Matt Cassel

Matt Cassel

New England Patriots
Career information
College:	Southern California
NFL draft:	2005 / Round: 7 / Pick: 230
Career history
New England Patriots (2005-present)
Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2008
TD-INT: 15-10 Passing yards: 2,868 QB Rating: 88.6

Matthew Brennan Cassel (born May 17, 1982 in Northridge, California) is an American football quarterback and current starter for the New England Patriots of the NFL.

Youth and high school career

Cassel was the starting first baseman on the Northridge, California baseball team that reached the finals of the 1994 Little League World Series.

Cassel attended Chatsworth High School and was a letterman, an all-city selection, and a standout in both football and baseball. As a senior, he was ranked as the number eight quarterback and number 53 overall of the top high school players in the nation according to ESPN's Tom Lemming's Top 100. Lemming called Cassel a "pro-style pocket passer with a very strong, accurate delivery."

College career

Cassel spent his entire career at USC as a backup behind Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer (who was also Cassel's roommate) and Matt Leinart. Cassel was the backup for Palmer during his Heisman-winning 2002 season. In the fall, Cassel lost the battle for the starting position to the previous third-string quarterback in Leinart. As a result of Leinart's success, Cassel spent time at tight end, even making his lone collegiate start at that position. During his four seasons at USC, Cassel completed 19 of 33 passes for 192 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.

Professional career

Despite having had little chance to demonstrate his skills in actual game situations at USC, Cassel earned himself a place on several NFL teams' draft boards after working out at USC's 2005 Pro Day. One of Cassel's coaches, Norm Chow, who had left USC to become the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, had discussed signing Cassel as an undrafted free agent after the 2005 NFL Draft; Chow was surprised to learn the Patriots had drafted Cassel in the seventh round, with the 230th overall pick, ahead of more accomplished college quarterbacks such as Timmy Chang and 2003 Heisman trophy winner Jason White.

2005 season

Cassel began the 2005 season third on the Patriots' depth chart behind Brady and Doug Flutie. He saw his first regular season action in the closing minutes of the Patriots' 41–17 loss to the San Diego Chargers on October 2, 2005, going 2-for-4 for 15 yards and throwing an interception.

In the Patriots' final game of the 2005 regular season, a 28–26 loss to the Miami Dolphins on January 1, 2006, Cassel played the final three quarters. Though he was sacked for a safety, he threw two touchdown passes, one to Tim Dwight, and the second to Benjamin Watson. The pass to Dwight set up a drop-kick by Doug Flutie, the first such kick since 1941.

2006 season

Following Flutie's retirement in the 2006 offseason, Cassel moved up to second on the Patriots' depth chart. Although the Patriots considered signing a veteran quarterback to compete with him, Cassel played well in preseason and became the primary backup to Tom Brady. Cassel was on the 45-man active roster for all 16 games in 2006; when the Patriots brought in yet another Heisman winner, Vinny Testaverde, Testaverde acted as the emergency quarterback.

In Week 16 of the 2006 season, after injuries to Josh Miller and Ken Walter, Cassel assumed duties as holder for kicker Stephen Gostkowski. He also led a late touchdown drive in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans.

2007 season

In Week 7 of the 2007 season, Cassel's second pass was intercepted by Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins and returned for a touchdown. The next week, with the Patriots leading the Washington Redskins 45–0, he capped off the 52–7 blowout with a 15-yard touchdown run in which he dove over two Redskins defenders to reach the end zone, the longest touchdown run by a Patriots quarterback in more than two decades.

2008 season

Cassel in action in the 2008 Broncos game

In the 2008 season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Cassel came under center when Tom Brady suffered a torn ACL and MCL in the first quarter from a hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. Cassel led the Patriots to an 17–10 victory, completing 13 of 18 passes for 152 yards and one touchdown; Cassel's drives accounted for all of New England's points.

The day after the game, the Patriots confirmed that Brady's serious injuries would sideline him for the rest of the season. Although the Patriots did have veteran quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay come to Foxborough, they signed neither, and kept Cassel as the starter.

Cassel made his start on Sunday, September 14, 2008, with a winning effort over the New York Jets, completing 16 of 23 passes for 165 yards; though he threw no touchdowns, he also threw no interceptions. The Patriots' 19–10 victory was the first time in six tries that a quarterback making his first NFL start defeated a team led by Brett Favre.

Cassel was voted AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 7 performance against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night. He had 183 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 41–7 rout.

Cassel scored the second rushing touchdown of his career on a 13-yard touchdown in Week 10 against the Buffalo Bills. Cassel had zero touchdowns, but also zero interceptions, as he led the Patriots to a 20–10 win; the Patriots held the ball in the game for over 37 minutes; the final 19-play drive, which lasted over 9 minutes, tied a franchise record for most plays in a single drive.

In the Patriots' 34–31 overtime loss to the New York Jets, on November 13, 2008, Cassel led the Patriots on three unanswered scoring drives to bring them back from a 24–6 deficit with two minutes left in the first half, and threw a 16-yard touchdown to Randy Moss on 4th-and-1 with one second remaining to send the game into overtime. He finished 30-for-51 passing, with 400 yards, 3 touchdowns (and a pass for a two-point conversion), and no interceptions, and 62 yards rushing on eight attempts. Cassel became the first Patriot to throw for 300 yards and rush for 50 yards in the same game, and the first player since at least the NFL merger to have 400 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in the same game.

Cassel, in the last year of his four-year rookie contract, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent in 2009. In the wake of his performance against the Jets, and the uncertainty over Brady's recovery, NFL analysts and reporters have raised the question of whether the Patriots should, or will, apply the franchise tag to Cassel, less than three months after some of those same reporters predicted Cassel would be cut from the team.

Career stats

Year	Passing						Rushing
	Att	Comp	Yds	TD	Int		Att	Yds	Avg	TD
2005	24	13	183	2	1		6	12	2.0	0
2006	8	5	32	0	0		2	4	2.0	0
2007	7	4	38	0	1		4	12	3.0	1
2008	276	186	2,615	13	8		53	199	3.6	2
Total	315	208	2,868	15	10		65	227	3.4	3

Personal

His older brother, Jack, is a pitcher for the Houston Astros. Cassel's younger brother, Justin, is a pitcher for the Birmingham Barons, a AA baseball affiliate of the Chicago White Sox.

In a strange coincidence on September 7, 2008, Cassel replaced injured teammate Tom Brady in the first quarter of the season-opening game vs Kansas City only hours before Jack replaced injured teammate Wandy Rodriguez in the first inning at Colorado. Cassel played one season of baseball for USC in 2004, and was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 36th round of the 2004 MLB Draft.

Cassel, a communication major at USC, married his longtime girlfriend Lauren Killian, a former USC volleyball player, in February 2007.

External links

• Matt Cassel at NFL.com
• Stats at Pro-Football-Reference.com