Devin Gardner

Devin Jaymes Gardner (born December 14, 1991) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback.

He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines.

He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL).

He played professionally in Japan for two seasons.

As a sophomore in 2007, Gardner played football for the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy.

He missed five games during his sophomore year because of disciplinary issues, but returned for the final four games of the season.

Gardner described the problems he experienced in his sophomore year as a turning point: "I had never sat out before, and that hurt a lot. It was a bad feeling, and I did a lot of growing up. I just knew I had to get better."

After the coach of his team left, Gardner's grades began to decrease.

He wanted to transfer to Saint Martin de Porres High School but the school had closed.

Prior to his junior season, Gardner transferred to Inkster High School in Inkster, Michigan.

He was Inkster's starting quarterback under head coach Greg Carter, who led Detroit's Saint Martin de Porres High School to three state championships.

As a junior in 2008, Gardner led Inkster to a state title game and was responsible for 48 touchdowns, 26 passing and 22 rushing.

He also compiled 3,287 yards of total offense with 1,886 passing yards and 1,401 rushing yards.

He also helped lead Inkster's basketball team to the state semifinals in March 2009.

As a senior in 2009, Gardner again led Inkster to the state finals game.

In the second game of the season, Gardner compiled 340 yards passing and 101 yards rushing against East Kentwood High School.

The highlight of Gardner's senior season came in Inkster’s final regular season game against Steubenville High School in Steubenville, Ohio.

Inkster needed a win to advance to the playoffs, and Steubenville had a 60-game home winning streak.

Steubenville led 29-28 with 1:19 left in the game.

With 39 seconds left, Gardner threw a 63-yard touchdown pass for the win.

Gardner described the game-winning drive against Steubenville as follows:

"'First I threw an out and we got out of bounds. (Receiver) Jonathan Taylor got hurt and so he had to come out. Another receiver came in and we did just a regular ol' route. We didn't do nothing special, but they all jumped the out route and left the fly on the outside wide open. I just threw it to (Vorheese Zanders) in between the safety and corner and he made a big play. He made one guy miss, another guy fell down, and he scored.'"

Gardner accounted for 330 yards (275 yards passing, 55 rushing) and five touchdowns (four passing) in the win over Steubenville.

After the win over Steubenville, Gardner led Inkster to four straight wins in the playoffs, including a 51–19 win over Dearborn Edsel Ford High School, a 50–28 win over Redford Thurston High School, and a 35–7 win over Southgate Anderson High School.

Gardner led Inkster to its second straight state finals game.

Inkster averaged 31 points per game in the 12 games before the final, but lost 27–6 against Lowell High School in the Division 2 title game.

Gardner compiled only 134 passing yards in the title game and minus-26 rushing yards after being sacked three times.

In an interview with ESPN in the fall of 2009, Gardner described his passion for the quarterback position: "With me, you better prepare for everything you think could happen because anything can happen when I've got the ball in my hands. I've got the ball in my hands every play, and it's my show."

After compiling impressive statistics as a junior, Gardner was invited to a number of combines and camps in the Summer of 2009.

In June 2009, Gardner participated in the Nike camp in Champaign, Illinois.

In July 2009, Gardner participated in the Elite 11 quarterback camp at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, California, as one of the 12 invited quarterbacks.

Gardner earned counselor awards for best footwork and work in the classroom at the Elite 11 camp.

He enrolled at the University of Michigan in January 2010 and saw limited action in the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

At the University of Michigan, Gardner was the starting quarterback for the Wolverines from 2012 to 2014.

During the first half of the 2012 season, he converted to the wide receiver position, but switched back to quarterback after Denard Robinson sustained an elbow injury.

Early in the 2013 season, Gardner was awarded Tom Harmon's Michigan Football Legends jersey, becoming the first Michigan player to wear No. 98 in over 70 years.

Through the first seven games of the 2013 season, Gardner had 1,779 passing yards, 660 rushing yards, and 22 touchdowns (13 passing, 9 rushing).

On October 19, 2013, Gardner broke John Navarre's Michigan single-game record with 503 passing yards.

He also broke Denard Robinson's Michigan single-game record with 584 yards of total offense.

As a high school senior, Gardner was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat quarterback in the United States by Rivals.com and the No. 5 quarterback by ESPNU.