Matt Barkley
Matthew Montgomery Barkley is an American former professional football quarterback. He played college football for the USC Trojans, setting the Pac-12 Conference season record for touchdown passes as a junior. Due to suffering a shoulder injury as a senior, Barkley was not selected until the fourth round of the 2013 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He has been a member of 11 different NFL teams, mostly as a backup. Barkley had his most notable stint with the Chicago Bears in 2016 where he served as the team's starter.
Early life
Barkley was born on September 8, 1990, in Newport Beach, California, and attended Mariners Christian School in Costa Mesa for middle school and later Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. In 2005, he became the first freshman quarterback to start at Mater Dei since Todd Marinovich. As a freshman, Barkley threw for 1,685 yards and 10 touchdowns, but suffered a season-ending injury during the playoffs in a quarterfinal victory over Colton High School. The injury was caused by future University of Southern California teammate, running back Allen Bradford, who played linebacker in high school.Barkley's high school coach, Bruce Rollinson, permitted him to call his own plays, something he had never allowed a player to do during two decades at Mater Dei. As a sophomore in 2006, Barkley threw for 1,349 yards and 11 touchdowns.
As a junior in 2007, Barkley passed for 3,576 yards, 35 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. In three seasons, Barkley passed for 6,994 yards and 57 touchdowns. He was named 2007 football Gatorade National Player of the Year, and then the 2007 Gatorade national male athlete of the year, becoming the first non-senior to win both awards. Barkley also won the 2007 Glenn Davis Award, given to the best high school football player in Southern California, and the inaugural Joe Montana Award as the nation's top high school quarterback.
Barkley was rated as the top prospect in the nation for the Class of 2009 by ESPN. He was rated the top quarterback prospect by Rivals.com. Quarterback coach Steve Clarkson described Barkley as a cross between Joe Montana and Tom Brady.
As a top high school player, Barkley was heavily recruited. On January 23, 2008, Barkley verbally committed to USC, ending speculation that he might join UCLA, which had just hired coaches Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow. Barkley's father, Les Barkley, was an All-American water polo player at USC from 1976 to 1979. He made his decision more than a year before his National Signing Day, telling his family and coaches and then calling USC coach Pete Carroll on his cell phone. The previous quarterback to go to USC from Mater Dei was Heisman Trophy-winner Matt Leinart. After committing to USC, Barkley began recruiting other elite high school players to join him.
Barkley's 2008 senior season started slow, throwing nearly as many interceptions as touchdown passes and the Monarchs barely keeping above.500; however, his performance turned around and Mater Dei rallied to 7–3 and entered the playoffs. The Monarchs made it to the quarterfinal, falling to Tesoro High School and ending the season 8–4. Barkley finished his Mater Dei High School career as the all-time passing yardage leader in Orange County, surpassing the record that was set by Todd Marinovich in 1987. Barkley graduated from high school on December 18, 2008.
On January 4, 2009, Barkley participated in Under Armour All-America Game at the Florida Citrus Bowl. After a strong performance, where he completed 11-of-22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns and led the White team to a 27–16 victory over the Black team, Barkley was named the game's co-MVP. Shortly afterward, he was moved back to the number one high school prospect in America by ESPN, having dropped to tenth during his senior season.
College career
After graduating from high school a semester early, Barkley enrolled in the University of Southern California in January 2009 so he could participate in spring practice with the USC Trojans football team. He would play for the Trojans for the next four seasons, from 2009 to 2012.2009
With the early departure of the Trojans' previous starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez, for the NFL, and with no clear successor, a three-way quarterback battle emerged during spring practices between Barkley and quarterbacks Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain, both of whom had held the second quarterback spot at various times throughout the season; the latter had been the starting quarterback at Arkansas for eight games in 2006.Barkley adapted to the Trojans offense and gave strong performances during spring practices: trying for and making big plays but also throwing several key interceptions. Impressing his coaches, Barkley climbed to the number two spot at the end of Spring behind Corp. Afterward, ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. stated he believed that in "three years Matt Barkley—who will be a true freshman this year—will be the No. 1 pick in the draft."
