30 worst quarterbacks who actually made the Pro Bowl, and what went wrong after

17. Jay Schroeder - Washington
1986 Season

It’s a tale as old as time (at least on this list). A player who early in his career gets a shot to play well, and then they do, but something causes the wheels to fall off. There are few who saw it as bad as Jay Schroeder, who made the Pro Bowl in his third season. He threw for and 22 touchdowns while leading the Washington Football Team to 12 wins in 1986. 

Schroeder took over for the legendary Joe Theismann after the most gruesome injury in sports history. When Lawrence Taylor crushed the Washington superstar and ended his career, Schroeder was asked to pick up the pieces.

This is probably why Schroeder’s career isn’t spoken about more. He’s a footnote to the real headline, which is the Theismann injury, but Schroeder really gave Washington fans a reason to love football again. He did have an issue even in his Pro Bowl year: he threw way too many interceptions. In that 1986 season, he had 22 picks. He also had an ego problem according to his replacement Doug Williams. After going back and forth, Williams took the spot for good and drove Washington to a Super Bowl victory in 1987.

Schroder was traded to the Raiders that offseason, but he was never the same. He suffered a separated shoulder that continued to nag him throughout his career. After five middling seasons with the Raiders, he played for the Cincinnati Bengals and eventually the Arizona Cardinals. Eventually, it was clear it was time to retire.