Ernest Joseph Perry IV (born August 26, 1998) 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

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in the Detroit, Michigan area. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played i ...

of the United Football League (UFL). 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 ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

Early years

Perry grew up in

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, and attended Andover High School. He played football at Andover for his father, E. J. Perry III, and was a four-year starter at

. Perry set the single-game state record for passing yards with 636 during his junior season and was featured in ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

s '' Faces in the Crowd''. As a senior, Perry was named the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' Division 1 Player of the Year after he passed for 3,398 yards and 47 touchdowns, which tied the state record, and also rushed for 1,006 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He finished his high school career with 8,712 passing yards and 114 touchdown passes, both of which are second in Massachusetts high school history. Perry committed to play college football at

over FBS offers from UMass and

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and from FCS schools

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, Holy Cross,

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, Bryant,

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

, Dartmouth,

and Columbia.

College career

Perry began his collegiate career at

and joined the team as an early enrollee. He played in one game as a freshman but did not throw a pass. As a sophomore, Perry played in five games and completed 27 of 39 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Following the end of the season, Perry announced that he would be transferring to

where his uncle, James Perry had recently been named head coach. Perry was named the Brown Bears' starting quarterback going into his first season with the team. He was named first-team All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

after completing 251 of 418 pass attempts for 2,948 yards and 22 touchdowns with 13 interceptions and also leading the team with 730 rushing yards with eight touchdowns. He also played basketball for Brown following the season. Perry's initial senior season in 2020 was canceled due to Covid-19. In 2021, Perry won the Bushnell Cup as the Ivy League's top offensive player and was again named first-team all-conference after completing 295 of 444 attempts for 3,033 yards and 23 touchdowns against 14 interceptions and rushing for 402 yards and seven touchdowns. He also won The George H. "Bulger" Lowe Award by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston as the best offensive player in New England and was a finalist for the

Walter Payton Award The Walter Payton Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding offensive player in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football as chosen by a nationwide panel of media and college sports ...

. After the conclusion of his college career, Perry was invited to play in the 2022 East–West Shrine Bowl. He completed 13-of-18 passing attempts for 241 yards and three touchdowns and also rushed for two

two-point conversion In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run ...

s and was named the game's offensive MVP.

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Perry participated in the 2022

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

and received the highest overall athleticism score of any quarterback invited. Leading up to the draft he worked out with

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 ...

quarterbacks

Mac Jones Michael McCorkle "Mac" Jones (born September 5, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of Alabama, Alabama, where he set the Nationa ...

and

Jarrett Stidham Jarrett Ryan Stidham (born August 8, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). After transferring from Baylor, he played college football at Auburn and was selected by the New Engl ...

at Edge Performance Systems in

Foxborough, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

Perry initially agreed to terms for a contract with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

shortly after the conclusion of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

. However, he opted not to sign with the team after the Eagles signed quarterback

Carson Strong Carson Brown Strong (born September 14, 1999) is a former American football quarterback who is currently an assistant quarterback coach for the Nevada Wolf Pack. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Philadelphia Eagles in , and also pl ...

and instead signed a contract with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

on May 3, 2022. On July 24, 2022, the Jaguars released Perry with a non-football injury designation. He was re-signed by the Jaguars on August 9, 2022. Perry was waived a second time on August 30, 2022, during final roster cuts and re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jaguars on January 23, 2023. He was waived on March 7, 2023.

Houston Texans

On March 8, 2023, Perry was claimed off waivers by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. He was waived on May 11, 2023.

Michigan Panthers

Perry signed with the

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

on May 30, 2023. He was released from his contract on August 12, 2023, to sign with an NFL team.

Houston Texans (second stint)

Perry re-signed with the Texans on August 13, 2023. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

Michigan Panthers (second stint)

On December 18, 2023, Perry re-signed with the Panthers, but was released the next day to sign with an NFL team.

Jacksonville Jaguars (second stint)

On December 19, 2023, Perry signed to the Jaguars' practice squad following starting quarterback

Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National C ...

entering concussion protocol. He was not signed to a reserve/future contract and thus became a free agent after the season when his practice squad contract expired.

Michigan Panthers (third stint)

Perry re-signed with the Michigan Panthers on January 22, 2024. He was placed on injured reserve on April 24, 2024. He was activated on June 4.

Personal life

Another uncle of Perry's, John Perry, is a football coach and was previously the head coach at

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

. John also was a receiver coach for the Houston Texans.

References

External links

Houston Texans bioBoston College Eagles bioBrown Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Ej 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Essex County, Massachusetts American football quarterbacks Brown Bears football players Boston College Eagles football players People from Andover, Massachusetts Brown Bears men's basketball players Jacksonville Jaguars players Houston Texans players Michigan Panthers (2022) players