the 1975 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. Although he would start every game for four consecutive seasons early in his career, his career was also marked by injuries and quarterback controversies, with Grogan competing with other quarterbacks for the starting job. His second through his fifth season were the only times he would start every game in a season. Besides taking the starting job from former Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett as a rookie, Grogan would later face competition from Matt Cavanaugh, Tony Eason, Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie, and Marc Wilson. In his first season, Grogan played in 13 games out of the then-14 game regular season, starting 7 of the last 8. Grogan threw for 1,976 yards, 11 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. The Patriots finished with a 3-11 record, and traded Plunkett, their starter for the previous four years, in the off-season. (Plunkett would eventually lead the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.) For the Patriots 1976 season, Grogan led the Patriots to an 11-3 record and the franchise's first playoff berth since 1963. The eleven wins were the most Patriots wins in a season since the club’s inception. Along the way the Patriots defeated the defending Super Bowl champion, Pittsburgh Steelers (30-27). They also handed the Oakland Raiders their only regular season loss that year by defeating them 48-17. However, they lost the divisional playoffs (24-21) to the Raiders. Grogan scored 12 rushing touchdowns in 1976, breaking a quarterback record of 11 previously held by Tobin Rote and Johnny Lujack. His record would stand for 35 years until broken by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's 14 in 2011. During the 1977 season, Grogan would continue to advance the ball with his legs, amassing another 300+ yard rushing season, though he would only find the end zone once on a running play, as running backs Horace Ivory, Sam "Bam" Cunningham and Andy Johnson did most of the scoring on the ground. Rookie Stanley Morgan was drafted in the first round of that year's draft, and became an instant favorite target for Grogan; the two would go on to become the most successful tandem in Patriots history by the time of their retirements. The team would slip from their prior successes, however, falling to 9-5 and missing the playoffs. In the Patriots 1978 season, Grogan led the Patriots to an 11-5 record, a division title and the