John Fourcade
Encyclopedia
John Charles Fourcade, Jr. (born October 11, 1960 in Gretna, Louisiana
) is a former professional American football
quarterback
in the National Football League
for the New Orleans Saints
and the current head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic
of the Southern Indoor Football League
. Fourcade was the most valuable player of the 1982 Senior Bowl
after passing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He had gained 6,713 yards at Ole Miss from 1978–1981, breaking the career record of Archie Manning
.
for the British Columbia Lions
in 1983. As a career journeyman quarterback, he played for the 1984 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
(CFL
) and the 1985 Memphis Showboats
(USFL
) before being signed as a free agent by the New York Giants
in May 1986. He then played for the 1987 Denver Dynamite
in the Arena Football League. In 1987, he led the Saints to a 2-1 replacement game record and made the regular roster. Over his career, Fourcade passed for 2,312 yards in 24 games for the Saints, with a passer rating of 70.1. He was waived by the Saints in Dec. 1991. In 1993 he played for the Miami Hooters of the AFL. In 2001, he was the general manager, head coach and played in the National Indoor Football League
for the Mississippi Fire Dogs
.
(AFL), and Coached the 1995 Miami Hooters (AFL), the 1999-2000 Mississippi Fire Dogs
(IPFL), the 2001 Mobile Seagulls
/Louisiana Bayou Beast
(NIFL), the 2002 Florida Firecats (af2
), the 2003-2004 Columbus Wardogs (af2), the 2005 Tupelo FireAnts
(UIF
) and the 2006 Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
(af2
).
In the 2008 season, Fourcade was the head coach of the IFL
Fairbanks Grizzlies
in Fairbanks, Alaska
.
In the 2009 season, he led the Acadiana Mudbugs to the SIFL's first playoffs and finished the season 6-6. For the 2010 season, he was fired after the team's opening game loss (they had since been renamed the Lafayette Wildcatters) and replaced by ex-Arena League and Af2 Coach Skip Foster.
On August 20, 2010, it was announced that Fourcade would be the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic
SIFL team for its inaugural 2011 season.
John Fourcade has since left the SIFL and moved on to the new Lone Star Football League, in which he will be the Head Coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic, in the upcoming inaugural 2012 football season.
(NBC) New Orleans.
Gretna, Louisiana
The city of Gretna is the parish seat of Jefferson Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. Gretna is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area...
) is a former professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
and the current head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic
Rio Grande Valley Magic
The Rio Grande Valley Magic is a professional indoor football team of the Lone Star Football League. Based in Hidalgo, Texas, the Magic plays its home games at the State Farm Arena....
of the Southern Indoor Football League
Southern Indoor Football League
The Southern Indoor Football League was an indoor football league based in the Southern and Eastern United States. The most recent incarnation of the league was a consolidation of an earlier league of the same name that was formed by Thom Hager along with Dan Blum, Robert Winfrey and Dan Ryan in...
. Fourcade was the most valuable player of the 1982 Senior Bowl
Senior Bowl
The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football exhibition game played in Mobile, Alabama which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those collegiate players who have completed their eligibility. First played in 1950 in Jacksonville, Florida, the game moved to Mobile's Ladd Peebles Stadium...
after passing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns. He had gained 6,713 yards at Ole Miss from 1978–1981, breaking the career record of Archie Manning
Archie Manning
Elisha Archibald "Archie" Manning III is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League, playing for the New Orleans Saints from 1971 to 1982, then for the Houston Oilers and Minnesota Vikings...
.
Professional career
Fourcade played as an undrafted free agent in 4 games as a backup to Joe PaopaoJoe Paopao
Joe Paopao is a long-time coach in the Canadian Football League, who last served as a head coach in the CFL for the Ottawa Renegades from 2001–2005....
for the British Columbia Lions
British Columbia Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
in 1983. As a career journeyman quarterback, he played for the 1984 Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
(CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
) and the 1985 Memphis Showboats
Memphis Showboats
The Memphis Showboats were a franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders...
