Josh McCown
Joshua Treadwell McCown is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League. He played college football for the SMU Mustangs and Sam Houston Bearkats, and was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft. McCown went on to play eighteen seasons in the NFL across twelve franchises. He also spent a season in the United Football League.
McCown attended Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Texas, where he was named the East Texas Player of the Year and earned All-State honorable mention honors as a senior. He played three seasons for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University, where he passed for totals of 4,022 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 34 interceptions. He then transferred to play his final season of college football for the Sam Houston State Bearkats of Sam Houston State University. In his only season with the Bearkats, he threw for 3,481 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, earning Southland Football League Player of the Year and third-team Division I-AA All-American honors.
McCown was selected by the Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft and played for them from 2002 to 2005. He was mainly the backup quarterback during his tenure with the Cardinals but was the team's primary starter in 2004. He was a backup with the Detroit Lions in 2006 and was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2007, where he started nine games. McCown signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2008, but was traded to the Carolina Panthers before the start of the 2008 regular season, serving as a backup with the Panthers from 2008 to 2009. He then played for the Hartford Colonials of the UFL in 2010, followed by a short off-season stint with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011. McCown was a backup with the Chicago Bears from 2011 to 2013. In eight games, and five starts, in 2013, he threw for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns, and one interception, garnering the third-best passer rating in the NFL. He then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was the team's primary starter in 2014. However, after underperforming, McCown was released by the Buccaneers and signed by the Cleveland Browns, for whom he was the primary starter in 2015 and a backup in 2016. He was released by the Browns after the 2016 season and then signed by the New York Jets. He was the primary starter for the Jets in 2017 and set single-season career highs with 267 completions, a 67.3 completion percentage, 2,926 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns and 5 rushing touchdowns. After serving as a backup for the Jets in 2018, McCown retired from the NFL and briefly joined ESPN as an NFL analyst. However, he came out of retirement to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in August 2019. In the Wild Card Round of the 2019–20 NFL playoffs, McCown replaced an injured Carson Wentz and played the majority of the game at the age of 40, becoming the oldest quarterback in NFL history to make his postseason debut. In November 2020, he was signed off of the Eagles' practice squad by the Houston Texans; his last NFL team.
In 2023, McCown was hired by the Panthers to be their quarterbacks coach under head coach Frank Reich. McCown was fired by the Panthers after a 1–10 start to the season. He became the Vikings' quarterbacks coach in 2024.
Early life
Joshua Treadwell McCown was born on July 4, 1979, in Jacksonville, Texas. He grew up on the family's ranch and attended Jacksonville High School. He had a significant growth spurt in high school that helped his football career. McCown later said, "My first driver's license said 5-foot-4. At 16, I was 5–4." A coach of McCown's also said, "We knew Josh was going to be a good football player if he ever grew. But it sure took awhile. He really started shooting up in the second half of his junior year." In McCown's senior year in 1997, he led the team to the playoffs and was the East Texas Player of the Year, District 17-4A Offensive Player of the Year, and an All-State honorable mention. He also played basketball and won All-District second-team honors as a shooting guard his senior year. The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce inducted him into their Wall of Fame in 2013.College career
SMU
McCown played college football for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University from 1998 to 2000, passing for 4,022 yards and 27 touchdowns, but also threw 34 interceptions. He started 25 total games for the Mustangs. He played in 9 games, starting 5, for the Mustangs his freshman season in 1998, completing 46 of 99 passes for 619 yards and 7 touchdowns with 8 interceptions. McCown split time with sophomore Chris Sanders in 1998. McCown was the first freshman to start at quarterback for the team since 1989. He started in 10 games for the Mustangs in 1999, completing 125 of 234 passes for 1,434 yards and 11 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He set a school record for consecutive completions when he completed 19 passes in a row against Tulsa in 1999. McCown started 9 games for the Mustangs his junior year in 2000, completing 169 of 331 passes for 1,969 yards and 9 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. He threw for 420 yards against Texas-El Paso in 2000, which was the third-highest total in SMU history. He started the first six games of the 2000 season before being replaced by David Page for three games. McCown then started the final three games for the Mustangs.Sam Houston State
McCown transferred his senior year to play for the Sam Houston State Bearkats of Sam Houston State University. He transferred to be in an offense that threw more and to have a better chance to win. He also did not have to sit out the 2001 season because Sam Houston State was in Division I-AA. McCown surpassed his three-year SMU touchdown total in just one season for the Bearkats, completing 259 of 429 passes for 3,481 yards and 32 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as a senior in 2001. The Bearkats finished the season with a 10–3 record and were Southland Football League co-champions with McNeese State. Sam Houston State defeated Northern Arizona in the first round of the Division I-AA national playoffs to reach the I-AA quarterfinals, where the Bearkats lost to eventual national champion Montana. He set single-season school records in pass completions, attempts, yards, and touchdowns. McCown's 3,481 passing yards ranked eighth on the school's career list. He also rushed for 351 yards and 6 touchdowns on 112 attempts. He threw for 404 yards and tied a school single-game record with 5 touchdowns against Western Illinois in 2001. McCown was named the SFL Player of the Year and earned first-team All-SFL honors in 2001. He was also named a third-team Division I-AA All-American by The Sports Network. Following his senior season, he was one of 16 players considered for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top performer in NCAA Division I-AA football. McCown finished seventh in the Walter Payton Award voting. He replaced Joey Harrington on the 2002 Senior Bowl roster after Harrington suffered a knee injury in the East–West Shrine Game. McCown played in the Senior Bowl and had a "strong game", completing 7 of 11 passes for 117 yards while also rushing for a 12-yard touchdown. He majored in history at Sam Houston State. McCown was inducted into the Sam Houston Athletic Hall of Honor in 2013.College statistics
Professional career
Arizona Cardinals
2002
McCown had an impressive performance at the NFL Combine, which saw him post a 40-yard dash in the mid-4-second range, a 10-foot long jump, and a -inch vertical jump. One scout who attended the combine said, "He could be the third quarterback taken or the eighth quarterback." McCown was rated the sixth-best quarterback in the 2002 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft, with the 81st overall pick, and was the fourth quarterback to be drafted. Dave McGinnis, the head coach of the Cardinals when McCown was drafted, later stated, " had all the background essentials you really liked. And he's a fabulous athlete. If you were going to start a pickup basketball game in the building, he'd be one of your first choices." McCown played for the Cardinals from 2002 to 2005.Entering his rookie season, McCown became the team's second-string quarterback after former Cardinals backup Chris Greisen was released in August. McCown made his NFL debut on December 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, relieving starter Jake Plummer late in the third quarter of an eventual 49–0 loss. McCown played in 2 games in 2002, completing 7 of 18 passes for 66 yards with 2 interceptions. He also rushed once for 20 yards.