Matt Grothe
Encyclopedia
Matt Grothe is a professional quarterback
who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Storm
. He has been with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He played college football
at South Florida
.
in Lakeland, Florida and was a letterman in football. In football, he was a two-time first team Class 4A All-State selection, was named the Lakeland Ledger Player of the Year twice, and as a senior, he was named to the Super Southern 100 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, was named the Class 4A Player of the Year, was a finalist for Mr. Football in the state of Florida, and was named the Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year. Grothe led his team to the state championship football game against Armwood High School
. Grothe passed for 2,700 yards and ran for 1,250 yards as a senior. He passed for 33 touchdowns and rushed for 15 touchdowns. After his senior season, he was named the 21st best prospect in Florida by the Tampa Tribune, named the 23rd best prospect in Florida by the Orlando Sentinel
, and Rivals.com
ranked him as the 24th best dual-threat quarterback and 93rd best overall prospect in the state of Florida. Grothe graduated from Lake Gibson High School in 2005 with a 4.0 grade point average. He also began studying karate as a child and eventually obtained a black belt.
Rookie of the Year, after he led his team to an upset of No. 7 West Virginia
on the road in Morgantown, West Virginia
. In his first post-season appearance, he led USF to the PapaJohns.com Bowl against East Carolina
. Although Grothe missed the entire second half of the game with a shin injury, the Bulls claimed their first-ever bowl victory by a score of 24–7.
Sports television channel ESPN
named Grothe the "biggest surprise" in all of the Big East for the 2006 football season. In total offensive yards, Grothe accumulated an average of 246 yards per game, second to only Louisville's Brian Brohm
in 2006 Big East play. Nationally, he ranked seventeenth in total offense for 2006 and was the 2nd ranked freshman in the country in that category.
watch list, the first USF player ever named to the list. Grothe was also named to the Manning Award
watch list, given to college football's top quarterback. Grothe led the Bulls to a 9–4 record in the 2007 season, including a 26-23 victory over No. 18 Auburn
in Alabama on September 9, 2007 and a 21–13 victory over No. 5 West Virginia at home on September 29, 2007. On October 14, 2007, Grothe was at the helm as the Bulls rose to a No. 2 BCS
ranking in the nation, the highest school ranking in history. The team ended the 2007 regular season ranked 21st in the BCS.
Grothe broke his own record for passing yards in a game with 382 in a 38–33 loss to Cincinnati
, and had a career-long 80-yard touchdown run against Pittsburgh
on November 24, 2007. He finished the 2007 regular season with 22 all-purpose touchdowns against only 14 interceptions.
Grothe and the Bulls accepted an invitation to the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
where they were routed by Oregon
on December 31, 2007.
. However, on September 19, 2009, during a game against Charleston Southern University
, Grothe injured his left knee just before halftime. The next day, it was announced Grothe would miss the remainder of the 2009 season due to a torn ACL
.
. On December 1, 2006, the Sporting News magazine named Grothe the 2006 Big East Freshman of the Year, as well as naming him to the Big East All-Freshman team. The Tampa Tribune also named Grothe the Big East Rookie of the Year.
, Grothe signed with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League on June 4, 2010. He was released by the Tuskers on September 6, 2010.
of the Canadian Football League
. He was released by the Argonauts on November 4, 2010. As of December 8, Grothe was put back on the Argos 2011 roster. On May 27, 2011, Grothe was released once more by the Argonauts.
debut on July 16, 2011. He took over in the third quarter against the Georgia Force
and went on to throw 5 touchdown passes. On his first pass attempt, he connected for a 40-yard score. Former South Florida teammate Amarri Jackson
caught three of Grothe's five touchdown passes. In his 2 appearances with the Storm, Grothe completed 38 passes of 67 attempts for 440 yads with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
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...
who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Storm
Tampa Bay Storm
The Tampa Bay Storm are an Arena Football League team based in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. They play their home games in the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa....
. He has been with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at South Florida
South Florida Bulls football
The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus...
.
Early years
Grothe attended Lake Gibson High SchoolLake Gibson High School
- Athletics :Lake Gibson prides itself on having a long standing tradition of athletic achievement.Located in one of the most fertile recruiting grounds in all of college football, Lake Gibson High School football team has appeared in seven regional finals appearances and over 60 wins the past...
in Lakeland, Florida and was a letterman in football. In football, he was a two-time first team Class 4A All-State selection, was named the Lakeland Ledger Player of the Year twice, and as a senior, he was named to the Super Southern 100 by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, was named the Class 4A Player of the Year, was a finalist for Mr. Football in the state of Florida, and was named the Old Spice Red Zone Player of the Year. Grothe led his team to the state championship football game against Armwood High School
Armwood High School
Armwood High School, located in Seffner, Florida, on U.S. Highway 92 opened in August 1984. The school is named after Blanche Armwood, a longtime Tampa resident, educator and activist. The school's mascot is the Hawk. The principal is Mike Ippolito.-Athletics:...
