Browning Nagle, the strong-armed quarterback who dazzled in the Fiesta Bowl, started for the New York Jets, and played professional football for both the NFL and Arena Football League, died on Friday after a battle with colon cancer. He was 57.<\/p>\n
The New York Jets confirmed his passing in a press release<\/a> the same day, noting that Nagle had been their top selection in the 1991 NFL Draft, and started 13 of the team’s 16 games during the 1992 season.<\/p>\n Born in Philadelphia, Nagle grew up in the Tampa Bay area after his family relocated when he was 13, and he went on to become a standout at Pinellas Park High School in Florida. A dual-sport talent, he was an all-state quarterback and a gifted pitcher who was drafted by the Boston Red Sox out of high school, and later by the California Angels following his college career\u2014despite never pitching collegiately.<\/p>\n His football journey began at West Virginia before he transferred to the University of Louisville, where he started his final two seasons. The defining moment of his college career came on New Year’s Day 1991, when he delivered an MVP performance in Louisville’s 34 to 7 Fiesta Bowl win over Alabama, capping a 10-1-1 season for the Cardinals.<\/p>\n “Unbelievable, unimaginable,” Nagle said after the game. “I had a lot of dreams about this game and this season, but none of them were as beautiful as this turned out.”‘Lasting Mark’Louisville Football posted<\/a> a tribute Friday on Facebook, calling Nagle a “former Fiesta Bowl MVP quarterback and Louisville great” and adding that “his leadership on the field and passion for the game left a lasting mark on our program.” Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm also paid tribute on X, writing<\/a>: “A true Cardinal great! We will all miss him very much. Love you buddy!”<\/p>\n The Jets selected Nagle 34th overall in the second round of the 1991 draft\u2014one pick after the Atlanta Falcons took Brett Favre at No. 33. After a limited 1991 campaign backing up Ken O’Brien, he was handed the starting job in 1992 by head coach Bruce Coslet.<\/p>\n His first NFL start was a performance to remember where he threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns in a 20 to 17 road loss to Atlanta, falling just two yards short of the then-record for passing yards in a quarterback’s first start.<\/p>\n “I’ve had the feeling and I’ve enjoyed that feeling, because I’m the guy who has started the last three games,” Nagle said during training camp in 1992. “That’s a neat feeling, to get suited up and know you’re starting the football game … People are relying on you to get things started. I’ve had that feeling. I want to keep that feeling.”<\/p>\n He finished the 1992 season with a 3 to 10 record as a starter and career Jets numbers of 199 completions on 403 attempts for 2,361 yards, seven touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The arrival of Boomer Esiason in 1993 pushed him to the sidelines, and he was released in May 1994. He subsequently backed up Jim Harbaugh and Don Majkowski with the Indianapolis Colts in 1994 before spending two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.Former Teammates Share MemoriesFormer teammate Esiason remembered Nagle in the statement shared by the Jets on Friday. “Browning was a great guy,” he said. “He had an infectious laugh and was so much fun to be around. We often competed against each other while also showing respect for one another. I will always remember the laughter and infectious spirit Browning had and how much he enjoyed out-driving me on the golf course. May he rest in peace knowing he lived an impactful life.”<\/p>\n Nagle later played Arena Football with the Orlando Predators in 1999 and the Buffalo Destroyers in 2000, throwing 74 touchdowns against just 18 interceptions in his AFL career.<\/p>\n Former Louisville teammate Marty Lowe remembered Nagle in a social media post the same day.<\/p>\n “Sad to hear about Browning Nagle passing but this dude fought hard at everything he did, and battled till the end,” Lowe wrote, adding that Nagle’s Fiesta Bowl performance was a major reason he chose Louisville. “Hosted me on my recruiting trip and even checked on me when I enrolled all while preparing for the NFL draft. He didn’t have to do that … Still never seen a QB throw a football that far or that HARD! Rest Cardinal brother.”<\/p>\n Beyond football, Nagle was known as an accomplished singer who performed the National Anthem before Louisville games, and at the Kentucky Derby Festival’s “They’re Off Luncheon” in front of 2,000 people.<\/p>\n Michael Lynch, who shared a locker room with Nagle at Pinellas Park High School, reflected on his passing o Friday in a social media post. “I remember watching him in practice and play games and recalling the velocity he could put on his passes, it was just amazing,\u201d he wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Browning Nagle, the strong-armed quarterback who dazzled in the Fiesta Bowl, started for the New York Jets, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-863680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-jets","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkjets","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116384221396729229","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}