(USFL
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
) before being signed as a free agent by the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in May 1986. He then played for the 1987 Denver Dynamite
Denver Dynamite (arena football)
This article is about the former Arena Football League franchise. For the Professional Arena Soccer League soccer club, see Denver Dynamite ....
in the Arena Football League. In 1987, he led the Saints to a 2-1 replacement game record and made the regular roster. Over his career, Fourcade passed for 2,312 yards in 24 games for the Saints, with a passer rating of 70.1. He was waived by the Saints in Dec. 1991. In 1993 he played for the Miami Hooters of the AFL. In 2001, he was the general manager, head coach and played in the National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League
National Indoor Football League was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, af2, however, that changed briefly with their expansion into AFL...
for the Mississippi Fire Dogs
Mississippi Fire Dogs
The Mississippi Fire Dogs are a now-defunct indoor football team from Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They Played from in the 1999-2000 IPFL seasons before joining the...
.
Coaching career
Fourcade played with the 1994 Milwaukee MustangsMilwaukee Mustangs
The Milwaukee Mustangs were an Arena Football League team. They played from 1994 to 2001 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Bradley Center.-History:The team was founded in 1994 amidst rumors that the Green Bay Packers would soon stop playing games in Milwaukee, something they'd been doing since 1936...
(AFL), and Coached the 1995 Miami Hooters (AFL), the 1999-2000 Mississippi Fire Dogs
Mississippi Fire Dogs
The Mississippi Fire Dogs are a now-defunct indoor football team from Biloxi, Mississippi. They played their home games at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. They were a charter member of the Indoor Professional Football League. They Played from in the 1999-2000 IPFL seasons before joining the...
(IPFL), the 2001 Mobile Seagulls
Mobile Seagulls
The Mobile Seagulls were a professional indoor football team. They were initially a member of the Indoor Professional Football League for the 2000 season before joining the National Indoor Football League for the 2001 season, their final. They played their home games at Mobile Civic Center Arena...
/Louisiana Bayou Beast
Louisiana Bayou Beast
The Louisiana Bayou Beast was a team in the Professional Indoor Football League in 1998, in the Indoor Professional Football League in 1999, and reincarated in 2001 in the National Indoor Football League . The Bayou Beast franchise was owned by James and Carolyn Shiver, who currently own and...
(NIFL), the 2002 Florida Firecats (af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
), the 2003-2004 Columbus Wardogs (af2), the 2005 Tupelo FireAnts
Tupelo FireAnts
The Tupelo FireAnts were a professional indoor football team that played their home games at the BancorpSouth Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. They started off as a charter member of the National Indoor Football League . Despite two seemingly good records in 2001 and 2004, they failed to make the...
(UIF
United Indoor Football
United Indoor Football was a United States indoor football league that started in 2005. Ten owners from the National Indoor Football League, including one expansion and two from arenafootball2 took their franchises and formed their own league...
) and the 2006 Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings
The Bossier Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and represented both Bossier City and Shreveport...
(af2
Af2
AF2 was the name of the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football rules and style of play. League seasons ran from April through July with the postseason and ArenaCup...
).
In the 2008 season, Fourcade was the head coach of the IFL
Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League began in 1999 as an offshoot of the troubled Professional Indoor Football League. Keary Ecklund, the owner of the Green Bay Bombers and Madison Mad Dogs, left the PIFL after its first, financially-troubled, season to start his own league. Unlike the PIFL, the IFL was an...
Fairbanks Grizzlies
Fairbanks Grizzlies
The Fairbanks Grizzlies are a professional indoor football team in the Indoor Football League. The team plays their home games at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, Alaska...
in Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
.
In the 2009 season, he led the Acadiana Mudbugs to the SIFL's first playoffs and finished the season 6-6. For the 2010 season, he was fired after the team's opening game loss (they had since been renamed the Lafayette Wildcatters) and replaced by ex-Arena League and Af2 Coach Skip Foster.
On August 20, 2010, it was announced that Fourcade would be the head coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic
Rio Grande Valley Magic
The Rio Grande Valley Magic is a professional indoor football team of the Lone Star Football League. Based in Hidalgo, Texas, the Magic plays its home games at the State Farm Arena....
SIFL team for its inaugural 2011 season.
John Fourcade has since left the SIFL and moved on to the new Lone Star Football League, in which he will be the Head Coach of the Rio Grande Valley Magic, in the upcoming inaugural 2012 football season.
Broadcasting career
Fourcade currently serves as an NFL football analyst for WDSUWDSU
WDSU, virtual channel 6, is the NBC-affiliated television station for the New Orleans, Louisiana television market. It is owned by Hearst Television, which in turn is wholly owned by the Hearst Corporation. It broadcasts on UHF digital channel 43...
(NBC) New Orleans.