Quincy Carter
LaVonya Quintelle "Quincy" Carter is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League. He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft. Carter played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets. Outside the NFL, he also was a member of the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings, Kansas City Brigade and Abilene Ruff Riders. Additionally, from 1996 to 1999, he was in the Chicago Cubs minor league baseball organization.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Decatur, Georgia, Carter attended Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur where he played football and baseball.As a senior, he led the Panthers to the 1995 AAAA State Championship under head coach William Godfrey. He received Parade All-American and USA Today Georgia Player of the Year honors. He finished his high school career with 4,450 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, 1,489 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns.
Baseball career
Carter originally signed a football letter of intent with Georgia Tech in 1996, but opted instead to play minor league baseball after being selected by the Chicago Cubs as an outfielder 52nd overall in the 1996 MLB draft.In, with the Gulf Coast Cubs of the rookie league, he hit.215 and played in 55 games. In, he was promoted to the Rockford Cubbies of Single-A and hit.211 in 105 games. In, he appeared in 28 games for Rockford, hitting.248 in 27 games. His final year in, he went 0-for-3 in one game for the Daytona Cubs of Advanced A ball and left the team after only three games to return to Athens.
College career
Freshman season
Struggling with his baseball career, Carter opted to return to play college football in 1998, but made the highly publicized decision to sign with the University of Georgia instead of Georgia Tech, who officially contested the move but was still overruled by the NCAA.After spending two years away from football, he won the starting quarterback job in a contested battle over future University of Oklahoma starter Nate Hybl, among others. He became the Bulldogs' first freshman starter in 53 years, finishing with a 9–3 record. a No. 16 ranking in the final AP Poll and winning the 1998 Peach Bowl. He had a record setting season, establishing school freshman marks for passing yards, touchdowns, attempts and completions, while tallying 300 passing yards or more in 4 games. His 2,484 passing yards at the time was the fourth highest total in school history. He was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and was recognized as one of the top young quarterbacks in the nation.
Against Louisiana State University, he was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 27-of-34 passes for 318 yards and 2 touchdowns. He showed he was a dual-threat quarterback, as he demonstrated in Georgia's 28–26 win over the University of Kentucky, running 14 times for 114 yards and completing 10-of-14 passes for 147 yards and 2 passing touchdowns. In the 7–38 loss against the University of Florida, he completed a career-high 33-of-49 passes for a career-high tying 368 yards and 2 interceptions. Against Auburn University, he threw for 351 yards 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. In the 1998 Peach Bowl against the University of Virginia, he passed for 222 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions to lead Georgia from a 21–0 deficit to a 35–33 victory.
Sophomore season
Carter had an impressive sophomore season while leading a young team, posting 216 out of 380 completions, 2,713 passing yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 5 rushing touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, directing the offense to 416 yards per-game. He had five 300 yard passing performances, his interception percentage of 1.58 was a school record and the second lowest percentage in SEC history. He also completed the third longest streak in SEC history after throwing 170 consecutive passes without an interception.He received SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors after registering 349 passing yards and a touchdown on 26-of-41 completions against the University of Mississippi. Against Georgia Tech in a 48–51 loss, he helped the offense score 48 points, completing 29 out of 55 passes for 345 yards and 2 touchdowns while also rushing for one touchdown. Georgia finished the season with a 7–4 record and ranked 14th in the final AP Poll. In the 2000 Outback Bowl 28–25 overtime win against Purdue University, he threw for 243 yards and one touchdown on 20-of-33 passing, while running for 21 yards and a score to lead the Bulldogs to the biggest come-from-behind victory in school history.
Junior season
As a junior, he displayed inconsistency, which included a 5-interception game on 10-of-24 passing against the University of South Carolina. He suffered a left shoulder contusion in the sixth game against Vanderbilt University, completing 12 out of 20 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown, forcing him to miss the next contest against the University of Kentucky. He also suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb during the eighth game of the season against the University of Florida and missed the last 4 games including the 2000 Oahu Bowl. He was replaced with junior Cory Phillips. Carter finished the season completing 91 out of 183 passes, 1,250 passing yards, 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.Carter was 23–8 as the starting quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs and declared for the NFL draft after his junior season. He finished second in school history behind Eric Zeier in career passing yards, career pass attempts, career completions, career offensive plays, career total offense and consecutive pass attempts without an interception. He was ranked third in completion percentage, third in touchdown passes and fifth in passing efficiency rating.
