Joe Zuger

Zuger might be better remembered for ability as a punter rather than for his ability as a QB.  That is not so much a slur on his quarterbacking skill, as it is praise for his punting.  Three times in his career, Zuger average over 48 yards a punt.  Zuger joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1962, and played his entire 10 year CFL career with Hamilton.  In his rookie season, Zuger shared the QB duties with Canadian Frank Cosentino, as Hamilton's #1 QB, Bernie Faloney was injured.Zuger had a pretty good rookie seson, completing 55.7% of his 113 passes, and had an excllent 15 to 6 TD to Interception ratio.  With Faloney back in 1963, Zuger became a full-time defensive back. He had actually had 4 interceptions in his rookie season, and added 5 more in 1963.  Injuries limited Zuger to just 8 games in 1964, and in 1965, with the trading of Bernie Faloney to Montreal, Zuger moved back to QB.  He shared the QB duties with Cosentino in 1965 and 1966, before taking over as the sole #1 QB in 1967.  1967 and 1968 were Zuger's best a as QB, both with over 300 pass attempsts and yards passing of 2771 and 2616 yards.  Injuries cut Zuger back to only 11 games in 1969 and only 9 in 1970.  In his final season, in 1971, Zuger returned to play all 14 games, completing 48.6% of his 265 passes for 1632 yards.

Games Played and Passing
Year Team GP PA PC % Yds TD Int Sacked Yds
1962 HAM 14 113 64 55.7 1070 15 6 7 57
1963 HAM 13 5 1 10 31 1 0 0 0
1964 HAM 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 14 108 41 38 669 2 7 21 165
1966 HAM 13 159 70 44 1252 7 11 14 122
1967 HAM 14 320 163 51.1 2771 11 17

1968 HAM 14 316 160 50.6 2616 15 19

1969 HAM 11 198 108 54.5 1562 14 6 8 47
1970 HAM 9 132 78 59.1 1071 3 10 14 131
1971 HAM 14 265 129 48.6 1632 8 19 28 276
Rushing
Year Team TC Yds Avg TD Long
1962 HAM 16 105 6.6 3 24
1963 HAM 1 -5 -5 0 -5
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 44 86 2 2 22
1966 HAM 43 162 3.8 3 23
1967 HAM 60 195 3.2 0 25
1968 HAM 52 114 2.2 1 22
1969 HAM 26 102 3.9 1 15
1970 HAM 19 114 6 0 22
1971 HAM 22 12 0.5 1 7
Punting
Year Team P Yds Avg Long S
1962 HAM 120 5197 43.3 60 3
1963 HAM 86 3462 40.3 65 2
1964 HAM 63 2695 42.8 69 2
1965 HAM 134 5990 44.7 81 13
1966 HAM 118 5195 44 81 8
1967 HAM 125 5726 45.8 81 17
1968 HAM 129 6249 48.4 85 7
1969 HAM 96 4676 48.2 73 6
1970 HAM 62 2900 46.8 65 1
1971 HAM 141 6840 48.5 76 9
Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1962 HAM

1963 HAM

1964 HAM

1965 HAM 4
1966 HAM 2
1967 HAM 2 1
1968 HAM 4 4
1969 HAM 3 1
1970 HAM 1 1
1971 HAM 6 4
Fumble Returns
Year Team FR Yds Avg TD Long OFR FF
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 3 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 2 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 1
1969 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 1
1970 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 1
1971 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 3
Interceptions
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long
1962 HAM 4 43 10.8 1 37
1963 HAM 5 13 2.6 0 12
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1968 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1969 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1970 HAM 0 0 0 0 0
1971 HAM 0 0 0 0 0

Zuger had one missed fieldgoal return for 4 yards in 1962.

 1963 OPC