Steve Beuerlein (born March 7, 1965 in Los Angeles, California) is a former football quarterback who during his NFL career played for the Los Angeles Raiders (1988-89), Dallas Cowboys (1991-92), Phoenix Cardinals & Arizona Cardinals (1993-94), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995), Carolina Panthers (1996-2000) and Denver Broncos (2001-03). He attended the University of Notre Dame. Beuerlein's limited playoff experience came in relief of an injured Troy Aikman in 1991. He started in a win against the Chicago Bears, throwing 180 yards, and a touchdown, with no interceptions. The following week, he relieved Aikman after the Detroit Lions jumped too far ahead for the Cowboys. On his last play as a Cowboy, Beurlein fumbled the ball on a botched handoff to Derrick Gainer, in Beurlein's second play of the game. Luckily, the Cowboys were ahead 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII.
He would play with the Phoenix Cardinals in 1993, passing for his first 3000 yard season. In 1995 he would go on to play with the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars team in their first game. (Beuerlein was the first Jaguar selected in the expansion draft.) After the season he headed to Carolina.
Beuerlein holds many Panthers passing records. These include single-season records, all set in 1999, for passing yards (4,436), touchdowns (36), attempts (571), and completions (343).
He holds the top three single-game passing yard totals in team history (373, 368, and 364.) His 5 touchdown passes in the last week of the 1999 season are still a team record.
His career records with the Panthers include most attempts (1,723), completions (1,041), passing yards (12,690), passing touchdowns (86), highest completion percentage (60.4œ and highest passer rating (87.7).
His 36 touchdown passes were 2nd in the NFL in 1999, and remain the eighth highest single-season total in league history. His 4,436 passing yards led the league, as did his 343 completions. At age 34, Beurlein went to his only Pro Bowl that year.
Beuerlein finished his career with the Denver Broncos, playing mostly as a backup. However, before retiring in 2004, he signed a token one-year deal with Carolina, saying he wanted to retire as a Panther.
In 2004, Beuerlein joined CBS Sports as a game analyst for The NFL on CBS.
Preceded by: None Jacksonville Jaguars Starting Quarterbacks 1995 (with Mark Brunell) Succeeded by: Mark Brunell