Brian Westbrook

Brian Collins Westbrook,

(born September 2, 1979 in Washington, D.C.) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Villanova.

Westbrook has earned two Pro Bowl selections with the Eagles in 2004 and 2007.

Early years

Westbrook attended DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland and was an excellent student and a letterman in football and basketball. In football, as a senior, he was a first team All-League selection, a first team All-Prince George's County selection, and an All-State Honorable Mention selection. As a junior, he was a first team All-Washington Catholic Athletic Conference selection and an All-State Honorable Mention selection.

College career

After DeMatha, Westbrook played college football at Villanova University from 1997–2001. Though he battled through several injuries, he holds the all-time NCAA record with 9,512 all-purpose yards, breaking the 9,301 yards accumulated by Brian Shay of Emporia State University. In 46 career games, he scored 542 points with 84 touchdowns, carried the ball 725 times for 4,298 yards (6.2 avg.), caught 219 passes for 2,582 yards (11.79 avg.) and gained 2,289 yards and four touchdowns on kickoff returns. Along the way, he established 41 school, 13 Atlantic Ten Conference and five NCAA records.

Westbrook became the only player in I-AA history to score 160 or more points twice in a career and the first player in the history of college football at any level with 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in one season (1998). He is one of only two players in Villanova history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season and he accomplished that feat three times.

Westbrook was a consensus All-America and two-time A-10 offensive player of the year and was the 2001 recipient of the Walter Payton Award (as the top player in NCAA Division I-AA).As a senior, he amassed 2,823 combined net yards and scored 29 touchdowns.

Professional career

2002 NFL Draft

Despite his dominance in college, NFL teams were hesitant to draft him in the 2002 NFL Draft for three reasons: his small size (he was listed at only 5'8", 200 lb (91 kg)), his injury history (he missed an entire college season with a knee injury), and the fact that he did not play college football for a NCAA Division I-A school. Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid liked what he had seen from Westbrook and drafted him in the third round.

Pre-draft measureables

Wt 40y 20ss 3-cone Vert BP Wonderlic

200 lb* 4.57s* X 7.09s* 37"* 26* 31*

(* represents NFL Combine)

Early career

Westbrook saw limited time in the 2002 season, but he threw a touchdown pass to receiver Todd Pinkston on a trick play in a September 2002 rout of the Dallas Cowboys.] He made his mark in the NFL in the 2003 season with a fourth quarter punt return for a touchdown to defeat the New York Giants 14-10 in the closing minutes on October 19, 2003. The play managed to turn the Eagles' season around as they went to the NFC Championship Game. Westbrook, who scored eleven touchdowns by ground and air, missed the playoffs that year after tearing his triceps muscle in the final game of the season against the Washington Redskins.

2004–2007

After the departure of previous starter Duce Staley and a pre-season injury to Correll Buckhalter, Westbrook became the starting running back for 2004. He rushed for a career high 812 yards, led all NFL running backs in receiving with 73 receptions for 703 yards, and scored nine touchdowns, creating numerous problems with opposing teams' defenses and helping to propel the Eagles to a 13-3 season. He went on to have a solid performance in Philadelphia's Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots, rushing for 44 yards, catching seven passes for 60 yards, and scoring one touchdown. He was also added to his first Pro Bowl that February.

Westbrook signed a five-year contract extension with the Eagles in November 2005, after holding out of training camp and months of hectic negotiations. With over 1,200 yards rushing and receiving, it was announced on December 6, 2005, that Westbrook would miss the rest of the 2005 season due to a mid-foot injury he sustained during a 42–0 Monday night loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Westbrook resumed his productivity in 2006, despite early injury concerns over a swollen knee. With a season-ending injury to McNabb on November 19, 2006, Westbrook stepped up and became the keystone of the Philadelphia offense. On November 26, 2006, he became the first Eagle to rush for over 100 yards in three straight games since Wilbert Montgomery did it 25 years earlier.

Westbrook set a career-high in rushing yards with 1,217, topping 1,000 yards for the first time in his career. He also lead the team with 77 receptions for 699 receiving yards. His eleven total touchdowns (seven rushing and four receiving) were also tops on the Eagles. On January 7, 2007 Westbrook set a career-postseason rushing record, rushing for 141 yards on twenty carries against the New York Giants, including a 49 yard touchdown. The following week against the New Orleans Saints, Westbrook nearly willed the team to another playoff victory, scoring two touchdowns in the game.

