Teams
- Chicago Cardinals (1954-1958)
- Green Bay Packers (1959-1960)
- Baltimore Colts (1961-1963)
- San Francisco 49ers (1963-1964)
“LaMar was an interesting guy and a talented player. A high draft pick with the physical tools, an emotional guy.”
-Jerry Kramer, Hall of Fame Guard, Green Bay Packers (source)
Clarence Lamar McHan played pro ball with some really stinkin’ good quarterbacks. Unfortunately, he himself never reached the lofty heights of individual and team success that teammates Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas did. Following a ninth-place finish in 1953 Heisman voting, the Arkansas Razorback went #2 overall in the 1954 NFL Draft to the Chicago Cardinals. The immediate transition turned out to be a challenge. In his first two seasons, McHan posted 41 interceptions (including a league-most 22 in ’54), compared to just 20 touchdowns. In turn, his Cardinals only went 5-16-1 over that time, admittedly also impacted by poor defenses as well.
Things took a turn toward the positive in 1956 though. Chicago’s south side team came out of the gate winning their first four, and five of six. Then things fell apart. The Cards dropped two in a row, including a 14-7 loss to a mediocre Pittsburgh Steelers team in which Lamar McHan was intercepted twice. Refusing to practice with the team, McHan was suspended for insubordination and fined $3,000 (nothing to laugh at as the average annual salary for a male in 1956 was $3,800). He returned from suspension the following week, a Cardinals win, but only for one play. McHan and the Cardinals finished the year at 7-5, a game-and-a-half behind the eventual NFL champion New York Giants in the NFL East.
Lamar McHan would play two more years for the Chicago Cardinals, notably leading the league in yards per completion in 1957 (18.0), but continuous poor play on defense saw his team languish at the bottom of the division. In 1959, Green Bay Packers’ first-year head coach Vince Lombardi needed someone to spark a team coming off a 1-10-1 season and traded for the Cards’ starting quarterback. The move seemed to work as the Pack won their first three games, including a four-touchdown effort by McHan in Week 2. But a string of losses, compounded by an injured shoulder, saw Lombardi turn to Bart Starr to finish the season under Center. Green Bay rallied around the fourth-year player, winning their final four games to end up a respectable 7-5.
It looked like things would turn around for the talented Arkansas alum in 1960 as he led Green Bay to three straight early-season wins. But during a poor Week 5 performance against Pittsburgh, Lombardi pulled McHan for Starr who led the Pack to a comeback win. After the game, the notoriously emotional McHan confronted his teammates, essentially sealing his fate. While the Packers would go on to the NFL Championship Game later that year, it would be with Bart Starr as quarterback. In the offseason, Lombardi would ship McHan to Baltimore and Green Bay would win five of the next seven NFL titles.
With Johnny Unitas holding a tight grip on the starting job in Baltimore, Lamar McHan would see little action over the next couple years. From 1961-1963, he would only come in as a back-up, attempting just 36 passes during his time as a Colt. Early in ’63, McHan would wind up in San Francisco, one potential final hurrah for the veteran. But he would only be able to generate two wins in nine starts for a team struggling on both sides of the ball. A healthy John Brodie would return for the Niners in ’64 and McHan would not see any action. He would retire following a brief stint for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in ’65, and spend much of the Seventies and Eighties as an assistant coach for the New Orleans Saints.
Talent can only take you so far, and while Lamar McHan had it in spades, his competitive nature often got the best of him. His situations didn’t alway help him out either, stuck on a lousy Cardinals team at the beginning of his career, then stuck behind Johnny Unitas later in his career. He did have a chance to achieve greatness in Green Bay, but could not overcome his emotions. And so, sadly, Lamar McHan’s story seems to be a cautionary tale of ego and indiscipline at the expense of team chemistry and winning football.
Chart
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | -0.114 | -0.292 | -0.239 | 0.199 | 0.021 | -0.164 | -0.025 | -0.157 |
| Playoffs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Longevity Bonus = 0.6 Title Bonus = 0.0
Index Score = -4.220 (average QB = 0.0)
Deviation Rank (out of 153)
| Season | W-L% | Tot Y/G | Tot TD/G | Tot TO/G | Y/C/Y/A | Cmp % | TD% | Int% |
| Reg Season | 145th | 153rd | 142nd | 50th | 62nd | 153rd | 100th | 139th |
| Playoffs | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Why isn’t he on the Top 100 list?
Lamar McHan finishes at the very bottom of all quarterbacks analyzed in two of eight categories. He only surpassed 250 total yards in a game five times (and never had more than 280), placing him last in total yards per game. Additionally, he only completed 42.3% of his passes in the NFL, placing him last in completion percentage. He finishes outside the Top 100 in three other categories as well: win-loss percentage (#145), total touchdowns per game (#142), and interceptions per pass attempt (#139).
But what made him good?
Despite the number of interceptions, Lamar McHan didn’t fumble much. In 239 career touches (including one reception), he only coughed up the ball 20 times. Extremely impressive for a quarterback who also attempted 1,442 passes, this helped place him at #50 for fewest turnovers per game. Also, he used his strong arm to get the ball downfield, placing #62 all-time for deviation of yards/completion + yards/attempt, and bolstered by an NFL-best 18.0 yards per completion in 1957.
The Quarterback Project 