The Bizarre Story of the Oldest Rookie QB in NFL History 

Honestly if a Rookie took my team to the Divisional championship and went 11-5 I don't care he's 34 that's a success.

This guy only played one year and went 11-5 with a playoff win. That’s crazy I never heard of him he should have definitely gotten more run.

Lol saw the thumbnail and already knew it was Brock. Guy is a CFL legend

why did no team sign this guy after the rams dumped him?? He had 1 bad game against the best defense in nfl history!!!

This guy was legit. I first met him as a kid, my father and him were teammates in college and in Winnipeg. My dad was his left tackle and he told me about his arm and the weighted footballs and that he was the real deal, had he played at a larger school in college and been given an NFL shot at 23 he would have been an All Decade level player. Awesome cool guy.

There are many examples of CFL players stepping up to the NFL. But many NFL stars took big money to come up North to play in Canada...only to fail miserably. Like Vince Ferragamo. Remember him, Rams fans?

I remember this well. All the NFL commentators spoke so derisively of Brock. The rams dipped into the CFL to pay them back for luring Ferragamo away in 81. Ferragamo was terrible in the CFL leading the Alouettes to an awful 3-13 season

I knew it was dieter brock....because ive been a rams fan for 41 years

The Rams could go back in time and play that 1985 NFC Championship game against the Bears a thousand times and they would lose a thousand times.

2:33 to skip the advertisement

He was sacked 51 times in 416 drop backs. In today's offenses with ~620 drop backs that would be ~75 sacks. Considering the rules of the game in 1985 he was probably battered pretty badly that year.

looks like favre in the thumbnail

Actually the Rams didn't acquire Jim Everett until a few games into the 1986 season. In fact, Brock was pegged as the starter that season, with Steve Bartkowski as backup, until Brock got hurt in the preseason.

I remember when I saw the kittle video and you had like 1000 subs. I couldn't believe it because the quality of your videos are great. Keep up the great work dude

My understanding was Dieter Brock was with the Rams in 1986, but his back injury flared up in training camp. Then the Rams quickly moved him to the injured reserved list, effectively ending his season as well as his career. If not for the injury, the plan was for him to be under the center in '86. At least until they thought the highly touted rookie Jim Everett was ready.

O.J. Brigdance, Andre (Bad Moon) Rison, Brandon Browner, Mervyn Fernandez, Joe Theisman, Joe Kapp, Doug Flutie, Cameron Wake, Joe Horn, Warren Moon and Jeff Garcia are probably the best to have made the transition from the CFL to the NFL.

I lived or more like existed in Winnipeg in the 1970's when I was a kid and a Football Fanatic... Dieter Brock was and still is the best straight up passer I have ever seen...He had an arm that was almost impossible to believe... I cannot understand why he wasn't picked up by almost any team in the NFL during his prime years of 25 to 30...Believe me he was that good and he is an American, not Canadian and you can see how good he was when he played his one year in the NFL..Sometimes you get these strange anomalies like Dieter that despite the fact he was an extraordinary player he was never drafted by the NFL nor did anyone pick him up when they should have... He would have been a Pro Bowler many times if they had given him a chance... Sigh.. Dieter Brock was an Amazing QB...!!!

It's like making the playoffs just to realize you are gonna have to play micheal jordan and his bulls squad

The second you said 85 bears i genuinely started laughing

“But sometimes you play the 85’ bears” -Set the Edge 2020

Brock was good. The Rams gave up on him too early after one bad game. That sucks: even though he was 34 coming from the CFL: he was still a good solid QB.

85 Bears I’m a packer fan but much respect to that squad

Never stopped doing homework so fast

Ralph Brock , as he was known in Canada, would have been great in the NFL, but at 24 not 34, and Cameron Wake went from the CFL to Miami.

Ralph Dieter Brock with a CFL like on I would hardly call him a rookie He's also in CFL Hall of Fame

I remember the 1985 season as if it was yesterday. The thing is, nobody was going to beat the Bears that year. The Patriots went through a great run in the AFC playoffs where they had a two headed combo of QBs (Steve Grogan/Tony Eason) and a great special teams squad but it wasn't enough, they were crushed by the Fridge and the mosters of the midway in the big game.

