Brian Lewerke (born October 24, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who is a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

Early years

Lewerke attended

Pinnacle High School Pinnacle High School is a public high school located in the north valley of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona. PHS opened in 2000, and is a part of the Paradise Valley Unified School District (PVUSD). The students are called Pinnacle Pioneers a ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

. During his career he had 7,090 yards and 87

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

total. He committed to

to play college football.

College career

2016 season

After redshirting his first year at Michigan State in 2015, Lewerke appeared in four games and made two starts as a redshirt freshman in 2016. His season ended in October after suffering a broken

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

after being tackled by

Jabrill Peppers Jabrill Ahmad Peppers (born October 4, 1995) is an American football strong safety for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the first ro ...

in a game against

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. He finished the season completing 31 of his 57 passing attempts for 381 yards, including two touchdowns and an interception.

2017 season

Lewerke entered the 2017 season as the starting quarterback for the team. He finished his 2017 redshirt sophomore season with 246 completions out of 417 passing attempts, 2793 total yards, 20 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions . Lewerke and the Spartans, who were ranked #19 at the time, also went on to beat

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, the #21 ranked team at the time, 42-17 in the 2017 Holiday Bowl, in which Lewerke earned the Offensive MVP award. The Spartans finished the season 10–3, with a final ranking of #15 in the AP poll.

2018 season

In his junior season, Lewerke completed 189 out of his 339 passing attempts, threw for 2,040 yards and 8 touchdowns, and threw 11 interceptions. He also ran 90 times for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns, and was sacked 19 times. This gave him a 54.3 completion percentage and a passer rating of 106.1. That season, the Spartans went 7-6 overall, and 5-4 in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. The Spartans also made an appearance in the

2018 Redbox Bowl The 2018 Redbox Bowl was a college football bowl game that was played on December 31, 2018 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with kickoff at noon PST (3:00 p.m. EST). It was one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 ...

, losing 7-6 to the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conferenc ...

2019 season

In his senior season, Lewerke completed 234 out of his 399 passing attempts, threw for 2,759 yards and 16 touchdowns, and threw 12 interceptions. He also ran 100 times for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns, and was sacked 17 times. He had a 58.6 completion percentage for the season and a passer rating of 124.0. That season, the Spartans went 7-6 overall, and 4-5 in the

. The Spartans also made an appearance in the

2019 Pinstripe Bowl The 2019 Pinstripe Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 27, 2019, with kickoff at 3:20 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 10th edition of the Pinstripe Bowl, and one of the 2019–20 bowl games concluding the 2019 FBS footbal ...

, winning 27-21 over the

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a mem ...

, in which Lewerke won the MVP award. During this game, Lewerke surpassed former quarterback Connor Cook to become the school's all-time leader in total yards from scrimmage.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Lewerke went undrafted in the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

. On May 5, 2020, Lewerke was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

as an undrafted free agent. On July 26, 2020, he was waived before training camp opened, but re-signed with the team four days later. He was waived on September 5, 2020. Lewerke signed with the Alphas of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

in May 2021.

New York Giants

On August 16, 2021, Lewerke signed with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad. On January 8, 2022, Lewerke was promoted for the teams season finale against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

after injuries to Daniel Jones and

Mike Glennon Michael Joseph Glennon (born December 12, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at NC State and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He has also pl ...

. He signed a reserve/futures contract with the Giants on January 10, 2022. On May 18, 2022, Lewerke was waived.

Seattle Sea Dragons

On November 15, 2022, Lewerke was assigned to the

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons (formerly known as the Seattle Dragons) are a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The team is a franchise of the new XFL and plays its home games at Lumen Field in Seattle. Originally founded ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

. He was released on January 21, 2023.

References

External links

Michigan State Spartans bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewerke, Brian 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona American football quarterbacks Michigan State Spartans football players New England Patriots players The Spring League players New York Giants players