The First Family of the Forward Pass
At some point in the first half of this weekend's game against Bridgewater, Catholic University quarterback Keith Ricca will throw a pass that will put him and his brothers' NCAA passing yardage total over the 29,000-yard mark.
That's a remarkable number. Yet because every one of their yards has come at the Division III level, the Riccas haven't gotten the attention their collective exploits deserve.
But while the NCAA doesn't keep a family records section, it's doubtful any nuclear unit has ever come close to matching the Riccas' numbers while in school: Kevin Ricca threw for 9,469 yards as Catholic's QB from 1994-1997; JD Ricca netted 8,633 yards at Hampden-Sydney from 2002-2005, and Keith, the Last Ricca, has thrown for 10,889 yards as Catholic's QB since 2005.
That gives the Riccas 28,991 yards heading into Catholic's regular-season finale this weekend.
For perspective, here's what the three Mannings mustered while becoming mythical college football figures: Archie Manning, 5,473 yards at Ole Miss; Peyton Manning, 11,201 at Tennessee; and Eli Manning, 10,119 at Ole Miss.
That's a total of 26,793.
Or more than two miles behind the Riccas.
11:15 am
I don't know anything about Catholic's football program, but I kind of doubt their quarterback is going to throw for over 1,000 yards in the first half this weekend...
11:58 am
Archie Manning, 5,473 yards at Ole Miss; Peyton Manning, 11,201 at Tennessee; and Eli Manning, 10,119 at Ole Miss. That’s a total of 26,073.
26,793, actually, but who's counting? Besides me, I mean.
6:51 pm
George, Cminus, Keith, JD and Kevin Ricca, Archie, Peyton and Eli Manning:
I apologize to you all.
how many math mistakes can a guy make in 150 words? I'd go with "two," but right now i don't trust my number crunching enough to guesstimate. I mean, clearly, I'm too blind to count zeroes and too weak to carry the one.
Just ridiculous.
Thank you non-numerically challenged folks for helping out. Again, I'm very sorry. I'll punch in the correct info...
BTW: does everybody know Eli's real name was "Elisha"?