Dieter Brock. He was an enigma even back THEN. At least Warren Moon had won big in the CFL. And was under 30. Dude was a 34 year old who got thrust on to a prime job in the NFL.

Through the years I've heard and read complaints about what Dieter Brock brought to the table for the 1985 Rams, but I think he did okay. I mean, the Rams weren't out anything, and Jeff Kemp was just a serviceable journeyman, so qualifying for the NFC Championship Game with a 34-year old NFL rookie isn't bad (they weren't beating the '85 Bears:-). So, I say good for him.

I thought this was a very fair assessment of Dieter's season in LA and also his career in general. I was a Winnipeg Blue Bombers season ticket holder throughout his nine and a half seasons here and he was generally excellent as evidenced by the two Most Outstanding Player awards he won while Warren Moon was also in the league. He had a rocket arm with tremendous touch and accuracy. It was often said that he could throw the ball through a car wash without getting it wet (I know. It's an old one.) Unfortunately, due to several different circumstances in playoff games, he wasn't able to lead the Blue Bombers to a Grey Cup game. It's a shame that he is commonly remembered as being a bum in his one season as a Ram because he was anything but during the regular season. One error in the video; Winnipeg traded Brock to Hamilton for Tom Clements during the 1983 season so he went to the Rams from the Tiger Cats not the Blue Bombers as stated. Ironically, he did get to the 1984 Grey Cup game with Hamilton where Winnipeg crushed him and the Tiger Cats 47-17. Watching the 1985 Rams, I couldn't understand why Coach Robinson wouldn't take the wraps off of Dieter's arm. The Rams signed him because he blew them away with his arm strength during his try out but then he only threw 365 passes in what can only be described as a ridiculously conservative offense. Mind you, the offensive line performed horribly that season as Dieter was sacked 51 times and Jeff Kemp an additional 6 times in his one start. Dickerson also had a "mediocre" season with 1,234 yards and only a 4.2 average per carry. Despite being under constant pressure, Brock did set one team record with a 59.7 completion percentage that has since been topped many times. Here's a link to the August 19th, 1985 Sports Illustrated article on Dieter Brock: vault.si.com/vault/1985/08/19/a-rifle-wrapped-in-an-enigma

Your statement at 3:46 is inaccurate you state that Winnipeg is not so sunny. Winnipeg average 316 days of sunshine per year . Los Angeles only has 284 sunny days a year. Granted a lot of those sunny days are when it’s -30 with wind but still your statement is wrong.

I remember him on Winnipeg . I still remember in late 1983 Winnipeg traded Dieter Brock to Hamilton for QB Tom Clements and then both teams met in the 1984 Grey Cup with Winnipeg winning 47-17 with Tom Clements at QB . In fairness Winnipeg was much better than the Hamilton Tiger-Cats . Both Dieter Brock and Tom Clements are in the CFL HOF .

A few great CFL quarterbacks - some who also played in the NFL, some who never did......Doug Flutie was the greatest CFL QB, Jeff Garcia, Warren Moon, Joe Theisman. All were successful in the NFL. One guy who never played in the NFL but was great was Marcus Allen's brother - Damon Allen. That guy was awesome.

As a child growing up in Winnipeg, Dieter Brock was my idol. Fun Fact: During his time in the CFL, Brock changed his name from Ralph to Dieter. I loved the guy because he had a rocket for an arm and could take on the dreaded Edmonton Eskimos, who were lead by Warren Moon. I recently heard a radio interview in which he said passing in the NFL was actually easier than passing in the CFL; reason being is the CFL field is bigger than the the NFL, therefore he had much more ground to cover. You might not know this, but Vince Ferragamo was a starting QB in the NFL before being lured to play in the CFL and he turned out to be a disaster. I remember attending his first game against Winnipeg and his team were blown out by some ridiculous score -- something like 52 -- 3. Ralph's (sorry, Dieter's) time in the NFL was prematurely cut short. He went up against what is probably the best defence ever and got clobbered, just like any other team. Ralph (sorry, Dieter) reminds me of Doug Flutie. Flutie came to Canada and tore every record book to shreds. The guy is a fucking legend. Yet he never received the kudos he deserved when returning to the NFL. Guy lead the Bills to the playoffs only to take a seat to Rob Johnson, who promptly shit the bed. You see, despite his accomplishments, Flutie was deemed inferior, and that is a shame. It took the Bills a million years to get back to the playoffs after he retired.

