Quinton Porter
Encyclopedia
Quinton George Porter is a Gridiron football
quarterback
for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
of the Canadian Football League
. He was on the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers
of the National Football League
. He was originally signed by the Houston Texans
as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played collegiately at Boston College.
. 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
and was a member of the National Honor Society
.
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
and Gatorade
. 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.
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
. Leading up to the October 27 game against Virginia Tech, 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
, 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. Ryan began starting, and led the Eagles to a victory over Boise State
in the MPC Computers Bowl
.
In February 2003 Porter experienced a personal tragedy when his father died unexpectedly of a heart attack
. Michael Porter, a huge supporter of his son, had attended every Boston College game, home and away.
of NFL Europe in the spring of 2007. He was released by the Texans August 26, 2007.
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.
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
. 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
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
, 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.
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. He was on the practice squad for the Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He was originally signed by the Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played collegiately at Boston College.
Early life
Porter grew up in Portland, MainePortland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. 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
Portland High School, Portland, Maine
Portland High School is a public high school in Portland, Maine which educates grades 9–12. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district....
. At Portland High, Porter also played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and was a member of the National Honor Society
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is a recognition program for high school students in grades 10-12 in the United States and in several other countries...
.
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
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
and Gatorade
Gatorade
Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
. 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 Boston CollegeBoston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
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
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
player of the week for his performance in BC's 28-17 win over Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. Leading up to the October 27 game against Virginia Tech, 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 Vick
Marcus Vick is a former college and professional football player. He is the younger brother of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who also began playing high school football in Newport News Public Schools. After accepting a full scholarship to attend Virginia Tech, Marcus played...
, brother of Michael Vick
Michael Vick
Michael Dwayne Vick is an American football quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League...
, and a loss to North Carolina, a quarterback controversy erupted as BC coach Tom O'Brien
Tom O'Brien (football coach)
Thomas P. O'Brien is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach at North Carolina State University, a position he has held since the 2007 season...
announced that he would start Porter's backup, Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre currently playing for Villacher SV of the Austrian Hockey League .-Playing career:...
, in the upcoming game against North Carolina State University. Ryan began starting, and led the Eagles to a victory over Boise State
Boise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
in the MPC Computers Bowl
MPC Computers Bowl
The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl is a post-season NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually at 33,500-seat Bronco Stadium on the campus of Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, since 1997...
.
In February 2003 Porter experienced a personal tragedy when his father died unexpectedly of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. Michael Porter, a huge supporter of his son, had attended every Boston College game, home and away.
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 CenturionsCologne Centurions
The Cologne Centurions were an American football team that played in NFL Europe. The Centurions began competing in the league in the 2004 season, having replaced the defunct Barcelona Dragons. They played their home games at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne....
of NFL Europe in the spring of 2007. He was released by the Texans August 26, 2007.
Carolina Panthers
After a Jake DelhommeJake Delhomme
Jake Christopher Delhomme is an American football quarterback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League. Delhomme played college football at Louisiana-Lafayette before being signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1997...
injury that left David Carr
David Carr
David Duke Carr is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Texans first overall in the 2002 NFL Draft...
and Matt Moore
Matt Moore (American football)
Matthew Erickson Moore is an American Football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League.He played college football at UCLA and Oregon State...
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 ChangTimmy Chang
Timothy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang is a retired American football player. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2005...
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 Printers
Casey J. Printers was a professional American football and Canadian football player. He played college football at Texas Christian University from 1999 to 2001, leading his team to three straight bowl games, before transferring to Florida A&M for his senior year...
. He was moved up to the second string again for the September 12 game by new head coach Marcel Bellefeuille
Marcel Bellefeuille
Marcel Bellefeuille was a Canadian football head coach, most recently for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League.-University of Ottawa:...
. Porter made his first start on September 27, 2008. Porter was sacked ten times by the BC Lions
BC Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
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
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...
, and solidified his position as the number one quarterback on the Ti-Cats roster until the emergence of Kevin Glenn
Kevin Glenn
Kevin Glenn, Jr. is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. He was signed by the Saskatchewan Roughriders as an undrafted free agent in 2001...
. For the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Porter was second string, backing up Glenn, in addition to coming in for short yardage situations.