Robbie Bosco
Robbie Bosco is most widely known as an American football quarterback at Brigham Young University. Bosco was inducted into the BYU Hall of Fame in 1995.
Bosco is a native of Roseville, California.
In 1984, he took over as starting quarterback at BYU after the graduation of Steve Young. In his first season as a starter, Bosco guided the Cougars to a perfect 13-0 record. BYU finished the season by defeating the 6-5 Michigan team 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl, clinching the school's first and only national championship.[1]
At the Holiday Bowl, Bosco was sidelined with injuries in the first quarter, but he returned to the game and led the Cougars back from a 17-10 fourth quarter deficit. His 13-yard touchdown pass to Kelly Smith with 1:23 left in the game secured the victory, and the 1984 national championship.
Bosco led the nation in passing yardage, and finished second (behind Doug Flutie of Boston College) in pass efficiency. He finished third in the voting for the 1984 Heisman Trophy. He finished his BYU career with 10 NCAA records. Bosco was drafted in the third round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers, where he played for two years until his shoulder injury ended his career.
- The true degree of Bosco’s injury didn’t surface until after Green Bay selected him in the third round of the 1985 NFL draft. The Packers sent him to a specialist in Los Angeles where orthopedic surgeon Frank Jobe made a surprising observation and operated the following day to repair it.
- “So, for 11 games (following the injury at Temple) my shoulder was coming out of socket every time I threw the ball. That’s what I was going through,” Bosco said. “I didn’t know it. Nobody knew it.” . . .
- The true degree of Bosco’s injury didn’t surface until after Green Bay selected him in the third round of the 1985 NFL draft. The Packers sent him to a specialist in Los Angeles where orthopedic surgeon Frank Jobe made a surprising observation and operated the following day to repair it.
- Even after surgery, Bosco’s shoulder never fully repaired, and he retired from football after his second season in Green Bay and started to coach.[2]
He graduated with a degree in communications and an M.A. in Exercise Science, and has worked in various coaching and administrative positions at BYU since 1989 — Director of Varsity Club; fundraising, former student-athlete relationships and various other responsibilities. Quarterback coach for the football team from 1990 to 2003. He served as the interim head coach of the women's golf team. He is now the Varsity Club Director.[3]
Bosco joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during his freshman year at BYU. He and his wife, Karen, have three sons and three daughters.