Now there's a name I had nearly forgotten! My brother was a huge Rams fan (for some strange reason) so of course he had an Eric Dickerson jersey and thought Brock was the best thing ever that season. It is a shame they ran into that Bears defense. Many souls were jarred loose from their bodies during that superbowl run

FYI he’s from Alabama, played at Auburn & Jacksonville St. He played football in Canada.

Chris Wenke was drafted by the Panthers at age 29. He started when Steve Beuerlein got hurt and finished the season with his own shoulder injury ( the Carolina O-line broke 4 quarterbacks that year).

Slight correction. Brock has traded from Winnipeg to Hamilton in 1983 and played there for a year and a half before he went to LA.

not gonna lie I thought he was playing for the UW huskies at one point until I noticed it's a CFL team lmao

85 Bears were beyond legendary. My Patriots were unfortunately their victims in the Super Bowl that year.

this guy is actually my 3 cousin! I always heard stories about how much hype there was around a family member being in the NFL, great vid! thanks!!!!!

I remember watching him in Winnipeg and then in LA. What a great arm! He did things daily that would make you scratch your head and say "holy sh*t did you see that?!!" He was a lot like Jeff George...so much physical talent but there was a piece missing. No idea what that piece was.

He's a great example of someone who's story aged better than people at the time could have ever anticipated. Retrospectively seeing that "hey, this QB from the CFL who was 34 when he first played an NFL game stood up to and beat legends like Joe Montana and was only shut down by the most dominant defense in NFL history and one of the most dominant teams in NFL history," you realize that this guy was far better than anyone then thought he was or could have been.

How old was Warren Moon when he made the jump from the CFL to the NFL? I'm thinking he must have been in his late 20s already.

Growing up in Vancouver, Canada, I remember watching Dieter Brock as the QB for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was a great quarterback. I remember reading somewhere that he was close to retirement and wanted to try the NFL. I forgot how he did with the Rams in his one full season in the NFL.

I remember during one of the prime time games the Rams played in 1985, Brock launched a pass from his own 10-yard line that landed (incomplete) at the other team's 5-yard line. That's 85 yards in the air with an NFL football. I think his receiver stopped running about 20 yards too soon. The announcing crew was speechless.

What if he was ACTUALLY uncle Rico

I've wondered about this guy, when I've looked through my football encyclopedia and come upon his single season of play. Interesting to get an explanation on how he came to be a starter and why it came to an end. What thing about Deiter - he took a lot of sacks. He was very similar to Neil Lomax in that he threw the ball well, but needed extra time to make decisions. Like Lomax, I guess the beatings he took played part in shortening his career - though playing till 35 back then was not a small accomplishment, even if he played most of his career in the CFL. Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia are two other Qb's who performed in the NFL after coming from Canada. I think the talent in the CFL is often overlooked in the States.

I watched Dieter Brock with the Blue Bombers battle Warren Moon with the Eskimos for years!!

Fact check- The LA Rams traded for Jim Everett AFTER the start of the 1986 season. Everett was holding out after being drafted by the Houston Oilers. The LA Rams started Steve Bartkowski for the first couple games of the 86 season.

Never underestimate the power of the CFL, but the weakness of the NFL. I liken Dieter to Flutie. Both were beasts, cast aside because of their size. Both showed up and dominated, transcending the game.

In his one and only NFL season Brock completed 60% of his passes for 2658 yards. He threw 16 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. It's not a crime to be a winning QB and have a fine year. He was certainly better than many of the backup QBs other teams had and probably better than several starters. If it's a crime to not be great he's guilty, but he was certainly a fine rookie NFL QB and could have helped several other pro teams.

Just wanna clear up a misconception here - Dieter Brock didn't attract NFL interest because of his height. Brock often threw sidearm between gaps in the tackles, something that was easier to do on the wider field of the CFL. Long list of great QB's in the CFL in the 70's and 80's who didn't fit the NFL ideal at the time (i.e. White and Tall). A short list is Joe Theismann, Mr. Brock, Conridge Holloway (first QB to successfully execute the "run and shoot" at the pro level) and, of course, Warren Moon.

