Taylor Potts (born October 13, 1987) is a former

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 ...

. He played college football at

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas ...

, and was signed by the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

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. He was waived during training camp, and then signed as a free agent by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in May 2012, where he was expected to compete for the third-string quarterback position. Potts served as a backup for nationally renowned quarterback

Graham Harrell Graham Stanton Harrell (born May 22, 1985) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current offensive coordinator for the Purdue Boilermakers. He played college football at Texas Tech from 2004 to 2008. He played in th ...

and took over the starting role for the 2009 season.

Early years

Prior to coming to

, Potts played at Abilene High School in

Abilene, Texas Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan stati ...

. In his senior season, Potts threw for 3,162 yards and 53 touchdowns and garnered Class 5A Region and All-State teams. In addition to Texas Tech, Potts was recruited by

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, Baylor,

Notre Dame Notre Dame, French for "Our Lady", a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, most commonly refers to: * Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral in Paris, France * University of Notre Dame, a university in Indiana, United States ** Notre Dame Fighting Irish, th ...

, Oklahoma,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

College career

Potts spent his 2006 freshman season as a "redshirt," seeing no game action but working as a member of the scout team. He then served as a backup to Graham Harrell for the 2007 and 2008 seasons, seeing limited playing time in several Tech blowout victories. In those two seasons, he compiled 669 yards passing, 5 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.

2009 season

Potts was named Harrell's heir apparent and starter by Mike Leach in April 2009. Potts beat out classmate and former walk on Steven Sheffield and highly touted Redshirt Freshman

Seth Doege Seth Colton Doege (born December 18, 1988) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current tight ends coach for the Purdue Boilermaker. After playing college football for Texas Tech University, he was signed by the At ...

. In his first game against the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, he completed 34 of 48 passes for 405 yards 2 touchdowns passing and 2 on the ground, and threw three interceptions in a 38–13 win. The next week against the Rice Owls, Potts threw 7 touchdowns and no interceptions in 55–10 blowout win. For his performance he was named Big 12 Offensive player of the week. The next week, Potts played his best game to date as he faced off against # 2 Texas Longhorns led by

Colt McCoy Daniel "Colt" McCoy (born September 5, 1986) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas, where he won several awards and honors as a senior in 2009. McC ...

. Potts started slow but ended up with 46 completions out of 62 attempts for 420 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. Potts took a vicious hit from Texas Defensive End Sergio Kindle that caused a turnover that in effect sealed the close win for the Longhorns, but got back up to throw his third touchdown of the game to Tramain Swindall. Despite losing 34–24, pundits noted that Potts outplayed McCoy with better numbers, and going into a hostile environment against a top 2 team and taking a vicious hit in the process. Tech fans were optimistic after the Texas game, however a shocking 29–28 loss to the Houston Cougars in which the Texas Tech offense failed to convert on fourth and goal from inside the one led to the Houston victory. Critics blamed Potts' inability to use his 6'6 frame to punch the ball in and seal the victory. In the next game against the New Mexico Lobos, Potts started slow and was knocked out with a Concussion. With the game tied at 7 with a minute left, back-up Steven Sheffield came in and scored to give the Raiders the lead en route to a 48–28 win. Potts was taken to the hospital and sat out the next 2 games, as Sheffield led Tech to blowout wins over Kansas State and Nebraska 66–14, and 31–10, respectively. Potts found himself back as the starter against the Texas A&M Aggies as Sheffield broke his foot against Nebraska. Potts played poorly and was benched by Leach and was replaced Seth Doege to the chants from the crowd of "No more Potts." Tech lost to A&M 52–30. Doege started the next game against the Kansas Jayhawks but was largely ineffective and Potts led the Raiders to a 42–21 win off the strength of the ground game. Potts had a fairly effective game despite a loss to Oklahoma State, 24–17 in the next game. Potts delivered his biggest win to date, a 41–13 drubbing of the Oklahoma Sooners and finished the season with a 20–13 win over the Baylor Bears, giving Tech an 8–4 overall record and 5–3 in Big 12 play.

2009 Alamo Bowl

Tech was invited to the Alamo Bowl to play against Michigan State. Potts was given the start in the Alamo Bowl, despite a healthy Steve Sheffield. Potts was effective for most of the game, but was pulled late in the 4th quarter by the interim staff, as Mike Leach had been fired earlier in the week. With Tech behind, Sheffield rallied Tech to two late scores to beat the Spartans 41–31. Potts was named offensive MVP with 29–43 passing for 372 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2010 season

After battling against Steven Sheffield for the starting quarterback job in spring and summer practices, Potts was named the starter for the 2010 season under new Red Raider head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football ...

and offensive coordinator Neal Brown. Potts suffered a hand injury in spring 2010 workouts and missed the spring Red-Black scrimmage. However, he was named the starter for Tech's season opener against SMU. Potts threw for 359 yards, completing 34 of 53 passes, in Tech's win over SMU. Potts started every game for Tech during the season except for the Nov 6 game against No. 14 Missouri. Sheffield started the Missouri game, but Potts came in shortly before halftime and led Tech to a 24–17 upset win over the Tigers. Potts was named the AT&T/ESPN All-America Player of the Week after passing for a Cotton Bowl-record 462 yards in Tech's 45–38 win over Baylor on Oct. 9. In his final home game, against Houston on Nov 27, Potts threw for 373 yards in a 35–20 win over the Cougars. For the season, Potts finished with 3,726 passing yards, completing 369 of 551 passes (67.0 percent) with 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He finished his final season as Tech's fourth-ranked all-time leader in passing yards (7,835) and the school's third-ranked all-time leader in touchdown passes thrown with 62.

2011 TicketCity Bowl

Texas Tech faced Northwestern in the inaugural TicketCity Bowl, played on January 1, 2011, in the historic Cotton Bowl stadium. Potts threw for 369 yards, completing 43 of 56 passes in Tech's 45–38 win over the Wildcats. Potts connected with former high school teammate Lyle Leong Jr. for two touchdown and also had scoring passes to Austin Zouzalik and Tramain Swindall. Potts also scored one touchdown on a perfectly executed trick play, a double pass from Potts to Zouzalik and back to Potts. For his efforts, Potts was named offensive Most Valuable Player for the game.

College statistics

Professional career

St. Louis Rams

Potts went undrafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual 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 Radio City Music Hall in New York ...

and was later signed by the

on July 26, 2011, but was waived on August 15.

San Diego Chargers

In May 2012, Potts was signed as 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 ...

and agreed to terms with the

after a workout with the team. He was subsequently released.

Personal life

Potts is a member of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Potts is a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

. As of 2011, Potts was engaged to Erin Methvin, alumna of

Lubbock Christian University Lubbock Christian University (LCU) is a private Christian university associated with the Churches of Christ and located in Lubbock, Texas. Chartered originally as part of a grade school called Lubbock Christian School in 1954, the institution ...

References

External links

Player bio
at Texas Tech athletics {{DEFAULTSORT:Potts, Taylor 1987 births Living people American football quarterbacks American members of the Churches of Christ Texas Republicans Texas Tech Red Raiders football players St. Louis Rams players Players of American football from Texas