After his strong playoff performance, Westbrook picked up right where he left in 2007 and cemented himself as one of the top backs in the league. He had over 100 yards rushing and receiving combined in twelve of the fifteen games that he played. His 1,333 rushing yards were a new career high and his 2,104 yards from scrimmage led the NFL. Westbrook was named to his second Pro Bowl and first All-Pro team, after setting a new franchise record with 90 receptions.

2008

Westbrook (left) and Donovan McNabb (right) in 2009 NFC Wild Card game.

On August 8, 2008, Westbrook signed a five-year, $32 million extension with the Eagles, with the possibility of earning another $3 million after the first three seasons if incentives are met. On September 15, 2008, in a Monday night loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Westbrook caught one touchdown and rushed for two more, making him only the seventh player in NFL history to rush for 30 and catch 25 touchdowns in his career. On October 26, 2008, coming off a rib and ankle injury, Westbrook did not show any rust whatsoever against Atlanta Falcons on Sunday in his first action since Week 5, recording a career-high 167 yards and two touchdowns off 22 carries and adding 42 yards off six receptions. Then in week 13, Brian Westbrook scored two receiving and two rushing touchdowns with 100+ yards, the first time since 1975.

2009

Westbrook entered the 2009 season finally recovered from the injuries he sustained in 2008, but would see only seven starts during season, due to additional injuries suffered. In week 7, Westbrook suffered a concussion and would not return until week 10, when he would suffer yet another concussion and be forced to miss the majority of the remainder of the season, being played sparingly in the consecutive losses to Dallas in the season finale and wild-card round.

Westbrook was released on March 5, 2010.

2010

Westbrook signed a one-year contract with the 49ers on August 16, 2010. The 49ers' decision to sign Westbrook was considered to have partially sparked from the sudden retirement of backup RB Glen Coffee.

Personal

Westbrook has a younger brother, Byron Westbrook, who played defensive back at Salisbury University in Maryland and signed as an undrafted free agent with the Washington Redskins in 2007. Their cousin, Lawrence Westbrook, is currently the starting shooting guard for the University of Minnesota basketball team.[4] Although it has been reported in various media biographies that Westbrook is the cousin of NBA player Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, this is not the case. A July 2008 Daily Oklahoman article reported that Russell Westbrook said the two are not cousins.

References

(source:wikipedia)

Brady Quinn

Brayden Tyler "Brady" Quinn,

(born October 27, 1984 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. Quinn was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame.

Early years

Quinn attended Dublin Coffman High School in Dublin, Ohio, and ranked sixth on the Detroit Free Press "Best of the Midwest" team and was listed at number 20 on ESPN's list of the nation's top 100 players as a preparatory student.

As a high school junior in 2001 , he was able to throw for 2,200 yards and 21 touchdowns to go along with 15 interceptions, posting a 9-4 record with which Coffman reached the Division I state semi-finals. As a senior in 2002 , he threw for 2,149 yards, completing 143 of 258 pass attempts, and he threw 25 touchdowns with four interceptions while rushing for 108 yards and six touchdowns. Quinn helped his team post an 8-3 record and played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Quinn was named the Columbus Dispatch and Ohio Capital Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was an All-State choice.

Quinn was named an All-Conference player in baseball as a junior and lettered three times. He was a member of Young Life, the Rock Solid Club and Who's Who Among America High School Students.

In the fall of 2002, then-Notre Dame head coach Tyrone Willingham offered Quinn a scholarship, acting on a tip from fellow recruit Chinedum Ndukwe's father.

College career

Quinn accepted Willingham's scholarship and attended the University of Notre Dame, where he shattered 36 Fighting Irish records during his four seasons with the team. There were ten career records, twelve single-season records, four single-game records and ten miscellaneous records broken by Quinn throughout those four years, including the record for career pass attempts with 1,602, completions with 929, yards-per-game with 239.6, touchdown passes with 95, and the Irish's lowest interception percentage with 2.43. Quinn won 29 games as a starter at Notre Dame, tied with Ron Powlus and Tom Clements for the most in school history. On the downside, his 17 losses are the most in school history, one more than Powlus' 16 losses, and are markedly more than Clements' 5 losses. Quinn ranks in the top ten in NCAA Division I history in career pass attempts (ranked seventh), passing yards (ranked tenth) and touchdown passes (ranked ninth).