As a Rams fan, I honestly never got into researching this guy! Tbh I don't think I heard of him, I'm barely 21 and became a fan in 2004. Kinda crazy how much history my team has since becoming one in 1937!

Brock is a legend. And since spring of '87 Brock has been whereabouts unknown.

I remember Brock when I was a kid. Even then I remember the biggest knock on him was his size. The Rams really were not a good passing team with him there. Some of that might have been the coaching staff, and some might have been because of Brock's limitations. But he only threw for 2600 yards and 16/13 TD/INT rate for the year. The Rams at that time were a team that lived and died with Dickerson. The team won a ton of games running the ball and playing some of the best defense in the league. Having said that, I liked Dieter. I always thought he was a good enough player. I would have liked to see him come back to L.A.

The CFL is a very QB driven league. This has been the case since the 1970s. The NFL started to look to the CFL for players at the skilled positions. By the time he got to the NFL he was pretty beat up and past his prime. Jeff Garcia would be the next older CFL QB.

Wait, check that, CHRIS Everett?

He was a lengendary cfl qb who I heard about a couple days ago

Completely left out was that he actually played for Hamilton in 83 and 84 after being traded from Winnipeg. Almost took the Ti Cats to a huge upset win over the eventual champs - Toronto - in 83, then led Hamilton to an upset of Toronto the following year before losing to (ironically) Winnipeg in the 84 Grey Cup. Tremendous QB. CANNON for an arm. One of the strongest ever. And, the CFL balls back in those days were enormous compared to the NFL balls. Those suckers were tough to throw a spiral on. Despite his small stature, he could scramble and had a great deep touch on his passes. Loved watching him as a Ti Cat fan, and really was pulling for him to upset the Bears that year.

11-4, makes it into the divisional round of the playoffs as a rookie then disappeared? Odd. That would never happen in the Internet Era. Brock would certainly would found another home to finish off his short football career. Brock's throwing passes reminds me of John Elway another man who can throw footballs like cannons.

The mid-Eighties Rams were a talented team without a franchise QB. The Raiders had the same problem in those years. Marc Wilson was their Deiter Brock

I honestly have not all responses. But as a Cowboy fan, I saw rookie Roger Staubach play. He had been a Heisman trophy winner from Navy and did his duty as a cadet before coming into the NFL.

If you check his stats from his only year in the NFL he was sacked 51 times. It kinda shows how the offensive line was a bit over rated due to how well they run the football. They weren't great pass protectors as the game against the Bears shows. He was a prototypical 1980's pocket QB and would only run to avoid sacks so represented by his 1.9 yrd/carry If only he could have that ball sack manscaping razer as advertised, he could have escaped more pass rushers.

I remember it a little different. Robinson was stubborn. His offense was based on running the ball. The dominate type offenses of the era was the West Coast and the Coryell passing offenses. Brock had neither of these. It was a little like one of Jeff Fisher's offenses without the trickery. The 46 Defense was new and the predecessor of the Tampa 2 Defense. Brock never had a chance. To Robinson's credit he found Brock and knew his offense was limited. The next year he brought in a quarterback (Jim Everett) and Coach Zampese that changed the offense. The Rams should have been better, but poor management took a top level franchise degraded it and ultimately moved it to St Louis. Interestingly, poor St Louis had bad luck again as they had with the Cardinals. Both of these franchises were so badly manged they couldn't bring people into the stands.

The mid-eighties Rams were the worst of bad jokes! Poor decisions, BAD ownership, Brock to Crissie, and E.D. just ran away. The whole team went "POOF".

When Brock played with Winnipeg, he had great seasons but Warren Moon was in Edmonton at the time. Edmonton with the help of the refs at critical times always came out on top in terms of championships in many close games. I was a Winnipeg fan and so I watched the games with a critical eye. Warren Moon was a great player but so was Dieter Brock. They both had unbelievable arms and both should have made the NFL sooner. Warren Moon never won a superbowl either. I think Doug Flutie was the best quarterback to play in the CFL. Flutie had wonderful roll out ability on a wider CFL field than the NFL has which made it an even greater asset.

