Daniel Aaron Southwick (born September 28, 1981) 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 BYU, Oregon State, Dixie State,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, and Occidental. He has been a member of the

Louisville Fire The Louisville Fire was an arena football team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl lineman and Loui ...

of the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...

; 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 ...

of 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); the Dallas Vigilantes,

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

San Antonio Talons The San Antonio Talons were a professional arena football team based in San Antonio, Texas. They played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Their home arena was the Alamodome, following their relocation to San Antonio for the 2012 season. The ...

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...

, Portland Thunder/Steel,

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divis ...

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

, and

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fo ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL); the Massachusetts Pirates,

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

, Jersey Flight, Columbus Lions, and

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL); and the FCF Zappers of

Fan Controlled Football Fan Controlled Football (FCF) is a dormant professional 7-on-7 Indoor American football, indoor football league that played two seasons in 2021 Fan Controlled Football season, 2021 and 2022 Fan Controlled Football season, 2022. The league operate ...

(FCF), and the

Billings Outlaws The Billings Outlaws were a professional indoor football team based in Billings, Montana. They were a member of the Indoor Football League (IFL), of which they were the 2-time defending champions. They played their home games at Rimrock Auto A ...

of Arena Football One (AF1).

Early life

Danny was born to Dan Southwick and Shawn (Southwick) King in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

. He attended

Timpview High School Timpview High School (THS) is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, United States. Timpview is a 5A school and is one of the three high schools in the Provo City School District. The current principal is Momi Tu'ua. Academics ...

in Provo, where he lettered in football.

College career

Southwick originally signed with

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

out of high school, when he elected to take a two-year

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

mission. Upon returning from his mission, Southwick enrolled at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

. Southwick then transferred to Dixie State College for a season. From Dixie State, Southwick transferred to the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

, where he walked-on and was listed as the backup quarterback going into fall camp with the Utes. Southwick then went back to Dixie State. He played his senior season of

at Occidental. Southwick's college statistics, excluding post-season play, include 271 completions out of 478 passes (57%) for 3,804 yards, and 29 touchdowns with 23 interceptions. As a starter in college, during the regular season, Southwick compiled a record of 13 wins and 5 losses.

Professional career

Louisville Fire

Southwick began his professional career in 2008 signing with the

of the

as a

street free agent A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like streetlights or benches. A stree ...

. After finishing the season with the Fire, the franchise folded as well as the

Oakland Raiders

In 2009, Southwick signed with the

of the

, but was released prior to the preseason.

Dallas Vigilantes

On February 25, 2011, Southwick was assigned to the Dallas Vigilantes of the

(AFL), but he was placed on reassignment just 3 days later on February 28.

Tampa Bay Storm

On May 16, 2011, he signed with the AFL's

. On July 16, 2011, Southwick made his first career arena football start for the Storm, where he was eventually replaced by

Matt Grothe Matt Grothe (born September 8, 1986) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at South Florida. Early life Grothe attended Lake Gibson High School in Lakeland, Florida and was a letterman in football. In football, h ...

due to his ineffective play.

San Jose SaberCats

Southwick was assigned to the

San Jose Sabercats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

of the AFL on February 16, 2012.

San Antonio Talons

Southwick was assigned to the AFL's

on January 18, 2013. He was reassigned on March 21, 2013.

Chicago Rush

Southwick was assigned to the

of the AFL on April 11, 2013. He was reassigned by the Rush on May 16, 2013.

Cleveland Gladiators (first stint)

Southwick was assigned to the

of the AFL on June 5, 2013.

Portland Thunder (first stint)

In April 2014, he was named the starting quarterback for the

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

of the AFL. He was assigned to the Thunder again on March 4, 2015. He was placed on recallable reassignment on March 20, 2015.

Spokane Shock

On April 7, 2015, Southwick was assigned to the

of the AFL.

Los Angeles Kiss (first stint)

On May 13, 2015, Southwick was traded to the

for future considerations.

Portland Thunder/Steel (second stint)

He was assigned to the Thunder on February 1, 2016. The Thunder changed its name to the Portland Steel on February 24, 2016. He was placed on reassignment by the Steel on April 25, 2016.

Los Angeles Kiss (second stint)

On May 26, 2016, Southwick was assigned to the Kiss. On June 25, 2016, he was placed on reassignment.

Orlando Predators (first franchise)

On July 6, 2016, he was assigned to the AFL's

Cleveland Gladiators (second stint)

On May 23, 2017, Southwick was assigned to the Gladiators.

Massachusetts Pirates

On April 19, 2018, he signed with the Massachusetts Pirates of the

(NAL). He was released by the Pirates on April 25, 2018.

Jacksonville Sharks (first stint)

On April 26, 2018, he was claimed by the

of the NAL. The same day, he was also placed on refuse to report.

Philadelphia Soul (first stint)

On May 23, 2018, he was assigned to the

of the AFL. On June 5, 2018, he was placed on reassignment.

Columbus Destroyers

On April 17, 2019, Southwick was assigned to the

of the AFL. He was placed on recallable reassignment on April 19, and activated from recallable reassignment on April 20. He was placed on league suspension on May 2 and was reassigned on May 23, 2019.

Philadelphia Soul (second stint)

Southwick was claimed off reassignment by the Soul on May 24, 2019. He was placed on reassignment on June 25, 2019.

Jersey Flight

On December 11, 2019, Southwick signed with the NAL's Jersey Flight. The 2020

season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 24, 2020, Southwick re-signed with the Flight for the 2021 season. On June 17, 2021, the Flight cut Southwick from their roster.

Jacksonville Sharks (second stint)

He signed with the Sharks four days later on June 21, 2021.

FCF Zappers

In March 2022, Southwick was drafted by the FCF Zappers of

(FCF) in the first draft of the FCF.

Columbus Lions

On May 13, 2022, Southwick signed with the Columbus Lions of the NAL.

Orlando Predators (second franchise)

Southwick played for the new

of the NAL in 2023.

Billings Outlaws

Southwick played for the

of the new

in 2024. He served as a backup quarterback as the Outlaws won

ArenaBowl XXXIII ArenaBowl XXXIII was the championship game for the 2024 Arena Football League season. It took place at the American Dream Center, an ice rink located inside American Dream Meadowlands, a shopping mall and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, ...

. The Outlaws moved to Arena Football One in 2025. Southwick was released on May 9, 2025.

AFL statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

Personal life

Southwick is the son of actress Shawn Southwick, and was the stepson of talk show host

Larry King Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American TV and radio host presenter, author, and former spokesman. He was a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s and beginning in ...

. Southwick has also spent time as a visiting assistant professor at BYU.

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bio

Occidental Tigers bio

ArenaFan.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwick, Danny 1981 births Living people American football quarterbacks BYU Cougars football players Dixie State Rebels football players Oregon State Beavers football players Utah Utes football players Occidental Tigers football players Louisville Fire players Oakland Raiders players Dallas Vigilantes players Tampa Bay Storm players San Jose SaberCats players San Antonio Talons players Chicago Rush players Cleveland Gladiators players Portland Thunder players Spokane Shock players Los Angeles Kiss players Portland Steel players Orlando Predators players Massachusetts Pirates players Jacksonville Sharks players Philadelphia Soul players Columbus Destroyers players Jersey Flight players Fan Controlled Football players Columbus Lions players Orlando Predators (2019–) players Brigham Young University faculty Players of American football from Provo, Utah Arena Football League (2024) players Arena Football One (2025) players