Rhett Matthew Bomar (born July 2, 1985) 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 ...
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 selected by the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
in the fifth round of the
2009 NFL draft. 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 ...
at the
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
and
Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University (Sam Houston, SHSU or Sam) is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas, United States. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools wes ...
. He was also a member of the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
and
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 ...
.
Early life
Bomar initially learned football from his father, Jerry Bomar, a long-time high school head coach in Texas. The elder Bomar had himself been an all-state high school quarterback in Texas. After playing on the defensive side of the ball for
Texas Tech, Jerry Bomar moved into coaching, and Rhett was born at about the time his father became a high school head coach.
Rhett was a ball boy for his father's team, Groesbeck High School, when that team won the 3-A Texas state championship in 1991. At
Grand Prairie High School, where his father was head football coach and athletic director, Bomar was an outfielder considered good enough for the
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
annual draft. In addition to graduating in the top 1% of his class, Rhett was a three-year starter at quarterback.
In high school, Bomar was evaluated to be the nation's top high school quarterback by such rating services as
Rivals.com and
Scout.com. Bomar signed to play for the
Oklahoma
Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...
Sooners. In a 2023 review of consensus ratings of high school players, Bomar was the second-highest rated prospect signed by Oklahoma over the preceding 20 years—Bomar was ranked just between
Adrian Peterson and
Caleb Williams.
College career
Oklahoma
Bomar became the starter by the second game of the
2005 season. His season started roughly while he adjusted to college football, but his game improved throughout the season. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the
Holiday Bowl when Oklahoma defeated the
Oregon Ducks
The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...
.
On August 2, 2006, Bomar was dismissed from the team by OU head coach
Bob Stoops. It was reported that he was paid for work at Big Red Sports and Imports, a car dealership owned by a major University of Oklahoma donor, but that he did not complete the work, a violation of NCAA rules. Senior
Paul Thompson began the year as starting quarterback, backed up by true freshman
Sam Bradford and junior college transfer Joey Halzle.
Sam Houston State
Bomar entered spring practice as the starting quarterback for the
2007
2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year.
Events
January
* January 1
**Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
Bearkats, with two years of collegiate eligibility remaining. He played nine games the first year for the Bearkats before injuring his knee on November 3, 2007, against
Nicholls State.
“Rhett brings a lot of athleticism to the quarterback position that we haven’t had,” SHSU coach
Todd Whitten told the ''Huntsville Item''. “He's going to get a chance to get a lot of reps this spring. We feel like our offense has the chance to make a lot of big plays next year.”
Bomar started all 10 games in
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
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The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
for Sam Houston State as the Bearkats went 4–6 on the season. He completed his college career as Sam Houston's all-time leader in passing with 5,564 yards in 19 games and career leader in total offense with 6,159 yards. He was a two-time All-Southland Conference selection and ended the 2008 season ranked No. 2 in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision total offense (354.2 yards per game) and No. 4 in passing offense (335.5 yards per contest).
Bomar passed for more than 300 yards in nine games during his Bearkat career. He threw for passes of more than 50 yards 10 times, including his longest of 80 yards. He is one of only 11 players in NCAA
FCS history to throw for more than 300 yards and rush for more than 100 yards in a single game (against
North Dakota State in 2007).
He was selected as a finalist for the
Walter Payton Award given to the top player in the Football Championship Subdivision. He also played in the 2009
Senior Bowl.
Professional career
New York Giants
In the
2009 NFL draft, Bomar was selected by the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
as the 15th pick of the fifth round (151st overall). Bomar on June 24, 2009, signed a four-year contract, including a $185,183 signing bonus. He was waived on September 5, 2009, and re-signed to 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 ...
on September 6.
Bomar was promoted to the active roster on December 31, 2009.
On September 4, 2010, Bomar was waived by the Giants.
Following an injury to Giants quarterback
Jim Sorgi, Bomar was initially expected to take over the role as backup quarterback, but on September 3, 2010, the Giants acquired
Sage Rosenfels from the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
to step in at the position, making Bomar expendable. On the following day, September 5, the Giants re-signed Bomar to the team's practice squad.
Minnesota Vikings
Bomar was signed by the
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...
off of the Giants' practice squad on December 21, 2010, and made him the team's third-string quarterback for the final two games of the season.
Oakland Raiders
On January 6, 2012, Bomar was signed by the Oakland Raiders to reserve/future contract. He was waived May 14, 2012, following the Raiders' acquisition of
Matt Leinart.
Coaching career
After his NFL experience, Bomar went into coaching. In 2012 and 2013, Bomar worked as an assistant on his father's coaching staff at Orange Grove High School.
Bomar moved to Houston's Alief High School to become an assistant coach for the 2014 season. In 2015, he moved to Freer, Texas, to become head football coach and athletic director at Freer High School. In 2017, he became offensive coordinator at Conroe High School.
Head coaching record
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bomar, Rhett
1985 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Minnesota Vikings players
New York Giants players
Oklahoma Sooners football players
Sam Houston Bearkats football players
High school football coaches in Texas
People from Groesbeck, Texas
Coaches of American football from Texas
Players of American football from Dallas County, Texas
Grand Prairie High School alumni
Oakland Raiders players