Quantavius Sturdivant (born December 5, 1988) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

. He played as a middle

for the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

Tar Heels Tar Heel (or Tarheel) is a nickname applied to the U.S. state of North Carolina and its people. It is also the nickname of the University of North Carolina athletic teams, students, alumni, and fans. The origins of the Tar Heel nickname trace ba ...

. He was considered one of the top linebackers in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). Sturdivant was selected in the sixth round of the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

at pick number 171.

Early life

Sturdivant was born on December 5, 1988, in Oakboro, North Carolina, U.S. to Marcella Sturdivant. His father is Terry Watkins of Norwood, N.C. He attended

West Stanly High School West Stanly High School is a public high school located at 306 East Red Cross Rd. in Oakboro, North Carolina, United States. The school is part of the Stanly County Schools district. Its official mascot is the Colt. History In 1962, four coun ...

, where he played mostly as 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 ...

, but also as a

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. As a senior in 2006, he completed 99 out of 179 pass attempts for 1,794 yards and 21

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, and made 111

rushing Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

attempts for 745 yards. He also recorded 12 tackles, two broken-up passes, and one

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, 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 ...

. He was a three-time all-conference and two-time all-state player, and was named the conference's 2006 offensive player of the year. In 2006, he was named a ''Charlotte Observer'' high school player of the week for recording 305 yards, four touchdowns, and 11 tackles in a game. Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming named Sturdivant to his All-Southeast Team.Player Bio: Quan Sturdivant
, University of North Carolina, retrieved June 18, 2009. He participated in the 2006 Shrine Bowl as a quarterback.UNC GETS COMMITMENT
''

Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. It is owned by Chatham Asset ...

'', p. 18C, November 18, 2006. He received scholarship offers from

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina sy ...

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 ...

, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Sturdivant originally committed to Florida, but a week later reversed course and committed to North Carolina.

College career

As a true freshman for the Tar Heels in 2007, Sturdivant saw action in all 12 games as a

including five

start 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 * Track and field#Starts use in race, Starts use in sport race * S ...

s. He also played a role on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. Sturdivant also recorded 47 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

, one interception, and one blocked punt. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Sturdivant played in all 13 games and recorded 122 tackles including 87 solo, two sacks, one forced

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

, and two interceptions for 89 yards and a touchdown. ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' named him an honorable mention All-American. For the 2009 season, Sturdivant was moved from weakside to middle linebacker, in order to replace Mark Paschal who graduated. He was moved back to the weakside, however, to recapture his success from the previous year. Scout.com included him among its 120 Players You Need to Know feature series, and said of him, "In just two seasons ... he has developed into one of the top young linebackers in the ACC." On July 10, 2010, Sturdivant was cited for simple possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

during a traffic stop. During the 2010 season, Sturdivant played in the first three games and amassed 27 tackles before suffering a hamstring injury at

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, which forced him to miss several games.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Sturdivant was drafted with the 171st pick in the

by the

. Sturdivant was cut by the Cardinals before the

2012 NFL season The 2012 NFL season was the 93rd season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 47th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Wednesday, September 5, 2012, with the defending Super Bowl XLVI champion New York Giants falling to the Dallas Cowbo ...

began.

Sacramento Mountain Lions

He signed by the UFL's Sacramento Mountain Lions.

Kansas City Chiefs

On November 29, 2012, he was signed to the practice squad of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Washington Redskins

On August 15, 2013, he was signed by the Washington Redskins. On August 26, 2013, he was waived by the Redskins.

References

External links

North Carolina Tar Heels bioNFL Combine profileVeterans strive to lead the way
Rivals.com, August 22, 2008.
Kansas City Chiefs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdivant, Quan 1988 births Living people People from Oakboro, North Carolina American football linebackers Players of American football from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels football players Arizona Cardinals players Sacramento Mountain Lions players Kansas City Chiefs players Washington Redskins players