For his college career, Quinn had 32 interceptions in three years. Comparing Quinn to other Notre Dame top-10 quarterbacks, that is in line with Steve Beuerlein (44 in four years), Terry Hanratty (34 in three years) and Joe Theismann (35 in three years). It contrasts with other top Notre Dame quarterbacks, such as Powlus (27 in four years), Rick Mirer (23 in four years), Jarious Jackson (21 in four years) and Joe Montana (25 in three years).

In 2005, under the supervision of Notre Dame's new head coach Charlie Weis, formerly of the New England Patriots, Quinn blossomed as a starting quarterback. He averaged 110 more passing yards per game than he had as a sophomore while nearly doubling his number of touchdown passes, throwing 32 in 2005 compared to 17 in 2004. Quinn placed fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Reggie Bush, Vince Young and Matt Leinart. Quinn was named to the 2005 AP All-America Team as a third-team quarterback and the 2006 SI.com All-American Team as a second-team quarterback. Quinn received the Sammy Baugh Trophy as the nation's top passer of the 2005 season.[7] At the end of the season, Notre Dame faced Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Quinn had 29 completions in 45 pass attempts for 286 yards in a 34-20 loss to Ohio State.

Prior to the start of the 2006 college football season, Quinn was featured in a regional cover on the 2006-08-22 issue of Sports Illustrated's 2006 College Football Preview issue along with then-teammates Tom Zbikowski and Travis Thomas with the caption "Notre Dame: The Battle For No. 1." Quinn was expected to lead his Fighting Irish squad as one of the best college football quarterbacks in the country. However, the team's #2 pre-season ranking was put to the test in games against the Michigan Wolverines on 2006-09-16 in which the Irish lost 47-21 and USC Trojans on November 25, 2006 in which the Irish lost 44-24.Arguably, these were the team's two biggest games of the season,[citation needed] and proved to be the team's only regular-season losses.

However, despite the somewhat disappointing season for the Fighting Irish in which the team finished ranked #11, Quinn posted rather impressive numbers, finishing the season with 3,426 yards on 289 completions out of 467 attempts for a completion percentage of 61.9% and 7.34 yards-per-attempt. He threw 37 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions, and was sacked 31 times. Quinn finished the regular season with a passing efficiency rating of 146.65, which ranked him 18th in the country.

Quinn and the Fighting Irish were invited to the 2007 Sugar Bowl on January 3, 2007, where the team would face off against the LSU Tigers. However, Quinn would prove to be outmatched against the strong LSU defense, which held him to only 148 passing yards. Quinn threw only two touchdown passes, both in the first half, and the Tigers held Notre Dame scoreless through the second half of the game to defeat the Fighting Irish 41-14.

Following the 2006 season, Quinn won several awards, including the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for the best college quarterback in the nation and the Maxwell Award for the best college football player. Quinn finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting behind Troy Smith and Darren McFadden.He was named the Cingular All-America Player of the Year and was named to the 2006 AP All-America Team as a second-team quarterback.Quinn graduated from Notre Dame with dual degrees in political science and finance.

Brady is the cousin of "Home Improvement" Actor Zachery Ty Bryan.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Coming into the draft Quinn was considered to be one of the top players in the country and was invited to attend the draft in person. Before the draft started, Quinn was labeled as a "franchise quarterback in the mold of Carson Palmer." He was projected to be picked in the top ten and even could have been the number one overall pick. While some suspected the Browns would select Quinn with the third pick, he fell to the 22nd pick in the draft before being picked up by them.

Following the draft, Quinn was criticized by Joe Theismann in a radio interview, claiming that Quinn looked "unprofessional" when he was on stage following his name being called. Theismann was bothered by the appearance of Quinn's hair and the fact that he was chewing gum. Quinn responded by saying that he apologizes to "anyone, obviously, who is a Notre Dame alum, or for those fans who thought I wasn't being very business like," saying that he was there for a long time and that the last thing that he thought of after his name was called was whether he was chewing gum or straightening his tie. "I was just trying to get on stage as fast as possible and get that Browns jersey in my hand," Quinn said.

