Brock Anthony Huard (born April 15, 1976) is an American former 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

. Huard's older brother Damon also played quarterback at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and had a career in the NFL, while his younger brother Luke played at

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

then pursued a coaching

Early life

Huard graduated from Puyallup High School in Puyallup, Washington, where his father Mike was head coach. A left-hander, he enjoyed a prodigious prep career and was the Gatorade National Player of the Year, All-State and Class AAA State Player-of-the-Year in his senior season of 1994. Huard was named a High School All-American by

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

, Super Prep, Blue Chip Illustrated,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, and Schutt. Huard's career numbers with the Puyallup HS Vikings were very impressive completing 237 of 408 passes and passing for 45

touchdown 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 ...

s against only 10

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. Huard also lettered in basketball, averaging 18.1 points and 7.5 rebounds as senior. In addition to his athletic exploits, Huard graduated from Puyallup High School in 1995 with a 4.0

grade point average Grading in education is the application of standardized Measurement, measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentage ...

College career

Following his senior season, Huard was one of the most highly recruited players in the country. Huard had narrowed his selections to

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and

, and made a

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

decision to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Damon and attend the University of Washington in Seattle. This decision was eagerly anticipated by more than just the UW coaching staff and fans; it set off a chain reaction in which quarterback Cade McNown (

West Linn, Oregon West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. A southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn developed on the site of the former Linn City, Oregon, Linn City, which was named after U.S. Senator Lewis F. Linn ...

) chose UCLA and Westlake Village, California wide receiver Billy Miller decided on

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

(he had said if Huard chose to attend UCLA he would follow). After

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ing as a true freshman in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, Huard was placed into a competition with Mukilteo's Shane Fortney for the starting quarterback position in the spring. Fortney won the starting job. Huard saw his first career action in the opener of the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

season at Arizona State, led by senior quarterback Jake Plummer. Huard entered the sweltering night game with Washington down by 21 points and rallied his team to a tie (though ASU won with a late field goal). The next week Huard saw action again after Fortney was injured in what seemed like garbage time against BYU. From there, Huard remained as the starting quarterback and led the Huskies (along with a strong offensive line and Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year running back Corey Dillon) to an record the rest of the regular season. While not spectacular in his first year as a starter, Huard showed glimpses of the talent that had made him one of the most highly recruited QBs in the nation two years prior. As a result of internal conflict related to Huard's elevation to the starting position, Fortney transferred to Northern Iowa following the 1996 season. Washington entered the

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

season ranked fourth in the AP poll and won the first two games handily (over BYU and

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

). In the third game, eventual national champion

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

beat Washington in

Husky Stadium Husky Stadium (officially Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is an outdoor American football, football stadium in the Northwestern United States, located on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, Wa ...

; Huard suffered an ankle injury early in the game, the first downtime in a career that was henceforth injury-riddled. In addition, it forced true freshman Marques Tuiasosopo into action and he had to forego his redshirt season. Huard missed more time in 1997 due to injury and the potential national championship year ended with a disappointing 7–4 regular season, concluding with a 41–35 loss in Husky Stadium in the Apple Cup to Pac-10 champion

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 ...

. Though Huard was seen as a highly rated prospect for the 1998 NFL draft, he elected to return for his junior year. Huard's junior season in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

began with an improbable win at Arizona State, but it quickly deteriorated with an embarrassing loss at

. Huard went on to set many UW records, but because the Huskies experienced their first non-winning season since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, Huard's legacy remains mixed. (Washington finished 6–6 after a loss to

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

in the Oahu Bowl, and head coach Jim Lambright was fired.) Many fans openly called for Huard to be benched in favor of sophomore Tuiasosopo. Still, Huard held school career marks for most passing yards (5,742), touchdown passes (51), 300+ yard games (4), attempts without an interception (151) and ranks second in 200+ games (14) and total yards per game (191.4). He was also named

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

his final two seasons. Huard also earned honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors as sophomore and was finalist for

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

while setting school record with 23 scoring tosses. Huard maintained a 3.6 GPA as a

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

major. During his time at Washington, Huard met and became engaged to the former Molly Hills, a player on the women's basketball team.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks (first stint)

Huard was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the third round of the 1999 NFL draft, the 77th overall pick and the seventh quarterback. It was the first draft in Seattle for newly hired general manager and head coach

Mike Holmgren Michael George Holmgren (born June 15, 1948) is an American former American football, football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career as a quarterbacks' coach and later as an offensive coordinator wit ...

. Huard's first pass attempt in the NFL (pre-season game) resulted in a touchdown. After a season as third-string in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he saw his first game time in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

as the backup to Jon Kitna, starting four games and going 49 of 87 with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Huard played in the first game that season against the

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

after Kitna threw four interceptions. He first started in game six, but suffered a concussion two games later against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. On his first game back after the injury, he suffered a season-ending kidney injury against the Broncos. In 2000, the Huards became the first set of brothers in NFL history to start at quarterback on the same weekend. On November 26, Damon opened against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

as a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, while Brock started for the Seahawks against the The following year, the Seahawks acquired

Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Seattle Seahawks. He played college football for t ...

and Huard only appeared in one game.

Indianapolis Colts

Huard was traded to the

in 2002, where he was backup to Peyton Manning for two seasons.

Seattle Seahawks (second stint)

In 2004, Huard signed with the Seattle Seahawks, but spent the entire 2004 season on injured reserve, his last year in professional football. He ended with career NFL stats of 60 of 109 for 689 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Post-football years

In 2019, Huard was named as a color commentator on the No. 2 team for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

telecasts, joining

Joe Davis Joseph Davis (15 April 190110 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s to the 1950s, and has been credited with inventing aspects of the way the game is ...

and later, Jason Benetti for games in the Pac-12, Big Ten and Big 12. He has gotten jobs announcing for

Pop Warner football specials live from Disney's Wide World of Sports. In August 2008, Huard joined ESPN. He currently is a co-host on a sports radio talk show KIRO-AM (710 ESPN Seattle), the ''Brock and Salk'' show, with co-host Mike Salk. The ''Brock and Salk'' radio show on ESPN 710 Seattle moved to podcast only in late September 2019 but returned to weekday morning broadcasts in September 2022. Huard has done color commentary for

Fox Sports Networks Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by the Walt Disney Company on M ...

on their XFL football games and was also the color analyst with play-by-play announcer Bob Wischusen for ESPN college football broadcasts, primarily in the SEC and Big Ten. From 2013 to 2022, Huard was the color commentator for Seahawks preseason games with Curt Menefee of

doing play-by-play on KCPQ and KZJO (replay). In 2020, Huard called NFL games for Fox, partnering up with Chris Myers and Greg Jennings from weeks 1–13, and Kevin Kugler from weeks 14–17. He now sideline reporter for Fox telecasts of United Football League games, beginning with the new league's Arlington vs. Birmingham season opener on March 30, 2024, after the off-season merger of the XFL and USFL. In April 2025, Huard announced of the ''Real Hawk Talk'' podcast that he will be the

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

s coach for Valor Christian High School, his son's school, under head coach Mike Sanford Jr.

References

External links

Brock Huard
on X (Twitter) {{DEFAULTSORT:Huard, Brock 1976 births Living people American football quarterbacks Alliance of American Football announcers College football announcers Indianapolis Colts players NFL announcers Seattle Seahawks players Washington Huskies football players XFL (2020–2023) broadcasters High school football coaches in Colorado Players of American football from Puyallup, Washington Players of American football from Seattle American Christians Players of American football from Pierce County, Washington Puyallup High School alumni