Background
Herrmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Carmel, Indiana, where he played high school football for Carmel High School.
Herrmann was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Carmel, Indiana, where he played high school football for Carmel High School.
Herrmann attended Purdue University, where he played for coach Jim Young"s Purdue Boilermakers football team from 1977 to 1980.
Herrmann played college football for Purdue University, and was recognized as an All-American. He subsequently played professionally for five different NFL teams. After retiring as a player, he became the Associate Director of Educational Programs for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and currently works as a broadcaster for local football after serving on the Indianapolis Colts broadcast crew for nearly a decade.
He also played on Carmel"s state championship basketball team in 1977.
His 9,946 career passing yards set an National Collegiate Athletic Association record (which has since been broken). He is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start in three consecutive bowl games (Drew Brees did the same, and Kyle Orton started four straight).
He also holds the Liberty Bowl record for passing touchdowns. 1977: 2,453 yards with 18 Territorial Decoration vs 27 INT in 11 games.
1978: 1,904 yards with 14 Territorial Decoration vs 12 INT in 11 games.
1979: 2,377 yards with 16 Territorial Decoration vs 19 INT in 11 games. 1980: 3,212 yards with 23 Territorial Decoration vs 17 INT in 11 games. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in May 2010.
Herrmann was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 1981, but did not play in his first year out of college.
In 1982 he appeared in two games, but at the end of the season he was traded to the Baltimore Colts as part of the deal that brought John Elway to Denver. In 1983-1984 Herrmann saw limited action with the Colts, first at Baltimore and then at Indianapolis.
In 1985 he was traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he played for three seasons and performed well as the backup to Dan Fouts. Herrmann then played for the Los Angeles Rams in 1988-1989, and returned to the Colts for three seasons before retiring in 1992.
Herrmann appeared in just 40 games during his 11 year pro career, completing 334 passes in 561 attempts (595%) for a total of 4,015 yards.
He threw 16 touchdown passes and was intercepted 36 times.