Cade McNamara (born May 28, 2000) 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 ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

. McNamara was the starting quarterback for the 2021 Michigan Wolverines team won the 2021 Big Ten championship, and appeared in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

, suffering a 34-11 loss to No. 3 Georgia in the

2021 Orange Bowl The 2021 Orange Bowl may refer to: * 2021 Orange Bowl (January) – a bowl game following the 2020 season, on January 2, 2021, between Texas A&M and North Carolina * 2021 Orange Bowl (December) The 2021 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl gam ...

. McNamara lost his starting QB spot with the Wolverines after week 2 of the 2022 season to J. J. McCarthy. McNamara then suffered a season ending injury in a week 3 game against UConn. Following the conclusion of the 2022 regular season on November 28, McNamara entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member i ...

and chose to transfer to the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

on December 1.

Early years

McNamara was born in 2000. His father, Gary McNamara, played baseball as the starting center fielder at Fresno State in 1992 and 1993 and worked as an assistant coach for the

Nevada Wolf Pack baseball The Nevada Wolf Pack baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the University of Nevada, Reno in Reno, Nevada, United States. The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is part of the NCAA Division I. Nevada's fi ...

team. With encouragement from his father, McNamara initially played baseball as an infielder and pitcher. After his freshman year of high school, he quit baseball to focus on football. In 2015, McNamara enrolled at

Damonte Ranch High School The Damonte Ranch High School (DRHS) opened in the Fall of 2003. Located in the Truckee Meadows, the school is the newest public high school in the Washoe County School District. Located in southeast Reno, the High School is named for the Damonte ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, and became the school's starting quarterback as a freshman. In four years at Damonte, he set Nevada prep football records with 12,804 passing yards and 146 touchdown passes. He was the Gatorade Player of the Year for Nevada in both 2017 and 2018.

College career

Michigan

Rated as the No. 1 football prospect in Nevada, McNamara initially committed to play for Notre Dame. He rescinded his commitment in February 2018 and announced the following month that he had committed to play for

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 ...

. McNamara also had offers from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

, and credited his choice of Michigan to its head coach

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh (; born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current and 20th head football coach of the Michigan Wolverines. He played college football at Michigan from 1983 to 1986. He play ...

. He completed high school in December 2018, allowing him to enroll early at Michigan in January 2019. 2019 True Freshman Year (Redshirt) He did not see game action during the 2019 football season. 2020 Redshirt Freshman Year On November 14, 2020, McNamara saw his first significant college football game action against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He entered the game in the third quarter with the Wolverines trailing, 35–3. On his first drive in the game, he threw a touchdown pass to

Mike Sainristil Michael Sainristil (born October 3, 2000) is an American football wide receiver and defensive back for the Michigan Wolverines. Early life and high school career Sainristil was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in 2000. His father, Carlot, was the ...

and then threw for a two-point conversion. On November 21, 2020, McNamara entered Michigan's game against

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

in the second quarter with Michigan trailing, 17–0. He led a comeback that ended with a triple-overtime victory by the score of 48 to 42. McNamara completed 27 of 36 passes for 260 yards and four touchdowns and also scored a rushing touchdown. The comeback from a 17-point deficit was the third largest in Michigan history. On November 28, McNamara made his first career start at quarterback, but battled injury, completing 12-of-25 passes for 91 yards in a 17–27 loss to

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. 2021 Redshirt Sophomore Year McNamara started all 14 games for the Wolverines in 2021. His best performance came in what would be the team's only regular season loss. On October 30 at

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, McNamara threw for 383 yards on 28-for-44 passing with two touchdowns and an interception in a 37-33 loss to the Spartans. On November 27, he was 13-for-19 with 159 yards and an interception in the Wolverines' 42-27 win over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, Michigan's first victory against its rival since 2011. The next week, in the

Big Ten Championship Game The Big Ten Football Championship Game is a college football game held by the Big Ten Conference each year to determine the conference's season champion. The game, held after the regular season has been completed, matches the division champions f ...

, McNamara threw for 169 yards in a 42-3 blowout of

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, clinching the program’s first appearance in the

. Michigan's 2021 season ended at the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in th ...

, a College Football Playoff semifinal, with a 34-11 loss to eventual national champion

. Despite throwing just four interceptions all season up to that point, McNamara was picked off twice by Georgia and benched late in the game in favor of backup J.J. McCarthy. On December 16, 2021, McNamara signed a deal with Brady Brand, an apparel company led by former Michigan quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

. 2022 Redshirt Junior Year Prior to the 2022 season, McNamara competed with J.J. McCarthy for the role as Michigan's starting quarterback. McNamara started in week one against

Colorado State Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

, going 9-for-18 with 136 yards and a touchdown. McCarthy was named the permanent starter after starring in week two against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. McNamara appeared briefly in the Wolverines' games against Hawaii and

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

. In the week three contest with UConn, McNamara injured his right

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

. On November 10, McNamara announced that he had undergone knee surgery and intended to play again. He finished the season 14-for-25 with 180 passing yards, a touchdown, and an interception. After Michigan's regular season finale against Ohio State, McNamara entered the transfer portal.

Iowa Hawkeyes

2023 Redshirt Senior Year On December 1, 2022, McNamara announced his commitment to the

. He will have two seasons of eligibility left.

College statistics

References

External links

Michigan Wolverines bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Cade 2000 births Living people American football quarterbacks Iowa Hawkeyes football players Michigan Wolverines football players Players of American football from Nevada Sportspeople from Reno, Nevada