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Mark Robert Rypien (born October 2, 1962) is a Canadian-born former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football for the Washington State Cougars and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL draft. He was named Super Bowl MVP, doing so in Super Bowl XXVI with the Redskins. He also played for several other NFL teams. His nephew Brett Rypien plays in the NFL as a quarterback.
He earned Parade All-American honors as a high school senior and received scholarship offers from across the country before accepting a college football scholarship to Washington State University in Pullman, and joined the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. A knee injury in spring drills in 1982 redshirted him for that season and he nearly left football and WSU in November 1983 but stayed and earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors in 1984 and led WSU's fabled RPM offense in 1985. He was inducted into WSU's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993. He played in the 1986 Senior Bowl.
Rypien became the second stringer after Jay Schroeder, who lost his job to Williams late in the 1987 season, was traded to the Oakland Raiders. In Week 4 against the newly relocated Phoenix Cardinals, Rypien got his first chance to start for an injured Williams and threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns in a 30–21 loss. In six starts, he went 3–3 and he appeared in nine games overall, including a four-touchdown game in a rematch against the Cardinals. He threw for 1,730 yards in those games and finished with three more touchdowns than Williams had, by a count of 18–15.
Rypien was named the starter for 1989 ahead of the injured and aging Williams. Rypien emerged as a star quarterback as he threw for 3,768 yards and 22 touchdowns, leading the Redskins to a 10–6 record. The team missed the playoffs but Rypien received a bid as an injury replacement for Joe Montana and Don Majkowski in that year's Pro Bowl (NFC coach John Robinson elected to bring only one injury replacement for his intended starter and #2 quarterback).
Rypien was best known for his phenomenal accuracy as a deep passer. He made the Pro Bowl in his first full season as a starter, doing so as an injury replacement.
The 1991 season was Rypien's best: he threw for 3,564 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, leading the Redskins to Super Bowl XXVI after recording a 14–2 regular season record. He was named the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of the game, passing for 292 yards and 2 touchdowns and leading his team to a 37–24 win over the Buffalo Bills. Rypien, a native of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, became the first foreign-born player to earn the honor. Rypien was named to the Pro Bowl in both 1989 and 1991.
Rypien was one of several players to benefit from the team's success following their championship season. The Redskins signed him to a 3-year, $9 million deal entering the 1992 season. However, the team battled age and injuries and finished the regular season with a 9–7 record, barely making the playoffs. His passing yardage was a respectable 3,282 yards, but his passer rating fell from 97.9 in 1991 to 71.7 in 1992 and his interceptions outnumbered his touchdowns 17–13. Although a dominant team performance in the playoffs brought victory over the Minnesota Vikings in an NFC Wild Card away game, the Redskins eventually lost on a rainy, muddy field in a bruising game against the San Francisco 49ers, and the Rypien era was essentially over. Under new head coach Richie Petitbon, Rypien had his best training camp in 1993 and expectations were high following a Monday Night win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys. However, Rypien injured his knee in Week 2 against the Arizona Cardinals and the team began a precipitous slide toward a 4–12 season finish.
When he was healthy enough to return, Rypien performed spot duty, sharing time with the newly acquired Rich Gannon. The Redskins hired Norv Turner as their head coach in 1994. Rypien participated in offseason workouts, but the team later released him.
In 11 NFL seasons, Rypien completed 1,466 of 2,613 passes for 18,473 yards, 115 touchdowns, and 88 interceptions. He rushed 127 times for 166 yards and 8 touchdowns.
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Rypien's cousins include NHL players Rick Rypien and Shane Churla, and his nephew is NFL quarterback Brett Rypien.
Rypien's daughter, Angela Rypien, played in the 2011 season for the Seattle Mist of the Lingerie Football League.
An avid golfer, Rypien has been known to participate in charity tournaments at various locations across the nation. He has played in one PGA Tour event (Kemper Open in 1992), and one Web.com Tour event (Buy.com Tri-Cities Open in 2000), and missed the 36-hole cut by a substantial margin both times.
He has been a regular competitor at the American Century Championship, the annual competition at Lake Tahoe to determine the best golfers among American sports and entertainment celebrities. Rypien won the inaugural event in 1990, and won his second crown 24 years later in 2014; he has a total of 11 top ten finishes. Televised by NBC in July, the tournament is played at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, Nevada.
In a 2018 interview with the Spokane Spokesman-Review, Rypien's wife stated that she believes he is suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from football, with bizarre behavior occurring from time to time. Rypien himself confirmed that he has struggled with mental health issues since his retirement from football, even attempting suicide by overdosing on pills before his wife stopped him. On June 30, 2019, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and charged with fourth-degree assault. The charge was dismissed on August 30, 2019.
In 2020, he was featured in the documentary "Quiet Explosions: Healing the Brain" produced and directed by Jerri Sher.
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Categories: 1962 Births, Living People, American Football Quarterbacks, American People Of Finnish Descent, American People Of Polish Descent, Atlanta Falcons Players, Canadian Emigrants To The United States, Canadian Football People From Calgary, Canadian Football Quarterbacks, Canadian People Of Finnish Descent, Canadian People Of Polish Descent, Cleveland Browns Players, Indianapolis Colts Players, Nascar Team Owners, National Conference Pro Bowl Players, Philadelphia Eagles Players, Players Of American Football From Spokane, Washington, Rochester Raiders Players, Seattle Seahawks Players, St. Louis Rams Players, Super Bowl Mvps, Washington Redskins Players, Washington State Cougars Football Players
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