Fred Besana

Fred Besana (born March 9, 1954) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Oakland Invaders of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears. He was briefly on the rosters of the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), but never saw regular season action. He was selected by the Bills in the fifth round of the 1977 NFL draft.

Early life and college Born in Roseville, California, Besana played college football at the University of California, Berkeley for the California Golden Bears under head coach Mike White, where he was primarily a back-up to All-Americans Steve Bartkowski and Joe Roth. He started the first three games of the 1975 season.

Professional career Besana was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fifth round (115th overall) of the 1977 NFL draft. He was active for two games in 1977 and two games in 1978, before being released by the Giants on August 13, 1979. With his NFL career effectively over, Besana returned to California and played minor league ball for the Twin Cities Cougars, based in Marysville, of the California Football League from 1980–1982, while he sold insurance and was a partner in a beer distributorship. Following the season, All-League tight end Raymond Chester retired and by the start of the next season big play threat wide receiver Wyatt Henderson would also be off the team.

Without two of his top four receivers to stretch the defense in 1984, opposing defenses were able to smother the Invader offense. In spite of a strong defense, the team lost its first nine games --- scoring a total of 82 points. Without a running game and with few good receiving options, Besana struggled. In the second half of the season, halfback Eric Jordan emerged as an effective feature back. Besana, Jordan, and WR Gordon Banks combined to reignite the offense. The team won 7 of their last 9 games.

Following the 1984 season the Invaders merged with the Michigan Panthers and Besana was forced to the bench backing up Hebert on the eventual Western Conference champions. The new team retained Jordan & Banks and added Michigan stars Albert Bentley, Anthony Carter, Derek Holloway, & John Williams. Besana did see the field a few times in 1985 with this team full of weapons,

Career statistics Year Team GP Passing Cmp Att Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rtg 1983 Oakland Invaders 18 345 550 62.7 3,980 7.2 21 16 85.1 1984 Oakland Invaders 18 257 446 57.6 2,792 6.3 14 12 75.4 1985 Oakland Invaders — 34 58 58.6 494 8.5 6 4 92.2 Career 36 636 1,054 60.3 7,266 6.9 41 32 84.2

Family His father, Fred Besana, played for the Baltimore Orioles in 1956.

Video You Tube – interview with Keith Jackson of ABC sports – July 9, 1983