The 1990s were mostly not a fun watch for Seattle Seahawks fans. Only twice during the decade did the team finish with a winning record, and each time it was only 9-7. What made matters worse were criminally poor quarterback draft choices early in the decade.
Arguably, the worst of these was Seattle taking Mark McGwire's brother at pick 16 in the 1991 draft. Dan McGwire had a bunch of red flags even before the draft. He was tall at 6'8," which caused his throwing motion to be extremely elongated. He also had very little athletic ability.
Dan McGwire was the definition of a statue playing quarterback. He was big, but couldn't move and was inaccurate with his passes. While he had solid passing numbers in college in two seasons at San Diego State, his rushing numbers should have informed the Seahawks not to choose him.
Dan McGwire remains the Seattle Seahawks worst draft pick in team history
Even though the quarterback position has changed a lot in the NFL over the last three decades (QBs are expected to be able to throw and run well), even in 1991, McGwire's college rushing numbers should have been off-putting. At SDSU, he rushed 99 times for -397 yards, an average of an astonishingly low negative-four yards per carry.
There was no reason to think that after playing relatively low-level college that McGwire would suddenly become a much better runner, and better at alluding the pass rush, once he entered the league.
His inability to scramble meant that his elongated throwing motion was going to be a real issue in the NFL. This proved to be correct as he somehow managed to play for five years and in 13 games, and while he attempted 148 passes, he was sacked 12.4 percent of the time.
For reference, Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times with the Chicago Bears in 2024, and that was still only 10.8 percent of the time. Had McGwire been QB1 for the Bears last season instead of Williams, McGwire would have been sacked 80 times, based on sack percentage.
But McGwire being chosen by the Seahawks in the first round of 1991 wasn't his fault. It was the team's.
Still, missing on a first-round choice, especially a quarterback, sets a team back for years. McGwire was expected to sit for a year and then become QB1, replacing long-time starter Dave Krieg. Instead, in his second preseason, McGwire was so inaccurate with no control over the offense that he was moved to third string.
His inability to be good forced the Seahawks to take Rick Mirer in the first round of the 1993 draft. Mirer wasn't good either, but he did at least start 51 games for Seattle over four years and had 41 touchdown passes. In his five seasons, McGwire started five games over his four seasons in Seattle and finished with two touchdown passes but six interceptions.
To make matters worse, the Seahawks could have chosen a different quarterback in 1991. Instead, the Green Bay Packers chose Brett Favre in the second round, and Favre was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
On a positive note, at least no one ever accused Dan McGwire of taking performance-enhancing drugs. His brother, Mark, had a baseball Hall of Fame career, but will likely never make it into Cooperstown because he tended to juice.