Rodney Peete (2009) - USC Athletics Hall of Fame

Rodney Peete

Induction:
2009
Class:
1988

Rodney Peete was one of the most elusive quarterbacks in USC annals, able to hurt opponents with his arm and his legs. As a senior team captain in 1988, he was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy and won both the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (as the nation’s top senior quarterback) and the Pop Warner Award (as the most valuable senior on the West Coast) while earning All-American first team honors. He also was the 1988 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year while completing 62.1% of his passes for 2,812 yards and 18 TDs. The 4-year (1985-88) letterman and 2-time (1987-88) team MVP—a starter since late in his redshirt freshman campaign—set 17 USC career, season and game records in passing and total offense. He ended his career third on the Pac-10 career passing (8,225) and total offense (8,640) yardage charts. He threw 54 touchdowns in his career and rushed for 415 yards and 12 scores. He also started in the infield on the USC baseball team for 3 years (1985, 1987-88), posting a .297 career batting average with 18 home runs and 84 RBI. He made the All-Pac-10 first team in 1988 as a third baseman. He won an NCAA Silver Anniversary Award in 2014. After USC, he played 16 years in the NFL with the Lions, Cowboys, Eagles, Redskins, Raiders and Panthers, throwing for 16,338 yards and 76 touchdowns in his career. He is in the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame. He became a TV and radio sports talk show host. He authored a book about his relationship with his autistic son, and he and his wife, actress Holly Robinson Peete, founded the HollyRod Foundation to support families affected by autism and Parkinson’s disease.