Cleveland Browns

Brady Quinn's NFL debut as a Brown

2007

After an initial holdout,[ Quinn signed a five-year deal with the Browns worth a reported $20.2 million, with $7.5 million guaranteed and up to $30 million in incentives. However, his 10-day absence from training camp all but ensured he would not win the Browns' starting job during his rookie season. He was placed third on the Browns' depth chart behind Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson. However, after a dismal 34-7 defeat to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, Charlie Frye was traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth round draft pick, moving Quinn to second on the Brown's depth chart. On December 30, 2007, when Anderson hurt his pinky and wrist, Quinn made his official NFL debut in the Browns' final game of the season against the San Francisco 49ers. Although going 3 for 8 passing Quinn led the Browns to the redzone, but failed to score, in part due a dropped pass to Kellen Winslow. However there was speculation that the Browns would trade Anderson to get back into the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft, Browns' general manager, Phil Savage, later stated that he hoped to sign Anderson, and keep both quarterbacks for the 2008 season.

2008

After having a Pro-Bowl season and leading the Browns to a 10-6 record, Derek Anderson was named the starting quarterback for the 2008 season, leaving Quinn on the sidelines once again. However, after a mediocre 3-5 start by the team, coach Romeo Crennel chose Quinn to be the starting quarterback for the Browns' game against the Denver Broncos. Though he played quite well, and helped the Browns build a two-touchdown lead into the third quarter, the Broncos rallied back to win, ruining Quinn's first official start. However, he went on to win the next game against the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, he also broke his finger during this victory, and though he tried to play through it during the next game against the Houston Texans, he announced on November 25 that he would have surgery, sidelining him for the rest of the 2008 season.The Browns would go on to lose their last 6 games of the season and end with a dismal 4-12 record.

2009

Soon after the season was over, Romeo Crennel was fired as Cleveland's head coach. He was replaced by former New York Jets' coach Eric Mangini, who was unsure of who would be the Browns's starting quarterback. Thus, a competition for the starting job between Quinn and Anderson occurred throughout the offseason. Since he had only started in 3 games at that point, Quinn was still considered "unproven" in the NFL, and thus many fans rooted for him to win the job. Four days before the Browns's 2009 opener, it was announced that Quinn would be the starter. Brady continued to be the Browns' starter until Game 3 against the Baltimore Ravens, when he was benched at halftime in favor of Anderson. The following week, Mangini decided to make Anderson the starter. Quinn did not see action again until Week 8, when he was brought in with three minutes to go in a 30-6 loss against the Chicago Bears. As the Browns headed into their bye week, it was not indicated who would be starting for the rest of the season. However, it was announced five days before their Week 10, Monday Night Football game against the Baltimore Ravens that Quinn was once again being awarded the starting quarterback position. Eric Mangini indicated that Quinn's continued hard work, determination, and growth, even while sitting on the bench, were major factors in his decision to give Brady the position back. Though he struggled in his first game back, as the Browns were shut out 16-0, Quinn followed it up in Week 11 with his best professional outing yet, throwing for 304 yards with 4 touchdowns against the Detroit Lions. The Browns later defeated the rival Pittsburgh Steelers, Quinn's first win of 2009 as the starting quarterback. The next week the Browns defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 41-34. Quinn's numbers were a pedestrian 10-17 for 66 yards and 2 interceptions. On December 22, the Browns placed Quinn on Injured Reserve for the last 2 games of the season with a foot injury.

Denver Broncos

2010

On March 14, 2010 Quinn was traded to the Denver Broncos in exchange for Peyton Hillis, a 6th round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and a conditional late-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Quinn will compete at quarterback with Broncos' incumbent Kyle Orton and rookie Tim Tebow.

Statistics

College

Year Passing Rushing

CMP ATT YDS CMP % YPA LNG TD INT SK RAT ATT YDS AVG LNG TD FD FUM LST

2004 191 353 2586 54.1 7.33 54 17 10 25 125.87 54 -4 -0.1 22 3 0 0 0

2005 292 450 3919 64.9 8.71 80 32 7 20 158.40 70 90 1.3 16 1 0 0 0

2006 289 467 3426 61.9 7.34 55 37 7 31 146.65 82 71 0.9 60 2 0 0 0

Totals 929 1602 11762 59.9 7.34 80 95 39 89 134.40 254 182 0.7 22 6 0 0 0

NFL

Source: NFL.com

Passing

Season Team GP Att Comp Pct Yds Avg TD Int Rat

2007 Cleveland Browns 1 8 3 37.5 45 5.6 0 0 56.8

2008 Cleveland Browns 3 89 45 50.6 518 5.8 2 2 66.6

2009 Cleveland Browns 10 256 136 53.1 1,339 5.2 8 7 67.2

Career - 353 184 52.1 1,902 5.4 10 9 66.8

(source:wikipedia)