Brian Lewerke (born October 24, 1996) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

Early life

Lewerke attended Pinnacle High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. During his career he had 7,090 yards and 87

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

total. He committed to

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

to play college football.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Michigan State in 2015, Lewerke appeared in four games and made two starts as a redshirt freshman in 2016. His season ended in October after suffering a broken

tibia The tibia (; : tibiae or tibias), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two Leg bones, bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outsi ...

after being tackled by Jabrill Peppers in a game against

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. He finished the season completing 31 of his 57 passing attempts for 381 yards, including two touchdowns and an interception. Lewerke entered the 2017 season as the starting quarterback for the team. He finished his 2017 redshirt sophomore season with 246 completions out of 417 passing attempts, 2793 total yards, 20 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions . Lewerke and the Spartans, who were ranked #19 at the time, also went on to beat

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, the #21 ranked team at the time, 42–17 in the 2017 Holiday Bowl, in which Lewerke earned the Offensive MVP award. The Spartans finished the season 10–3, with a final ranking of #15 in the AP poll. In his junior season in 2018, Lewerke completed 189 out of his 339 passing attempts, threw for 2,040 yards and 8 touchdowns, and threw 11 interceptions. He also ran 90 times for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns, and was sacked 19 times. This gave him a 54.3 completion percentage and a passer rating of 106.1. That season, the Spartans went 7–6 overall, and 5–4 in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. The Spartans also made an appearance in the 2018 Redbox Bowl, losing 7–6 to the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. In his senior season in 2019, Lewerke completed 234 out of his 399 passing attempts, threw for 2,759 yards and 16 touchdowns, and threw 12 interceptions. He also ran 100 times for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns, and was sacked 17 times. He had a 58.6 completion percentage for the season and a passer rating of 124.0. That season, the Spartans went 7–6 overall, and 4–5 in the

. The Spartans also made an appearance in the 2019 Pinstripe Bowl, winning 27–21 over the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

, in which Lewerke won the MVP award. During this game, Lewerke surpassed former quarterback Connor Cook to become the school's all-time leader in total yards from scrimmage.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Lewerke went undrafted in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

. On May 5, 2020, Lewerke was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

as an undrafted free agent. On July 26, 2020, he was waived before training camp opened, but re-signed with the team four days later. He was waived on September 5, 2020. Lewerke signed with the Alphas of

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

in May 2021.

New York Giants

On August 16, 2021, Lewerke signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 8, 2022, Lewerke was promoted for the team's season finale against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

after injuries to Daniel Jones and

Mike Glennon Michael Joseph Glennon (born December 12, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the NC State Wolfpack football, NC State Wolfpack ...

. He signed a reserve/futures contract with the Giants on January 10, 2022. On May 18, 2022, Lewerke was waived.

Seattle Sea Dragons

On November 15, 2022, Lewerke was assigned to the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He was released on January 21, 2023.

Michigan Panthers

Lewerke signed with the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

of the USFL on May 17, 2023. He was released on March 10, 2024. He was re-signed on March 20.

References

External links

Michigan State Spartans bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewerke, Brian 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona American football quarterbacks Michigan State Spartans football players New England Patriots players The Spring League players New York Giants players Michigan Panthers (2022) players