Bryson A. Spinner (born November 7, 1980) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 entered 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 ...

as free agent when he signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

after the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

. 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 ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and then transferred to

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Early life

Spinner attended

Gar-Field Senior High School Gar-Field Senior High School is a senior high school in Woodbridge in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, educating students in grades 9 to 12. History and administration Gar-Field High School was opened on December 8, 1953, as a s ...

Woodbridge, Virginia Woodbridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince William County, Virginia, United States, located south of Washington, D.C. Bounded by the Occoquan River, Occoquan and Potomac River, Potomac rivers, Woodbridge had 44,668 residents at the ...

and was the

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

quarterback as a freshman that season. In the spring of 1996, he transferred to Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia. Spinner lettered all 3 years in

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 ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track and was the Senior

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of all three sports. He helped take the basketball team to three state championships, and was the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

all three years. His senior year of football he threw for 1388 yards and 16

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 ...

ran RAN may refer to: * Radio access network, a part of a mobile telecommunication system * Rainforest Action Network * Ran (gene) (RAs-related Nuclear protein), also known as GTP-binding nuclear protein Ran, a protein that in humans is encoded by t ...

for 888 yards for 21 touchdowns. He led the team to an undefeated season, 9–0. Spinner was first-team All-League, All-District, All-Met, IAC First-team basketball and football. He was ranked as the #1 quarterback in Virginia by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' his senior year and ranked 12th in the country. In 2007, he returned to Episcopal High School as a quarterback and defensive end coach.

College career

Spinner enrolled at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in the fall of 1999 and

redshirted 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, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

season. In 2000, starter Dan Ellis missed some time due to injury and Spinner started over fellow redshirt freshman quarterback

Matt Schaub Matthew Rutledge Schaub (; born June 25, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was selecte ...

, receiving the bulk of playing time in relief. After the 2000 season, coach George Welsh (American football), George Welsh retired and was replaced by Al Groh. During the 2001 season Spinner and Schaub split quarterbacking duties; Spinner was 5–1 as the starter that season. Before the 2002 season, Spinner transferred to the University of Richmond Spiders, coached by Jim Reid (American football), Jim Reid. Spinner underwent surgery and returned for the 2003 season. His most memorable performance at Virginia was in a 39–38 victory over Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football, Georgia Tech in 2001. Spinner completed 32-of-46 passes for a season-high 327 yards and five touchdowns. The 6–2 sophomore also ran 10 times for 86 yards as the Cavaliers improved to 11–12–1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets. The Cavaliers won the game on a dramatic Hook and lateral, hook-and-ladder play in which Spinner passed the ball to Billy McMullen who then lateraled the ball to Alvin Pearman who ran in for a touchdown in the game's closing seconds.

NFL career

In 2004, Spinner signed as a free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then was released. He was soon picked up by the Seattle Seahawks a week later, completed preseason National Football League Training Camp, training camp, and was released before the 2004 NFL season, 2004 season. In 2005, he signed with the Washington Redskins, completed training camp and was released before the season opener. In January 2006, Spinner signed with the San Francisco 49ers, and was allocated to the Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europa. Spinner split time with two other quarterbacks, Jeff Otis and Craig Ochs, leading the Galaxy to a 7–3 season, and winning World Bowl XIV. Spinner injured his shoulder in the second quarter of the World Bowl.

Maryland Maniacs

For the 2009 season, Spinner was the starting quarterback for the Maryland Maniacs of the Indoor Football League. The Maniacs finished the regular season 10–4 and won the Atlantic Division championship, but lost their playoff game to the RiverCity Rage. The IFL transactions page reported that Spinner would be returning to the Maniacs for the 2010 season.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinner, Bryson 1980 births Living people American football quarterbacks Frankfurt Galaxy players Richmond Spiders football players San Francisco 49ers players Virginia Cavaliers football players Episcopal High School (Alexandria, Virginia) alumni Players of American football from Alexandria, Virginia Maryland Maniacs players Jacksonville Jaguars players Seattle Seahawks players Washington Redskins players American expatriate sportspeople in Germany