HALL OF FAMER

Legendary Former NFL Quarterback Dies at 77

Greg Landry played 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions and won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1976.

Greg Landry, the former Detroit Lions quarterback and assistant coach, died on Friday, the team announced. He was 77-years-old. The standout QB played in the NFL from 1968 to 1981 with the Lions and the then-Baltimore Colts. After two seasons in the USFL, he returned to the NFL and played one game with the Chicago Bears. Landry threw for 16,052 yards in his NFL career with 98 touchdowns and 103 interceptions. As one of the best running quarterbacks in league history, he gained more than 2,600 yards with 21 touchdowns. In 1976, he won the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year award. Landry rejoined the Lions in 1995 as quarterbacks coach and also held assistant coaching positions with Cleveland and Chicago in the NFL and at the college level at Illinois. The Nashua, New Hampshire native was drafted into the league after leading the University of Massachusetts in passing for three seasons and being the team’s top rusher and scorer in 1965 and 1967. He was inducted into the UMass Hall of Fame in 1980.