On August 27, during fall practices, Carroll named Barkley the starter for the 2009 season opener against San Jose State. Barkley became the first true freshman quarterback to ever start an opener for the Trojans, and the first true freshman to start the opener for a preseason top-five team since Rick Leach did it for #3 Michigan in 1975. After a slow first quarter, Barkley finished his college debut 233 yards, throwing 15-for-19 with one touchdown in a 56–3 victory.
Barkley's second game brought his first major test and first road game, against the highly ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. Before a sold-out, raucous crowd at Ohio Stadium, Barkley led a game-winning, 86-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, earning significant praise from the sports media.
Barkley suffered a shoulder bruise in the Ohio State game, and had to sit out the following week's game at Washington. With Aaron Corp at the helm, the Trojans struggled in a major upset loss, falling to the unranked Huskies 16–13 while putting up the lowest number of passing yards for a USC team since Carroll took over the program in 2001. Carroll had Barkley, who wasn't fully recovered from his injury, start the next game against Washington State. Barkley contributed to a 27–6 victory, passing for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He followed this up with 282 passing yards in a 30–3 win over California on October 3. The next week against Notre Dame, he was 19 for 29 with two touchdowns. He followed that up with a 15–25 two touchdown game against Oregon State. Against Stanford he threw three interceptions and only one touchdown. Two weeks later he went one touchdown and one interception in a 28–7 victory over UCLA. The following week, he also, went 1–1 in a 21–17 loss to Arizona. He closed his freshman season by throwing for 350 yards and two touchdowns against Boston College in the 2009 Emerald Bowl.
2010
On September 2, 2010, Barkley led the Trojans to an opening week victory at Hawaii by a score of 49–36. Barkley contributed five passing touchdowns on 17-of-23 passing for 257 yards. The win marked a successful debut for new USC head coach Lane Kiffin and the first win under USC's 2010 NCAA probation and sanctions. Both teams amassed over 500 yards of total offense. Barkley said, "I'm just trying to be as perfect as I can be. Last week was pretty close, but that perfect game is kind of a goal and that's no incompletions." Coach Kiffin added, "We'll see if he can continue to do it again. Great quarterbacks put together good games every week." Matt Barkley continued a solid sophomore campaign. With notable performances against Stanford and Cal. Barkley sprained his ankle during a loss to Oregon State and was forced to the sideline for the Notre Dame game. He returned to lead the Trojans to a gutsy 28–14 victory over UCLA.2011
Barkley began 2011 by setting the USC single-game record for completions with 34 against Minnesota. On October 1, against Arizona, he threw for a USC single-game record for 468 yards. On November 4, Barkley passed for a USC single-game record for touchdowns in a game with six, against the Colorado Buffaloes, one of the two additions to the Pac-12 in its inaugural season; the game was the first against Colorado since 2002. He had previously tied the single-game touchdown record thrice, sharing it with Rodney Peete, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Mark Sanchez. On November 26, against UCLA, Barkley tied the single-game touchdown record again in a 50–0 shutout of the Bruins. On national television, he stated the best moment of the UCLA game was his pass to his cousin Robbie Boyer. Over the 2011 season, Barkley accumulated 39 touchdowns, an all-time Pac-12 record, and helped end the season with a 10–2 record. Barkley had the sixth most votes for the Heisman Trophy. He finished with a 39–7 touchdown-to-interception ratio while completing 69.1% of his passes. Barkley won the 2011 CFPA National Performer of the Year Trophy with his record-breaking season.On December 22, 2011, at a press conference convened at Heritage Hall, Barkley announced that he would return for his senior year with the USC Trojans rather than entering the 2012 NFL draft. Barkley announced his return to USC in his own unique way by giving Coach Kiffin a homemade ornament for Christmas with a picture of them at the Colorado game, but on the back revealing the text "One more year." Barkley has described his decision to stay at University of Southern California in his senior as "unfinished business", as he wanted to be part of a team that would be aiming for the BCS championship after a two-year postseason ban.