Quinton George Porter (born December 28, 1982) is a former American professional

gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...

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 ...

. He was on the practice squad for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He was originally signed by the Houston Texans 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 2006. He played college football at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

. Porter has also been a player with the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the CFL.

Early life

Porter grew up in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metro ...

. He was the youngest of the five children of Georgia and Michael Porter. He was a football star at King Middle School, then Portland High School. At Portland High, Porter also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic ach ...

. In 2000, his senior year in high school, he won separate honors as Maine's top high school athlete in awards sponsored by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...

and

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develope ...

. He led Portland High to 10-1 record in football while throwing for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns. He gained all-state and all-conference honors.

College career

Porter accepted a scholarship from

and saw action as a backup in 2001 and 2002. He was the starting quarterback his junior year (2003) for all but the last three games after a hand injury. He was redshirted in 2004, making 2005 his senior year. Porter was named starting quarterback at the start of the 2005 season. He started seven games and was named Atlantic Coast Conference player of the week for his performance in BC's 28-17 win over

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the East Coast of the United States, Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography an ...

. Leading up to the October 27 game against

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, the Eagles under Porter were ranked 13th in the country. However, after a 30-10 loss to 3rd ranked Virginia Tech (led by quarterback

Marcus Vick Marcus Deon Vick (born March 20, 1984) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Virginia Tech, following the career path of his older brother Michael. However, several legal infractions and unsportsmanlike play l ...

, brother of

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is a former American football quarterback. Regarded as having transformed the quarterback position with his rushing abilities, he is the NFL leader in quarterback rushing yards and was the league's firs ...

), and a loss to North Carolina, a quarterback controversy erupted as BC coach Tom O'Brien announced that he would start Porter's backup, Matt Ryan, in the upcoming game against

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universi ...

. Ryan began starting, and led the Eagles to a victory over

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a ...

in the MPC Computers Bowl. In February 2003 Porter experienced a personal tragedy when his father died unexpectedly of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

. Michael Porter, a huge supporter of his son, had attended every Boston College game, home and away.

Professional career

Houston Texans

Porter signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent May 8, 2006. He was soon moved to the practice squad where he stayed until early December. He was then signed to the active roster for the remainder of his rookie season. He was the team's third-string quarterback for much of the 2006 season. He saw no regular season playing time. The Texans sent him to play for the Cologne Centurions of

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in the spring of 2007. He was released by the Texans August 26, 2007.

Carolina Panthers

After a

Jake Delhomme Jake Christopher Delhomme (; born January 10, 1975) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). Delhomme played college football at Louisiana, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisian ...

injury that left David Carr and Matt Moore as the only healthy quarterbacks on the Panthers' roster. Porter was signed to Carolina's practice squad on September 26, 2007.

Hamilton Tiger Cats

On May 14, 2008, the Hamilton Tiger Cats announced the signing of Porter. He beat out

Timmy Chang Timothy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang (born October 9, 1981) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the head coach of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. During his playing career at Hawaii, he set several major college footbal ...

in the preseason to become the Ti-Cats third-string quarterback. He moved up to the second string on July 25 due to an injury to

Casey Printers Casey J. Printers (born May 16, 1981) is a former professional American football, Canadian football and indoor football quarterback. Printers spent most of his professional career with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League, and also played ...

. He was moved up to the second string again for the September 12 game by new head coach

Marcel Bellefeuille Marcel Bellefeuille (born March 19, 1966) is a Canadian football coach who is the head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and the wide receivers coach for the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL). He originally ...

. Porter made his first start on September 27, 2008. Porter was sacked ten times by the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

defense and went 14-of-27 for 144 yards with two interceptions in a 40-10 loss. His performance in his second start, 27-of-32 passing for 429 yards and five touchdowns including running himself for 42 yards on six carries, earned him the CFL's Offensive Player of the Week honours as well as the team's unexpected victory over the East's first place team, the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, and solidified his position as the number one quarterback on the Ti-Cats roster until the emergence of

Kevin Glenn Kevin Glenn, Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is a former American professional Canadian football quarterback. He was originally signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played c ...

. For the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Porter was second string, backing up Glenn, in addition to coming in for short yardage situations. In 2011, Porter led the CFL in rushing touchdowns with nine. On January 15, 2013, the Tiger-Cats released Porter as per his request.

Montreal Alouettes

On January 21, 2013, Porter signed a 3-year deal with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. In the 2013 preseason, Porter completed 10 of 26 passing attempts for 191 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He was released on June 21, 2013.

2019

In 2019, Porter joined Pico - Get Personal as Vice President for North America.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bioQuinton Porter to join Pico - Get Personal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Quinton 1982 births Living people American football quarterbacks Boston College Eagles football players Carolina Panthers players Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Houston Texans players Sportspeople from Portland, Maine Players of American football from Maine Portland High School (Maine) alumni Canadian football quarterbacks