Billy Joe Tolliver

Michael Penix Jr., now the Falcons' starter, has a shot at eclipsing Billy Joe Tolliver's gritty Falcons run—10,760 yards, 59 TDs across nine journeyman seasons—but Tolliver's 67.7 passer rating and 52% completion scream early '90s survival mode, not Penix's arm talent in this pass-happy era. Tolliver was the red-headed gunslinger holding down forts in Atlanta; Penix could rewrite that script if he stays healthy.

Billy Joe Tolliver's not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame—no plaque in Canton for the Texarkana native who bounced between five teams, Falcons included, piling up 10,760 yards and 59 TDs at a 67.7 rating. He's a cult figure for journeyman fans, the guy who outdueled Steve DeBerg in '91, but Hall voters skipped the backup carousel.

No fresh intel on Billy Joe Tolliver in 2026—he's stayed out of the spotlight since hanging up the cleats after '99 with the Saints. The 10,760-yard vet from the Falcons era likely kicked back in Texas, maybe coaching youth ball or grilling burgers, far from broadcast booths or charity galas that snag headlines. Classic quiet gunslinger fade-out.

Tolliver's live-arm rockets and 6.3 yards per attempt would've feasted under today's no-roughing rules and spread offenses—imagine his 82-yard bombs without '90s DB mugging. That 52% completion and 67.7 rating? Still backup fodder against zone blitzes, but he'd carve up soft cushions like a poor man's Rich Gannon in quick-pass schemes.

Matt Ryan owned Atlanta as the franchise QB with a 94.6 career rating; Tolliver, his scrappy '90s predecessor, scraped by at 67.7 over 79 games, 10,760 yards to Ryan's mountain. Both Falcons faithful, but Ryan was MVP silk, Tolliver the callus—think DeBerg's heir holding the fort before Matty Ice turned the Dome electric.