Kenneth John O'Brien Jr. (born November 27, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles. One of the six quarterbacks in the famed quarterback class of 1983, O'Brien was the first quarterback in the franchise history of the Jets to finish with the highest passer rating in a season. He held the team record for most consecutive pass completions (17) in a game. In 1997, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. High school and college career O'Brien played for Jesuit High School in Carmichael, California. O'Brien started his collegiate football career in 1978 at Sacramento State as a reserve. He played at the University of California, Davis under coach Jim Sochor. In his senior year, 1982, he was an NCAA Division II All-American. He led UCD to a 10-0 regular season mark and to the Division II championship game. He was ranked #2 in total offense and #3 in passing efficiency in Division II. He also won the Babe Slater Award for being the most outstanding male athlete at UC Davis. O'Brien was selected as All-Far Western Conference QB three times and was selected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. Professional career The New York Jets selected O'Brien as the 24th pick in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft, amazing observers who expected the team to choose fellow quarterback Dan Marino, a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who was selected three picks later. The many Jets fans who attended the draft, held in New York City, were surprised and outraged by the choice; O'Brien was so obscure that New York television reporter Sal Marchiano twice mangled his name while reporting on fan reaction to the draft. (O'Brien said after his retirement, "Who blames [the fans], right? Who, in New York, has heard of Cal, University of California, Davis? Nobody ... I'm not sure I would have reacted any differently. Heck, some of my cousins grew up as Jets fans. They were probably doing the same thing.") Don Shula, who coached the division rival Miami Dolphins (which drafted Dan Marino later in the round) famously asked "Who's he?" In 1985, O'Brien was the highest rated quarterback in the NFL, finishing the season with a rating of 96.2 while having the