As a football player, Gardere passed for 5754 yards,[1][2] leading the Generals to winning campaigns in 2 of his 3 starting seasons there.
At his alma mater, he was inducted into the "Robert E. Lee Hall of Honor" by unanimous vote of the alumni committee, in December 2010.
Nicknamed "Peter the Great" by Longhorn fans, Gardere is worshiped by Texas and reviled by OU fans as the only starting quarterback on either side of the Red River Rivalry, in the 100-year history of the series, to have won 4 consecutive games against the other team.
Gardere started his redshirt freshman season as the backup to Mark Murdock, but he became the starter in the 4th game of the year against Rice.
In that game he rallied the Longhorns to a 14-point 2nd half comeback, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 4 minutes left.
[10] Gardere followed that with back-to-back wins over #15 Oklahoma in the annual Red River Shootout and over #7 Arkansas in Fayetteville, leading the team to a #22 ranking.
In 1992, under new head coach John Mackovic, the team went 6-5 upset #16 Oklahoma, but also lost to TCU, breaking a 24-game win streak—the 13th longest in college football history.
After his senior year of football was over, Gardere played outfield for the University of Texas baseball team for one season.
[14] Bold means still active After graduation in 1992, Gardere got a training camp invitation with the Seattle Seahawks in 1993.
But two days after being cut by Seattle, Gardere was punting for the Sacramento Gold Miners of the Canadian Football League.