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

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

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 was on the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

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). He was originally signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2006. He played college football at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

. 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 (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the CFL.

Early life

Porter grew up in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

. 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

. 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'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

and

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

player of the week for his performance in BC's 28-17 win over

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 ...

. Leading up to the October 27 game against

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

, 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, brother of

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

), 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, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

. 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, United States. 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 ...

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 Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. 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) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

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

Carolina Panthers

After a Jake Delhomme 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 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 an American former professional football quarterback who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He played college football at TCU and Florida A&M. Early ...

. He was moved up to the second string again for the September 12 game by new head coach Marcel Bellefeuille. 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 (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

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 disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

, and solidified his position as the number one quarterback on the Ti-Cats roster until the emergence of Kevin Glenn. 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; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. 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. He left the company in January 2022.

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes bio
(archived)

(archived)
Quinton Porter at NFL.com
(archived)
Quinton 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 21st-century American sportsmen Sportspeople from Portland, Maine Players of American football from Maine Portland High School (Maine) alumni Canadian football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Maine