. Grothe passed for 2,700 yards and ran for 1,250 yards as a senior. He passed for 33 touchdowns and rushed for 15 touchdowns. After his senior season, he was named the 21st best prospect in Florida by the Tampa Tribune, named the 23rd best prospect in Florida by the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
The Orlando Sentinel is the primary newspaper of the Orlando, Florida region. It was founded in 1876. The Sentinel is owned by Tribune Company and is overseen by the Chicago Tribune. As of 2005, the Sentinel’s president and publisher was Kathleen Waltz; she announced her resignation in February 2008...
, and Rivals.com
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...
ranked him as the 24th best dual-threat quarterback and 93rd best overall prospect in the state of Florida. Grothe graduated from Lake Gibson High School in 2005 with a 4.0 grade point average. He also began studying karate as a child and eventually obtained a black belt.
2005 season
Grothe spent the 2005 campaign as a redshirt behind then-quarterback Pat Julmiste.2006 season
The 2006 season marked Grothe's first action on the football team after redshirting all of USF's 2005 bowl season. He won the starting quarterback spot over senior Pat Julmiste in the first game of 2006 against McNeese State. The national buzz continued for Grothe, the 2006 Big East ConferenceBig East Conference
The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...
Rookie of the Year, after he led his team to an upset of No. 7 West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
on the road in Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown, West Virginia
Morgantown is a city in Monongalia County, West Virginia. It is the county seat of Monongalia County. Placed along the banks of the Monongahela River, Morgantown is the largest city in North-Central West Virginia, and the base of the Morgantown metropolitan area...
. In his first post-season appearance, he led USF to the PapaJohns.com Bowl against East Carolina
East Carolina Pirates football
The East Carolina Pirates is a college football team that represents East Carolina University . The team is currently a member of the Conference USA, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association .The Pirates have won seven conference championships and...
. Although Grothe missed the entire second half of the game with a shin injury, the Bulls claimed their first-ever bowl victory by a score of 24–7.
Sports television channel ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
named Grothe the "biggest surprise" in all of the Big East for the 2006 football season. In total offensive yards, Grothe accumulated an average of 246 yards per game, second to only Louisville's Brian Brohm
Brian Brohm
Brian Joseph Brohm is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft...
in 2006 Big East play. Nationally, he ranked seventeenth in total offense for 2006 and was the 2nd ranked freshman in the country in that category.
2007 season
Grothe was named to the Maxwell AwardMaxwell Award
The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best football player in the United States. The...
watch list, the first USF player ever named to the list. Grothe was also named to the Manning Award
Manning Award
The Manning Award has been presented annually since 2004 to the collegiate American football quarterback adjudged by the Sugar Bowl Committee to be the best in the United States...
watch list, given to college football's top quarterback. Grothe led the Bulls to a 9–4 record in the 2007 season, including a 26-23 victory over No. 18 Auburn
Auburn Tigers football
Only Mohamed Amin Abughadir set the record with 1,890 yards in 1 season. He was the QB for Auburn in 1998.The Auburn Tigers football team represents Auburn University in college football as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, competing in the Western Division of the...
in Alabama on September 9, 2007 and a 21–13 victory over No. 5 West Virginia at home on September 29, 2007. On October 14, 2007, Grothe was at the helm as the Bulls rose to a No. 2 BCS
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
ranking in the nation, the highest school ranking in history. The team ended the 2007 regular season ranked 21st in the BCS.
Grothe broke his own record for passing yards in a game with 382 in a 38–33 loss to Cincinnati
Cincinnati Bearcats football
The Cincinnati Bearcats football program represents the University of Cincinnati in a college football. They compete at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level as members of the Big East Conference. The Bearcat football program is one of the nation's oldest, having fielded a team as...
, and had a career-long 80-yard touchdown run against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...
on November 24, 2007. He finished the 2007 regular season with 22 all-purpose touchdowns against only 14 interceptions.
Grothe and the Bulls accepted an invitation to the Brut Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...
where they were routed by Oregon
Oregon Ducks football
The Oregon Ducks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Oregon located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Known as the Ducks, the...
on December 31, 2007.
2008 season
Entering 2008, Grothe was named to both the Maxwell Award preseason watch list and the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award watch list. He finished the season with career highs in touchdown passes (18), passing yards (2,911), completions (240), and passing yards per game (223.9). He also led the team with 591 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns. Grothe led the Big East in total offense (269.4 yards per game), and ranked 21st nationally in that category.2009 season
Grothe started the 2009 season with wins against Wofford and Western KentuckyWestern Kentucky Hilltoppers football
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team is currently a member of the Sun Belt Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
. However, on September 19, 2009, during a game against Charleston Southern University
Charleston Southern University
Charleston Southern University, founded in 1964 as Baptist College, is an independent comprehensive university located in North Charleston, South Carolina. Charleston Southern enrolls a maximum of 3,200 students. Affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the university's mission is...
, Grothe injured his left knee just before halftime. The next day, it was announced Grothe would miss the remainder of the 2009 season due to a torn ACL
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
.
