Personal
- Born in San Marcos, Texas
- Recruited by Miami, UCLA, Michigan, Texas A & M and BYU
- Married to the former Kim Herbert in July, 1991
- Earned a bachelor's degree in recreation administration from BYU
Career Highlights
- Selected in the 1992 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers
- 1990 Heisman Trophy winner (finished ninth in voting 1989 and third in 1991)
- Two-time Davey O'Brien Award winner ('90,'91)
- Broke 59 NCAA records and tied three others
- Third in NCAA with 15,031 career passing-yards
- Had 14,665 career yards in total offense
- The Cougars were invited to four bowl games with him and compiled a record of 37-13-2 during the Detmer years, including a 28-21 victory over top-ranked Miami(Florida) on September 8, 1990 in Provo, one of the biggest wins in BYU history
- During the nationally-televised victory over the Hurricanes, Detmer threw for 406 yards and earned National Player-of-the-Week honors
Before BYU
- Texas Player of the Year and prep All-America at Southwest High
- Committed to BYU in the fall of senior year
- Coached by his father
- Lettered three times in football,basketball, baseball and golf, plus once in track
- All-state in baseball and all-district in basketball
After BYU
- Selected in the 1992 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers
- Signed with the Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 1998, joining fellow Cougar quarterback Steve Young
- Acquired by the expansion Cleveland Browns in 1999
Post BYU Honors and Societies
- Was the top backup behind All-Pro quarterback Brett Favre
- Finished the 1996 season with 2,911 yards passing and 15 touchdowns
- His quarterback rating was 80.8, fourth best in the NFC that season (1996)
- Started on game for the 49ers and completed the season with 312 yards passing, four touchdowns and a 63.2 completion percentage
- Started two games and saw action in three others for the Browns
- Finished the season with 548 yards passing
- Inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame in 2000
- Was BYU's offensive coordinator from 2016-17
Stats
DETMER'S CAREER STATSYR GM ATT-CMP-INT PCT YDS TD LNG AVG/G1988 10 153-83-1 54.2 1252 13 71t 125.21989 12 412-265-15 64.3 4560 32 76t 380.01990 12 562-361-28 64.2 5188 41 69t 432.31991 12 403-249-12 61.8 4031 35 97t 335.9*statistics do not include bowl games
Quarterback
| Career | Passing | Receiving | Rushing | Sacked | Fumbles | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GP | COMP | ATT | YDS | Y/A | PCT | LNG | INT | TD | EFFIC | REC | YDS | Y/R | LNG | TD | ATT | YDS | Y/A | LNG | TD | NO | YDS | NO | LOST |
| 1991 | 13 | 278 | 447 | 4381 | 9.80 | 0.62 | 97 | 13 | 38 | 166.76 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | -55 | -0.66 | 22 | 4 | 37 | 328 | 5 | 2 |
| 1990 | 13 | 372 | 585 | 5309 | 9.08 | 0.64 | 69 | 29 | 42 | 153.60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | -195 | -2.53 | 18 | 4 | 35 | 320 | 13 | 4 |
| 1989 | 13 | 307 | 471 | 5137 | 10.91 | 0.65 | 76 | 17 | 34 | 173.40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 | -109 | -1.17 | 19 | 8 | 40 | 291 | 12 | 3 |
| 1988 | 10 | 94 | 169 | 1381 | 8.17 | 0.56 | 71 | 10 | 14 | 139.77 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | -53 | -1.47 | 32 | 0 | 15 | 113 | 4 | 3 |
| TOTALS: | 49 | 1051 | 1672 | 16208 | 9.69 | 0.63 | 97 | 69 | 128 | 161.30 | - | - | - | - | - | 289 | -412 | -1.43 | 32 | 16 | 127 | 1052 | 34 | 12 |
Offensive
| Career | Receiving | Rushing | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | GP | REC | YDS | Y/R | LNG | TD | ATT | YDS | Y/A | LNG | TD | NO | LOST |
| 1991 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | -55 | -0.66 | 22 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 1990 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 77 | -195 | -2.53 | 18 | 4 | 13 | 4 |
| 1989 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 93 | -109 | -1.17 | 19 | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| 1988 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | -53 | -1.47 | 32 | 0 | 4 | 3 |
| TOTALS: | 49 | - | - | - | - | - | 289 | -412 | -1.43 | 32 | 16 | 34 | 12 |
2000 BYU Hall of Fame
In 1990 BYU quarterback Ty Detmer had a year most college football players dream of. By the end of his senior year in 1991, he had numbers big enough to do even his home state of Texas proud.
As a junior in 1990, the 6-foot, 175-pound San Marcos, Texas, native finished the season with 5,188 yards passing and 41 touchdowns. This offensive onslaught earned Detmer the coveted Heisman Trophy, given to the top collegiate football player in the country. He was the first and only BYU player to win the award and was also the first recipient from the Intermountain West.
By the end of his collegiate career, Detmer had broken 59 NCAA records and tied three others. He finished his career with an NCAA-record 15,031 yards passing. He also had 14,665 career yards in total offense, another NCAA best. The Cougars were invited to four bowl games and compiled a record of 37-13-2 during the Detmer years, including a 28-21 victory over top-ranked Miami (Florida) on September 8, 1990, in Provo, one of the biggest wins in BYU history. During the nationally televised victory over the Hurricanes, Detmer threw for 406 yards and earned National Player of the Week honors.
As a freshman, Ty came off the bench to lead the Cougars to a 20-17 Freedom Bowl victory against the Colorado Buffaloes, and a star was born.
He was the first BYU football player to be voted a captain as a sophomore. Detmer set the NCAA record for passing by a sophomore with 4,560 yards and nearly broke the NCAA record for pass efficiency in a season.
Detmer has seen more action in a Cougar uniform than any other player. He still holds the school record for most plays (1,795), most pass attempts (1,530), and most pass completions (958) in his career.
After finishing his record-setting career at BYU and earning a bachelor's degree in recreation administration, Detmer was selected in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He was the top backup behind All-Pro quarterback Brett Favre before signing with the Philadelphia Eagles. He finished the 1996 season with 2,911 yards passing and 15 touchdowns. His quarterback rating was 80.8, fourth best in the NFC that season.
In 1998 he signed with the San Francisco 49ers, joining fellow Cougar quarterback Steve Young. Detmer started one game and completed the season with 312 yards passing, four touchdowns, and a 63.2 completion percentage.
In 1999 he was acquired by the expansion Cleveland Browns, where he started two games and saw action in three others for the new team. He finished the season with 548 yards passing. He missed the entire 2000 season because of an Achilles tendon tear. Ty is married to the former Kim Herbert.