Matt Schaub
Matthew Rutledge Schaub is a former professional American football player who was a quarterback for 17 seasons in the National Football League. He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL draft.
He spent his first 3 professional seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as a backup. He was traded to the Houston Texans in 2007, where he spent the next 7 seasons as a starter & was selected to 2 Pro Bowls. He then had stints as a backup with the Oakland Raiders & Baltimore Ravens in 2014 & 2015, respectively. He then returned to the Falcons in 2016, where he remained a backup for his final 5 seasons in the NFL. He was an analyst for the Atlanta Falcons in the 2023 season.
Early life
Schaub attended West Chester East High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball.College career
Schaub enrolled at the University of Virginia in the fall of 1999, and began his career as a member of the Virginia Cavaliers football team. He redshirted his true freshman season. In 2000, starter Dan Ellis missed some time due to an injury, but fellow redshirt freshman Bryson Spinner received the bulk of playing time in relief. After the 2000 season, coach George Welsh retired and was replaced by Al Groh. Schaub was the starter for the first game of the 2001 season at the Wisconsin Badgers. Over the 2001 season, Schaub and Spinner split quarterbacking duties nearly evenly. The two alternated in some games, while in others either Schaub or Spinner received nearly all the snaps. The two quarterback system worked relatively well with both effectively passing the ball to receiver Billy McMullen, the team's leading offensive threat. Schaub finished the season with 1,524 passing yards, 10 touchdowns, and eight interceptions.Spinner transferred to the University of Richmond for the 2002 season, seemingly making Schaub the unquestioned starter. However, Schaub was briefly replaced by redshirt freshman Marques Hagans in the first game of the 2002 season against the Colorado State Rams. Hagans was named the starter for the next game, against the Florida State Seminoles, but was replaced by Schaub who went on to his breakout season. He finished the season with 2,976 passing yards, 28 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Schaub was the 2002 ACC Player of the Year, 2002 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-State Virginia Sports Information Directors Association as a senior. Publicized in the 2003 preseason as a Heisman Trophy candidate, Schaub suffered a shoulder injury in the first game of the season and did not return for several games; therefore his overall numbers declined in his senior season. He finished the season with 2,952 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl and was twice selected to the All-ACC Academic Football Team. His University of Virginia awards included the John Acree Memorial Trophy, given to the football player with the highest qualities of leadership and unselfish service, and the Ben Wilson Award as the team's most outstanding offensive player.
Schaub finished his college career with at least 22 school records. He played in a record 40 games at the quarterback position and finished his career as one of the most accurate passers in Atlantic Coast Conference history. His Virginia statistics included school career records for yards passing, touchdown passes, completions, attempts, completion percentage, 300-yard games, and 200-yard games.
College statistics
Professional career
Atlanta Falcons (first stint)
Schaub was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft as the 90th overall pick. He was the fifth of seventeen quarterbacks taken in a quarterback-rich class, including Eli Manning, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger.In 2004, Schaub played in six games with the Atlanta Falcons, including starting the Week 16 contest against the New Orleans Saints, replacing the injured Michael Vick.
In 2005, Schaub was named the Most Valuable Player in the American Bowl preseason game in Tokyo, Japan. In front of 45,203 fans at the Tokyo Dome, Schaub completed 11 of 13 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a 27–21 comeback victory over the Indianapolis Colts. During the regular season, he played quarterback in five games, starting one. His lone start came against the New England Patriots in Week 5; Schaub threw for 298 yards and three touchdowns in the 31–28 loss. Schaub was the holder on extra points and field goals.
In 2006, Schaub again was the holder on extra points and field goals. On the season, he finished with 208 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.
Houston Texans
On March 8, 2007, the Houston Texans acquired Schaub from the Falcons for second-round picks in 2007 and 2008. As part of the deal, the teams also swapped first-round picks in 2007, exchanging the Falcons' 10th pick with the Texans' 8th pick. Schaub was introduced to his new team at a press conference on March 22, 2007, and the same day, the Texans released David Carr, opening the door for Schaub to become their long-term starter.File:Kerry Collins and Matt Schaub.jpg|thumb|left|Schaub and Tennessee Titans quarterback Kerry Collins.
2007 season
In each of the first two games of the 2007 season, Schaub threw for over 220 yards, a 71% completion percentage, and attained a quarterback rating of over 100; both games were victories for the Texans, winning 20–3 over the Kansas City Chiefs and 34–21 over the Carolina Panthers. The second victory marked the first 2–0 start in franchise history. In Week 4, he started against his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in which he completed 28 of 40 attempts, with 317 yards and one touchdown in what would be his second loss of the 2007 season.Though Schaub was plagued with injuries throughout the 2007 season, he and backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels improved on the team's 2006 record of 6–10, bringing the Texans to their first.500 season in franchise history with an 8–8 record in the team's short history.
2008 season
Schaub returned as the starter for the 2008 season. He did not perform well in the first two games, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans but then had a great game against the Jacksonville Jaguars despite another loss. He sat out the Week 5 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 6, Schaub set the Texans franchise record for passing yards with 379 in a comeback win against the Miami Dolphins in which Schaub scored the winning touchdown on a quarterback draw with 3 seconds left. Schaub helped teammate wide receiver Andre Johnson lead the league in both receptions and receiving yards through Week 8 of the season, having 56 catches for 772 yards. The new quarterback-receiver tandem had their best day together through mid-season during the Week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals where Schaub threw for 280 yards, completing over 85% of his passes, 10 of those going to Johnson for 143 yards in the 35–6 rout. Schaub's season was broken up however with a knee injury against the Minnesota Vikings, which expected to keep him out for around four weeks, making Sage Rosenfels the new starter.Against the Green Bay Packers in Week 14, Schaub recorded 414 yards and two touchdowns, also leading the Texans down the field to set up a Kris Brown game-winning field goal. He earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his game against the Packers. He played well down the stretch and the team finished 8–8 for the second consecutive season despite starting 0–4.