.
DeBerg went 3-23 during his first two seasons with the 49ers. That pretty much sums up how this experience was for the most par. While his next stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that started in 1984 wasn’t much better, at least the good years would eventually come into play.
Once the Buccaneers decided to move on from DeBerg in 1988 by trading him to the Kansas City Chiefs, he finally started to live up to the hype for a change.
From 1990 to 1991, DeBerg tossed 40 touchdowns compared to just 18 interceptions, while posting a 21-10 record in the process. All things considered for DeBerg, better late than never for a quarterback who got off to a rough start to his career, right?