College statistics
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | Rating | Att | Comp | % | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds | TD |
| 2006 | South Florida Bulls South Florida Bulls football The South Florida Bulls are a Division I FBS college football program that plays its home games in Tampa, Florida. The team began playing in 1997, holding its first team meeting under a shade tree as the school had no proper football facilities on campus... |
13 | 138.8 | 317 | 202 | 63.7 | 2,576 | 15 | 14 | 178 | 622 | 9 |
| 2007 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on August 30, 2007, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 7, 2008, where the top... |
South Florida Bulls 2007 South Florida Bulls football team The 2007 University of South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida in the 2007 college football season. Their head coach was Jim Leavitt, and the USF Bulls will played all of their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL... |
13 | 121.0 | 392 | 232 | 59.2 | 2,670 | 14 | 14 | 198 | 872 | 10 |
| 2008 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on August 28, 2008, progressing through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Miami Gardens, Florida on January 8, 2009, where the #2... |
South Florida Bulls 2008 South Florida Bulls football team The 2008 South Florida Bulls football team will represent the University of South Florida in the 2008 college football season. Their head coach is Jim Leavitt, and the USF Bulls will play all of their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. The 2008 college football season is only the... |
13 | 135.8 | 380 | 240 | 63.2 | 2,911 | 18 | 14 | 146 | 591 | 4 |
| 2009 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season, or the college football season, began on September 2, 2009, progressed through the regular season and bowl season, and concluded with the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game in Pasadena, California on January 7, 2010, featuring the... |
South Florida Bulls 2009 South Florida Bulls football team The 2009 South Florida Bulls football team represented the University of South Florida in the 2009 college football season. Their head coach was Jim Leavitt, and they played their home games at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. The 2009 college football season was only the 13th season overall... |
3 | 167.0 | 59 | 43 | 72.9 | 512 | 5 | 2 | 23 | 121 | 0 |
| Career | 42 | N/A | 1,148 | 717 | 62.4 | 8,669 | 52 | 44 | 545 | 2,206 | 23 | |
Records and accolades
At South Florida, Grothe surpassed 3,000 yards of total offense in his first full season and passed for more than 2,400, breaking both school records formerly held by Marquel BlackwellMarquel Blackwell
Marquel Blackwell is a former American football quarterback. After playing for Lakewood and Dixie Hollins High Schools in Pinellas County Florida, Blackwell was the quarterback at the University of South Florida for four seasons. From 1999 to 2002, he threw for 9,108 yards and 57 touchdowns, and...
. On December 1, 2006, the Sporting News magazine named Grothe the 2006 Big East Freshman of the Year, as well as naming him to the Big East All-Freshman team. The Tampa Tribune also named Grothe the Big East Rookie of the Year.
- 2006 Big East Rookie of the Year
- 2006 Sporting News Big East Freshman of the Year
- 2006 Sporting News Big East All-Freshman Team
- 2006 Scout.comScout.comScout.com is an integrated sports publishing company that produces both an Internet and print product. Scout has more than 2.1 million visitors...
All-American Freshman Team (2nd team) - 2006 Tampa Tribune Big East Freshman of the Year
- 2007 Nationalchamps.net Heisman Watch Candidate
- 2007 Maxwell Award Watch List
- 2007 Manning Award Watch List
- 2008 Maxwell Award Watch List (2nd time)
- 2008 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Watch List
- 2008 Big East Offensive Player of the Week on 9/8/2008
- 2008 Big East Offensive Player of the Week on 9/29/2008
- 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl MVP of the Game
Florida Tuskers
After going undrafted in the 2010 NFL Draft2010 NFL Draft
The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible football players. Unlike previous years, the 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first round on Thursday, April 22, 2010, at 7:30 pm...
, Grothe signed with the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League on June 4, 2010. He was released by the Tuskers on September 6, 2010.
Toronto Argonauts
On October 6, 2010, Grothe signed a practice roster agreement with the Toronto ArgonautsToronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...
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 released by the Argonauts on November 4, 2010. As of December 8, Grothe was put back on the Argos 2011 roster. On May 27, 2011, Grothe was released once more by the Argonauts.
Tampa Bay Storm
Grothe made his Arena Football LeagueArena Football League
The Arena Football League is the highest level of professional indoor American football in the United States. It is currently the second longest running professional football league in the United States, after the National Football League. It was founded in 1987 by Jim Foster...
debut on July 16, 2011. He took over in the third quarter against the Georgia Force
Georgia Force
The Georgia Force are an Arena Football League team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States that plays in the South Division of the American Conference. The team is owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings...
and went on to throw 5 touchdown passes. On his first pass attempt, he connected for a 40-yard score. Former South Florida teammate Amarri Jackson
Amarri Jackson
Amarri Nathaniel Jackson is an American football wide receiver who is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Storm....
caught three of Grothe's five touchdown passes. In his 2 appearances with the Storm, Grothe completed 38 passes of 67 attempts for 440 yads with 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.