Fun fact: people that play their first year in the NFL after playing in another league are not recognized as rookies by the NFL. Yes, technically he is a rookie. And no, I’m not hating or correcting, I just saw that on the back of a Topps football card once (I think 2006)

The 85 Bears had a big habit of making just about every quarterback outside of Dan Marino look bad. I remember their game at Texas Stadium and thought that the Cowboys would win. (The game was a pick 'em.) Needless to say I was WRONG! The Bears won 44-0.

The next year after moving on from Brock, the Rams started 34-year-old Steve Bartkowski for 6 games and went 10-6. They lost to the Redskins in the wild card game.

Doesn't happen often, but CFL QB's have had success in the NFL: Warren Moon, Jeff Garcia, Doug Flutie to name a few. Brock was talented enough to be a starter in the NFL had he been given a chance earlier in his career, but he was short by NFL standards and was dealing with back issues by the time he made the jump to the Rams. It was a cool story at the very least.

The fall of the Atlanta Falcons, Detroit Lions, or Chicago bears or the rise of the San Francisco 49ers , Buffalo Bills.

34 years old he's so old. Brady, Brees, Roethlisberger, Rivers, Fitzpatrick, probably half a dozen other guys today would be like who's this young man??

I remember Dieter Brock as the guy who was the qb when dickerson ran for 248 in the playoffs when i watched the game

The Houston Oilers drafted Jim Everett number 3 overall.. They had Warren Moon already, and people were not happy.. The Oilers traded him to the Rams for a bundle of picks and went to 7 straight post seasons.. But he sat for months behind Moon before Mike Holivack got the right offer.. Brilliant move..

I'm totally cool with the gaps between the videos you upload man, it makes them much more rewarding.

The CFL to NFL transition is not an easy one for sure. But it's great to see that some of the CFL's best were able to compete in the NFL. Let's think of Joe Kapp, Doug Flutie, Jeff Garcia, Warren Moon (HOF), etc.... But the transition from the NFL to the CFL has had a few tragedies. Vince Ferragamo with the Montreal Alouettes was a bust. Ricky Williams?!? And What about Johnny Football?!?

Sure he might not get a spot in Canton but hats off to you Dieter! That must have been one hell of a season from your perspective.

16 of 53 for 116 yards and an INT. That's Charles Barkley from 3pt land accuracy for a quarterback in a postseason. Now that's what I call YIKES.

i’m from winnipeg and brocks statue is at the bombers field

Joe Theismann ,Warren Moon, were stars in the CFL and the NFL

I never heard of this guy ,but it was crazy how the Rams cut him after a 11-5 record.

At 6:34 that's Jack Kemp # 9 handing off the ball to Dickerson . Not Brock.

That was great! I remember Brock & swear his first name was later inspiration for SNL Sprockets. Lol 😂

Good lord, the division brackets in the 80s were completely screwed up. I mean NFCW 49/rams/saints and falcons lolol

CFL Veteran. I remember Brock when the local media welcomed him to Anaheim(yes the Rams played in Anaheim). 1985, Rams Sucked that year too. Just like the year when the Rams brought in Bert Jones.

IF Ralph "Dieter" Brock had not been having lower back issues and stayed in the CFL, he would of had an even better CFL career than what he was having period!

Man I love this channel

Best football analyst/story teller out there good job bro!

The CFL is very pass oriented. The NFL is very run oriented. So CFL QBs have trouble making the adjustment. Likewise, NFL RBs often struggle in the CFL.

I'm 38. So you're telling me I can still go pro?

Don't overlook the fact that Warren Moon got his start in the CFL too.

Grew up watching him in the CFL and always remember that cannon arm

Now do the time that the Rams' quarterback went to the CFL a few years earlier. (Spoiler: it didn't go nearly as well.)

idk how i have never heard of this guy, great video!

Nobody was gonna beat the bears that season! It’s a shame. Good qb

Brock was an excellent quaterback. The1985 bears crushed virtually everyone that year. One of the best defences of all time. Love from Canada!

Had great seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

One of if not, the greatest blue bomber quarterback

'prowess in cfl does not translate to prowess in the nfl' Warren Moon says Hi

3:23 Gosh, I remember when Broadway Joe went to the Rams, and how weird it looked to see him in a Ram's uniform, and not the Kelly green and white of the Jets.