Team

GAMES/STARTS (regular season, playoffs) 2008 (0/0).

• Spent entire rookie season of 2008 inactive as the Vikings’ 3rd QB.
• Played under former Vikings assistant coach Pete Carroll at USC.
• Brother, Josh, played QB for Cleveland Browns.   

OFF THE FIELD Graduated with a degree in sociology from USC…Father, Johnny, played QB at Arkansas, Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State and coached him at Evangel Christian…Has 4 brothers…Brother, Josh, was a QB for the Cleveland Browns after 2 seasons at LSU (1999-2000)…Prior to attending LSU, Josh spent 5 years (1994-98) as an infielder in the Florida Marlins organization, including 13 games in the majors…Brother, Abram, was a WR at LSU (1997-99) and Valdosta State (2001)…Younger brother, Jack, was an All-State QB in 2007…Engaged to Jill – the couple will marry in July of 2009.

PRO Won the 3rd QB job out of training camp in 2008…Is 1 of 3 Trojans on the current Vikings roster along with DE Kenechi Udeze and OT Drew Radovich…Originally drafted by the Vikings in the 5th round (137) of the 2008 NFL Draft…Played at USC under Pete Carroll, a former Vikings assistant coach from 1985-1989…Was at USC for 2 years (2003, 2004) with current University of Minnesota assistant coach Tim Davis…Was the 6th QB drafted in 2008…Part of a 10-player USC draft class in 2008.

2008 Spent most of the year inactive as the Vikings 3rd QB…Was active and served as the backup to Tarvaris Jackson in place of an injured Gus Frerotte @ Arizona (12/14)…Saw action in the preseason with the Vikings second and third units, including a start in the Vikings preseason finale @ Dallas (8/28)…Was 22-of-41 passing for 203 yards in the preseason…Won the 3rd QB job coming out of training camp.

COLLEGE Started 23 total games at USC and left a mark in school annals in several categories…Finished his career ranked 4th all-time with 55 career TD passes, 5th with 518 completions and 5th with 6,125 passing yards...Finished 6th all-time with 5,945 yards of total offense…Threw at least 1 TD pass in 22 of his 23 starts, at least 2 TDs in 16 games, at least 3 TDs in 11 games and at least 4 TDs in 3 games…Had 200+ yard passing games 18 times in his career…Threw for 300+ yards 4 times…Went 20-3 as a starter and 9-0 against AP-ranked opponents…Played in 2 Rose Bowls and holds the Rose Bowl record for career TD passes (7)…Was only the 8th player at USC to be named a team captain twice…Earned Rose Bowl Offensive MVP honors in 2007 when he completed 25-of-37 passes for 255 yards and 3 TDs against Illinois…Was 2007 All-Pac-10 honorable mention and Senior Bowl invitee…Made the 2006 All-Pac-10 1st team and was one of 11 finalists for the Manning Award (nation’s top QB)…Tied for 4th on USC’s season passing list with 269 completions in 2006 and ranked 5th on the season list with 3,347 passing yards as he joined Carson Palmer, Rob Johnson and Matt Leinart as the only Trojans to eclipse 3,000 passing yards in a season…Ranked 4th all-time with 29 TD passes in a single season in 2006 (tied for 9th in Pac-10 ranks)…In his debut as a starter, completed 68.6% of his passes (24-of-35) for 261 yards and 3 second half TDs at Arkansas…Threw for a career-high 406 yards (5th all-time at USC) and 3 TDs on 24-of-39 passing at Oregon State in 2006; only Carson Palmer (3 times) and Mike Van Raaphorst (1) threw for more yards in a single game…Tied a Rose Bowl record with 4 passing TDs in 2006 vs. Michigan..

PREP  Led Evangel Christian Academy (Shreveport, LA) to back-to-back state titles as a sophomore and a junior…Earned Student Sports Underclass All-American and Class 5A All-State honors as a sophomore and a junior as he threw for 4,330 yards and 50 TDs and 4,144 yards and 38 TDs in those respective seasons…Finished his high school career with 8,474 passing yards on 555-of-864 passing (64.2%) with 88 TDs…Began playing varsity football as a 7th-grader.