Statistics
Football career
Dallas Cowboys
2001 season
In the 2001 NFL draft, the Dallas Cowboys did not have a first-round pick because of the trade that sent two first round choices to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for wide receiver Joey Galloway. Looking for a replacement to the recently retired Troy Aikman, Carter was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round. At the time, it was a selection that was criticized by the media as a reach and it was later reported that owner/general manager Jerry Jones influenced the organization into making it.Pro Football Weekly suggested in its pre-draft evaluation of Carter that he made a mistake leaving college early due to shortcomings in Carter's play, such as "scatter the ball all over the place at times" and "poor judgment on the field."
Although he was expected to spend time learning the game behind starter Tony Banks, after having a notable pre-season he was named the team's new starting quarterback midway through training camp, becoming the first rookie quarterback selected in the second round, to start a week 1 game in NFL history and only the third rookie quarterback to open the season as a starter in club history.
However, he was also part of a succession of short-tenured quarterbacks following the retirement of Aikman. After suffering two separate injuries, he ended up starting only eight games, both Anthony Wright and former San Diego Chargers second-overall pick Ryan Leaf started three, while former Arkansas Razorback Clint Stoerner started two.
The highlight of his rookie season was a 27–21 win against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. Carter showed promise with 241 yards passing and two touchdowns, to become just the second Cowboys rookie to win NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He also had an important 20–13 victory over the New York Giants in which he threw for nearly 200 yards, scrambled for a first down late in the game, and threw the game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Jackie Harris.
Carter completed 90 out of 176 attempts for 1,072 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, along with 45 carries for 150 yards. He had a 3–4 record, leading the Cowboys to more victories than any other rookie quarterback in franchise history. His numbers for pass attempts, completions yardage and touchdowns ranked third behind Troy Aikman and Steve Walsh. His final quarterback rating for the season of 63.0, was better than fellow rookie quarterbacks Michael Vick and Chris Weinke, who also started games.
2002 season
In 2002, the Cowboys would sign another young quarterback and former baseball player, Chad Hutchinson, to compete with Carter. The highlight of the season was Carter leading the Cowboys to a dramatic come from behind win for the second time in three weeks, on his 25th birthday he turned a 13–0 deficit to the Carolina Panthers, into a 14–13 victory by throwing an 80-yard touchdown pass to Joey Galloway with 3:55 left, then a 24-yarder to Antonio Bryant with 56 seconds to go.He lost the starting job after a 9–6 loss in the seventh game against the Arizona Cardinals, in which he engaged in a heated sideline argument with Jerry Jones. Hutchinson would start the last nine games of the season.
Carter, in seven starts had a 3–4 record, including a loss to the expansion team Houston Texans. He completed 125 out of 221 attempts for 1,465 yards, 7 touchdowns, 8 interceptions, along with 27 carries for 91 yards. He threw for at least 200 yards in six consecutive games, marking the longest stretch by a Cowboy since Aikman had a streak of six games in 1993. He also completed more than 20 passes in three straight games, which was the longest stretch by a Cowboy since Aikman had a streak of five games in 1996.
2003 season
In 2003, with the arrival of new head coach Bill Parcells, all positions were opened to competition, and Carter was involved in a publicized quarterback controversy, when he and Hutchinson competed for a roster spot in the 2002 edition of Hard Knocks, an HBO series that covers the training camp of an NFL team. Carter regained the starting role, bringing stability to the quarterback position and leading the team to a 10–6 record and a playoff appearance.Against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, he completed 25 out of 40 passes for a career-high 321 yards, including a touchdown pass and a touchdown run. Dallas trailed by three points with 11 seconds remaining, when he connected a 26-yard pass with wide receiver Antonio Bryant to set up Billy Cundiff's 52-yard field goal that sent the game into overtime. In the extra period, he completed 5-of-8 passes for 61 yards, including a 23-yard toss to tight end Dan Campbell that set up the game winning field goal for a final score of 35–32.
His best game came against the eventual NFC Champion Carolina Panthers, making a career-high for completions on 43 attempts, while passing for 254 yards and 2 touchdowns, including one to Bryant in the last minute of the contest on 4th and 14 for the game winning score. The 24–20 victory assured Dallas its first non-losing season since 1999.
Carter completed 292 out of 505 attempts for 3,302 yards, 17 passing touchdowns, 21 interceptions, 68 carries for 257 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, while ranking 11th among NFC quarterbacks with a 71.4 rating. He is one of eight quarterbacks in franchise history to pass for more than 3,000 yards in a season, joining Roger Staubach, Danny White, Steve Pelluer, Aikman, Vinny Testaverde,, Tony Romo and Dak Prescott.