View source for Guy Benjamin

{{Short description|American football player (born 1955)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox NFL player
|number=7, 10
|position=[[Quarterback]]
|birth_place=[[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1955|6|27}}
|height_ft=6
|weight_lb=210
|height_in=4
|high_school=[[James Monroe High School (California)|James Monroe]]<br>([[North Hills, California]])
|college=[[Stanford Cardinals football|Stanford]]
|draftyear=1978
|draftround=2
|draftpick=51
|teams=
* [[Miami Dolphins]] ({{NFL Year|1978}}–{{NFL Year|1979}})
* [[New Orleans Saints]] ({{NFL Year|1980}})
* [[San Francisco 49ers]] ({{NFL Year|1981}}–{{NFL Year|1983}})
|highlights=
* [[Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl XVI|XVI]])
* [[Sammy Baugh Trophy]] (1977)
* Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1977 College Football All-America Team|1977]])
* [[Pac-12 Conference football individual awards|Pac-8 Co-Player of the Year]] (1977)
* [[Pop Warner Trophy]] (1977)
* First-team [[List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-8]] ([[1977 All-Pacific-8 Conference football team|1977]])
|statlabel1=[[Touchdown|TD]]-[[Interception|INT]]
|statvalue1=3-3
|statlabel2=Passing yards
|statvalue2=439
|statlabel3=[[Passer rating]]
|statvalue3=73.1
|statlabel4=Pass attempts
|statvalue4=68
|statlabel5=[[Completion (American football)|Pass completions]]
|statvalue5=39
|statlabel6=Games played
|statvalue6=19
|pfr=B/BenjGu00
}}

'''Guy Emory Benjamin''' (born June 27, 1955) is an American former professional [[American football|football]] player who was a [[quarterback]] for six seasons in the [[National Football League]] (NFL). He played [[college football]] for the [[Stanford Cardinal football|Stanford Cardinals]] (now Cardinal), earning consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] honors in 1977. Benjamin was selected in the second round of the [[1978 NFL draft]]. He won a [[Super Bowl XVI|Super Bowl]] as a [[substitution (sport)|backup]] quarterback with the [[1981 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] in January 1982.

==College career==
Benjamin played [[High school football|football]] at [[James Monroe High School (California)|James Monroe High School]] in [[North Hills, California]], and matriculated at [[Stanford University]] in 1974. He split [[starting lineup|starting]] time with Mike Cordova at first, but took over as full-time starter in [[1976 Stanford Cardinals football team|1976]]. In [[1977 Stanford Cardinals football team|1977]] under head coach [[Bill Walsh (football coach)|Bill Walsh]], Benjamin led Stanford to a 24–14 victory over [[1977 LSU Tigers football team|LSU]] in the [[1977 Sun Bowl (December)|Sun Bowl]] and won both the [[Sammy Baugh Trophy]] (top passer in college football) and the [[W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy]], (outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast).

==Professional career==
Benjamin was selected by the [[1978 Miami Dolphins season|Miami Dolphins]] in the second round of the [[1978 NFL draft]]. He played two seasons behind [[Bob Griese]] and [[Don Strock]], then spent one season as [[Archie Manning]]'s backup with the [[1980 New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints]]. He was reunited with Bill Walsh when he joined the [[San Francisco 49ers]] in 1981, where he earned a [[Super Bowl ring]] as [[Joe Montana]]'s backup in [[Super Bowl XVI]]. He retired in [[1984 NFL season|1984]] following surgery.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-06-19-sp-4767-story.html|title=Armed With Intelligence: Rejoining Walsh, Benjamin Took His Knowledge Back to College|first=Fernando|last=Dominguez|newspaper= LA Times|access-date=September 11, 2021}}</ref>

==After football==
After leaving football, Benjamin directed [http://athletesunitedforpeace.org Athletes United for Peace], an organization founded by Olympic athletes after the U.S. [[boycott]] of the [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Moscow Olympics]]. He also founded the Sports in Society Institute at the [[New College of California]], and directed its degree-completion program for former student-athletes.<ref name="aup">{{cite press release| title =Guy Benjamin| publisher =Athletes United for Peace| url =http://www.athletesunitedforpeace.org/benjamin.html| access-date =2007-02-05| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20071007013249/http://www.athletesunitedforpeace.org/benjamin.html| archive-date =2007-10-07| url-status =dead}}</ref>

He now lives in [[Hawaii]], where he was offensive coordinator for the University of Hawaii football team for a while. In 1988, he was to be the head coach of the [[World Indoor Football League]]'s Las Vegas Aces, but that league folded before it could get off the ground and the Aces' bid to join the [[Arena Football League (1987–2008)|Arena Football League]] was turned away, so that the Aces never played a game. He also coached the [[Hawaii Hammerheads]] of the [[Indoor Professional Football League]] to the league championship in 1999, the team's only season. He then became the first [[head coach]] of the IPFL's [[Portland Prowlers]] before returning to Hawaii, where he coached the [[minor league]] [[Hawaiian Islanders]] of the [[Arena Football League (1987–2008)|Arena Football League]] [[af2]].

As of 2012, he is Executive Director of the [http://www.hmi.edu/ Hawaii Medical College].<ref name="scripps">{{cite news|last=Kroichick |first=Ron |title=Former 49ers feel discarded |publisher=ScrippsNews |date=January 22, 2007 |url=http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/18761 |access-date=February 5, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716022815/http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/18761 |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Pac-12 Player of the Year}}
{{Pop Warner Trophy}}
{{Super Bowl XVI}}
{{Stanford Cardinal quarterback navbox}}
{{1977 College Football Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Dolphins1978DraftPicks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Guy}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-American college football players]]
[[Category:Miami Dolphins players]]
[[Category:New Orleans Saints players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers players]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Stanford Cardinal football players]]