Family Feud's 1993 NFL Quarterback Episodes Featured Jim Harbaugh, Boomer Esiason, Jim Kelly and More

Back in 1993, prior to the start of the season, the Family Feud featured a two-part NFL quarterback showdown of AFC vs. NFC. The ten quarterbacks involved is fascinating to probably no one but me, and it’s interesting to see both where their playing careers, and careers since then, have gone. I could have probably given you any number of guesses to try to get the 10 quarterbacks used, and you would have struggled to correctly guess them unless you had seen the episode.

It is the early 1990’s in all its glory, from hair to fashion to campiness.

Jim Harbaugh (still with Chicago) was on the NFC, captained by Steve Young. Young was a big name, but the rest of the NFC quarterbacks were very much a mixed bag, both before and after that episode. Steve Beuerlein was moving to the Phoenix Cardinals to be the starter. He had started 19 career games to that point. Nevertheless, he was the more successful than the other two, as Beuerlein would later have a career year and make a pro bowl with the Panthers in 1999.

Wade Wilson, just signed by the Saints, joined Andre Ware, prior to what would be his last year in the league.

The AFC side was a little more star-packed, with two exceptions. Boomer Esiason was moving to the Jets that offseason to be their quarterback, and captained the AFC effort (he had also been on a Super Bowl rematch episode in 1989 with Ickey Woods in a Bengals vs. 49ers showdown on the Feud). Jim Kelly was, of course, a pretty big name, with the Bills having been to three straight Super Bowls (and they would return again). Warren Moon was the other big name.

Then, there was Stan Gelbaugh. Gelbaugh was 0-11 as a starter in the NFL at the time of that episode. And he would throw 18 more total passes after that appearance. This would be the equivalent of having, I don’t know, someone like Ryan Mallett or Charlie Whitehurst on a 2015 showdown show of NFL quarterbacks.

Finally, the career veteran backup Vince Evans, who any NFL fan of the 1980’s will remember, was on the show, and I’m not sure I would have recalled he was still playing in 1993. Evans had not started a NFL game since 1987 at this point. Though, he would start one later that year, according to his player page.

My highlights of the two episodes:

–sad to see Boomer Esiason talking about just finding out his son had Cystic Fibrosis three months earlier, and they were all there to raise money for charity.

–the most ridiculous thing might be the dimunitive Ray Combs in football pads.

–love the quarterbacks each running out and throwing to a person off screen.

–In the second episode, after introducing Kelly and Moon with all their accomplishments, Boomer points out that Stan Gelbaugh was the World League MVP with the London Monarchs. World League Football!

–Fashion. Jim Harbaugh, of course, wore khakis, though they were khaki shorts. Boomer and Kelly, meanwhile, went with frosted jeans.

–I don’t think Jim Kelly liked Ray Combs all that much, and it started in the first airing, when Combs referred to him as “three-time Super Bowl loser!”

–“Geraldo” was voted the most boring talk show, back in 1993.

— Jim Harbaugh answered “their husband” to the question “what is something besides a part of their body that women wish was larger?”