Frank Reich - Professional Career

Professional Career

Reich was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round (57th overall) in the 1985 NFL Draft. The Bills already had drafted future Hall of Famer Jim Kelly in 1983 and when Kelly signed with the Bills in 1986, Reich was relegated to the backup role. Reich got his first start when Kelly went down with a shoulder injury in 1989. Reich led the Bills to two straight victories. He rallied the Bills in the fourth quarter by throwing two drives down the field for a 23-20 victory over the previously unbeaten Los Angeles Rams. This first game for Reich occurred in front of a Rich Stadium crowd of 76,231 and a Monday Night Football audience. Reich returned the following season, however, when Kelly was injured again late in the season. Reich provided the Bills with two key wins, clinching them the AFC East title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs.

On January 3, 1993, Reich led the Bills on a 35-3 run in the second half and overtime against the Houston Oilers en route to a 41-38 victory, the largest comeback in NFL history. Reich would help the Bills defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the divisional round with a score of 23-7 before once again giving the team back to Kelly, who led them into Super Bowl XXVII, where they fell to the Dallas Cowboys 52-17. Reich again replaced an injured Kelly in the first half of the Super Bowl, and led the Bills to 10 points, helping keep the game close until the fourth quarter. However, he finished the game with four interceptions.

After giving the Bills one more comeback victory late in the 1993 NFL season, Reich was picked from the Bills in the 1995 expansion draft to join the Carolina Panthers to start off their first year. He threw the first touchdown pass to former Bills player Pete Metzelaars in Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers had drafted Kerry Collins as their intended franchise quarterback, but Reich was the starter for most of the first half of the season until Collins was deemed ready to take the starting job. He was signed by the New York Jets where he started for seven games in 1996. In 1997 Reich signed with the Detroit Lions, reuniting him with his coach at Maryland, Bobby Ross. Reich appeared in 6 games in 1997, all in relief, and 6 games in 1998, including 2 starts. Reich retired following the 1998 NFL season.

In the first round of the 1997 NFL playoffs, Reich took over as quarterback for the Detroit Lions when Scott Mitchell was knocked out of the game. Late in the game, Reich dropped back and spiked the ball accidentally on fourth down, giving the ball to opponent Tampa Bay.

In 2008, he served as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts. After Tony Dungy retired early in 2009, Jim Caldwell (former Colts quarterback coach) replaced Dungy and Reich took his place as the new quarterbacks coach. Frank switched to Wide Receivers Coach.in 2011 but was dismissed when the entire coaching staff was released. He is currently the wide receivers coach for the Arizona Cardinals under head coach Ken Whisenhunt.