Marc Verica (born March 26, 1988) is an

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

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He was signed by the

Washington Redskins 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011, out of the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

. He signed to play for the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France for the 2012 season.

Early years

Marc Verica attended

Monsignor Bonner High School Monsignor Bonner High School was an all-male Augustinian Catholic High School in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It was located in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Bonner was created in 1953 as Archbishop Prendergast High School for Bo ...

in Drexel Hill, a suburb of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. As a senior, he completed 81 of 160 passes for 899 yards and three

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s in nine games; he missed two games due to an injury and his team lost both. As a junior, he completed 112 passes in 222 attempts for 1,545 yards and eight touchdowns. Verica was named to league, county, and city all-star teams as a junior. His position coach in high school previously had coached former Cavalier quarterback

Matt Schaub Matthew Schaub (born June 25, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the ...

. In addition to Virginia, Verica was offered a

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

College

Verica was a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

as a true freshman in 2006. He also did not play as a redshirt freshman in the 2007 season when he was behind

starter Starter may refer to: Science and technology * Starter motors, used to start internal-combustion engines * Motor starters, a motor controller used to start large electric motors * Lamp starter, used to initiate operation of fluorescent lights ...

Jameel Sewell Jameel Sewell (born October 19, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who currently serves as the quarterbacks coach for the Nebraska Danger of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers. Hig ...

and backup

Peter Lalich Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a ...

. Prior to the 2008 season, Verica competed with Lalich and fifth year senior Scott Deke for the starting quarterback job after Sewell became academically ineligible. Verica lost the competition to Lalich but beat out Deke for the backup position. Verica saw his first action in college late in the game against the

Southern California Trojans The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred ...

in the Cavaliers' first game of the 2008 season. Verica did not play in the next game against the

Richmond Spiders The Richmond Spiders represent the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The Spiders compete in the Division I FCS of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. The Spider na ...

. On September 10, 2008, it was announced through a statement from Virginia's sports information office that Lalich would not be starting in the September 13 game against the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

.UVa QB Lalich won't play Saturday
/ref> Marc Verica made his debut as starter in a game the Cavaliers lost 45–10. He completed 22 of 30 passes for 158 yards with no touchdowns and one

interception 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 ...

before being relieved by Deke in the fourth quarter. When Lalich was dismissed from the football team the following week, Verica became the starting quarterback. Verica led the Cavaliers to four straight wins during October and catapulted the Cavaliers into first place in the ACC Coastal Division. However, in November, the Cavaliers lost all four of their games to finish the season 5–7. In the season finale against Virginia Tech, cornerback Vic Hall moved to quarterback for most snaps as the Cavaliers employed the

wildcat formation Wildcat formation describes a formation for the offense in football in which the ball is snapped not to the quarterback but directly to a player of another position lined up at the quarterback position. (In most systems, this is a running back, bu ...

though Verica returned for downs requiring a pass. Verica competed with Sewell and Hall for the starting quarterback position in 2009, however Sewell emerged as the primary starter. Verica received playing time in several games and started against Miami when Sewell sat out due to injury. Verica competed with redshirt freshman Ross Metheny for the starting quarterback position in the 2010 season, ultimately winning. Verica led the Cavaliers to a 4–8 record, starting all 12 games. Metheny and true freshman Michael Rocco received limited playing time in relief of Verica during the 2010 season.

Cougars

In 2011, Marc signed with the Cougars de Saint-Ouen l'Aumône, France. The Cougars play in the highest level of competition in France (Division 1).

References

External links

ESPN profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verica, Marc 1988 births Living people American football quarterbacks Virginia Cavaliers football players Washington Redskins players People from Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Delaware County, Pennsylvania