Jeremiah Juan Colquitt (born June 28, 1972) 1991 Squad
, ''1991 Tennessee Volunteers Football Guide'', p. 63. is a former

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 ...

player and coach. He played college football at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

, and was drafted by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount Th ...

, but did not make the team. He is of no known relation to Colquitt family of punters ( Dustin, Britton, Jimmy, and Craig).

Early years

Colquitt played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Oak Ridge High School in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 31,402 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak ...

. During his senior year, he completed 86 of 155 passes for 1,168 yards and 11 touchdowns, and was named All-State. As the Wildcats' starting quarterback, he led the team to consecutive 12-1 seasons during his junior and senior years.

College career

Colquitt signed with Tennessee in 1990 under head coach

Johnny Majors John Terrill Majors (May 21, 1935June 3, 2020) was an American professional football player and college coach. A standout halfback at the University of Tennessee, he was an All-American in 1956 and a two-time winner of the Southeastern Confe ...

, but

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first year. During the 1991 season, he was a backup to veteran quarterback Andy Kelly. He began the 1992 season competing for the starting quarterback slot, but was edged out by

Heath Shuler Joseph Heath Shuler (born December 31, 1971) is an American businessman, former NFL quarterback, and former U.S. Representative for from 2007 to 2013. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition during ...

. When Shuler entered the NFL draft following his junior season, Colquitt became Tennessee's starting quarterback, leading a quarterback corps that included future

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

baseball All-Star

Todd Helton Todd Lynn Helton (born August 20, 1973) is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played his entire 17-year career for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). A five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and ...

, future Hall-of-Famer

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with th ...

, and future Texas A&M quarterback

Branndon Stewart Branndon Stewart (born September 23, 1975) is a former American football player. He played quarterback for the University of Tennessee and Texas A&M University. High school career Coming out of Stephenville High School led by head coach Art ...

. Seven plays into his first start against

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, however, Colquitt suffered a season-ending knee injury. Tennessee tried to persuade the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

to restore Colquitt's final year of eligibility, but the request was denied.David Keim,
Color Doesn't Count; UT's Black Quarterbacks Have Left Giant Tracks
," ''Knoxville News Sentinel'', 2002. During his collegiate career, Colquitt completed 39 of 64 passes for 477 yards, five touchdowns, and an interception.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Despite his limited playing time in college, Colquitt was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round (191st overall pick) of the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. He was waived by the team on August 23, 1995. Colquitt was a member of the Frankfurt Galaxy of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

in 1996, but did not appear in any games for the team.

Post-playing career

In 1998, Colquitt was hired by his former offensive coordinator at Tennessee,

David Cutcliffe David Nelson Cutcliffe (born September 16, 1954) is the Special Assistant to the Commissioner for Football Relations at the Southeastern Conference and former college football coach, most recently head coach of the Duke University Blue Devils. ...

, as recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss. In 1999, he was promoted to director of recruiting. He left Mississippi two months later to become an offensive assistant and quality control coach with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. He was let go by the team following the 2002 season.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colquitt, Jerry 1972 births People from Oak Ridge, Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee American football quarterbacks Tennessee Volunteers football players Frankfurt Galaxy players Seattle Seahawks coaches Living people