Quincy Carter

He became the Bulldogs' first freshman starter in 53 years (John Rauch in 1945), finishing with a 9–3 record.

LaVonya Quintelle "Quincy" Carter (born October 13, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).

As a senior, he led the Panthers to the 1995 AAAA State Championship under head coach William Godfrey.

He received Parade All-American and USA Today Georgia Player of the Year honors.

He finished his high school career with 4,450 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, 1,489 rushing yards and 32 rushing touchdowns.

Additionally, from 1996 to 1999, he was in the Chicago Cubs minor league baseball organization.

Born in Chicago, Illinois but raised in Decatur, Georgia, Carter attended Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur where he played football and baseball.

Carter originally signed a football letter of intent with Georgia Tech in 1996, but opted instead to play minor league baseball after being selected by the Chicago Cubs as an outfielder 52nd overall in the 1996 MLB draft.

In 1996, with the Gulf Coast Cubs of the rookie league, he hit .215 and played in 55 games.

In 1997, he was promoted to the Rockford Cubbies of Single-A and hit .211 in 105 games.

In 1998, he appeared in 28 games for Rockford, hitting .248 in 27 games.

Struggling with his baseball career, Carter opted to return to play college football in 1998, but made the highly publicized decision to sign with the University of Georgia instead of Georgia Tech, who officially contested the move but was still overruled by the NCAA.

After spending two years away from football, he won the starting quarterback job in a contested battle over future University of Oklahoma starter Nate Hybl, among others.

a No. 16 ranking in the final AP Poll and winning the 1998 Peach Bowl.

He had a record setting season, establishing school freshman marks for passing yards (2,484), touchdowns (12), attempts (290) and completions (176), while tallying 300 passing yards or more in 4 games.

His 2,484 passing yards at the time was the fourth highest total in school history.

He was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year and was recognized as one of the top young quarterbacks in the nation.

Against Louisiana State University, he was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week after completing 27-of-34 passes (79.4% - career high) for 318 yards and 2 touchdowns.

He showed he was a dual-threat quarterback, as he demonstrated in Georgia's 28–26 win over the University of Kentucky, running 14 times for 114 yards (including a 49-yard touchdown run) and completing 10-of-14 passes for 147 yards and 2 passing touchdowns.

In the 7–38 loss against the University of Florida, he completed a career-high 33-of-49 passes (67.3%) for a career-high tying 368 yards and 2 interceptions.

Against Auburn University, he threw for 351 yards 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

In the 1998 Peach Bowl against the University of Virginia, he passed for 222 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions to lead Georgia from a 21–0 deficit to a 35–33 victory.

Carter had an impressive sophomore season while leading a young team, posting 216 out of 380 completions, 2,713 passing yards (school record for a sophomore), 17 passing touchdowns, 5 rushing touchdowns, and 6 interceptions, directing the offense to 416 yards per-game (second in the SEC).

He had five 300 yard passing performances, his interception percentage of 1.58 (six picks in 380 attempts) was a school record and the second lowest percentage in SEC history.

He also completed the third longest streak in SEC history after throwing 170 consecutive passes without an interception.

He received SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors after registering 349 passing yards and a touchdown on 26-of-41 completions against the University of Mississippi.

Against Georgia Tech in a 48–51 loss, he helped the offense score 48 points, completing 29 out of 55 passes for 345 yards and 2 touchdowns while also rushing for one touchdown.

His final year in 1999, he went 0-for-3 in one game for the Daytona Cubs of Advanced A ball and left the team after only three games to return to Athens.

In the 2000 Outback Bowl 28–25 overtime win against Purdue University, he threw for 243 yards and one touchdown on 20-of-33 passing, while running for 21 yards and a score to lead the Bulldogs to the biggest come-from-behind victory in school history.

As a junior, he displayed inconsistency, which included a 5 interception game on 10-of-24 passing against the University of South Carolina.

He suffered a left shoulder contusion in the sixth game against Vanderbilt University, completing 12 out of 20 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown, forcing him to miss the next contest against the University of Kentucky.

He also suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb during the eighth game of the season against the University of Florida and missed the last 4 games including the 2000 Oahu Bowl.

He was replaced with junior Cory Phillips.

Carter finished the season completing 91 out of 183 passes, 1,250 passing yards, 6 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Carter was 23–8 as the starting quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs and declared for the NFL Draft after his junior season.

He finished second in school history behind Eric Zeier in career passing yards (6,447), career pass attempts (853), career completions (483), career offensive plays (1,104), career total offense (7,053 yards) and consecutive pass attempts without an interception (170).

He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs and was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL draft.

Carter played in the NFL for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Jets.

Outside the NFL, he also was a member of the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings, Kansas City Brigade and Abilene Ruff Riders.

Georgia finished the season with a 7–4 record and ranked 14th in the final AP Poll.