Me: Boy, I don't know. Is he an active player?
Dad: No.
Me: Hmm. I need another hint. Where did he go to college?
Dad: UCLA, I think.
Me: UCLA... boy, I should really know this, then!
Mom: When did he play?
Dad: Oh, like in the 90s, mostly.
Me: So he must have been one of the guys right before McNown... I'm just drawing a blank here. At the risk of totally giving it away, what team did he play for primarily?
Dad: The Redskins.
Me: The Redskins? Well, it wasn't Shuler or Frerotte... Mark Rypien?
Dad: Nope.
Me: Boy, I give up.
Dad: Okay, ready?
Me: I'm sure I'll kick myself. Go ahead.
Dad: Jay Fiedler!
Me: ...Jay Fiedler played primarily for the Dolphins, in the 2000s, and went to Dartmouth. But otherwise, great hints! I can't believe I didn't figure it out!
It turns out he was thinking of Jay Schroeder, who did play for the Redskins (although he spent more years with the Raiders) and did go to UCLA, and the peak of his career straddled 1990. And, weirdly enough, his career winning percentage as a QB was almost identical to Fiedler's (.616 to Fiedler's .617). He was, however, drafted.
The whole thing reminded me very much of another classic family story from the late 90s, alluded to in the title of the post. We were out in Pennsylvania and passed a store called Avellino's, which I think sold tires or some such thing. As we pass it, my dad jokes, "Hey, is that owned by Bob Avellino?"
Mom: Who's Bob Avellino?
Dad: You don't know who Bob Avellino is? You're kidding me! I can't believe you don't know who Bob Avellino is!
Mom: So, who is he?
Dad: The Bears' quarterback in the 70s!
Mom: You mean Bob Avellini?
Dad: ...yes.
