John Paddock 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

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

. He previously played for the

Ball State Cardinals The Ball State Cardinals are the athletic teams that represent Ball State University, located in Muncie, Indiana. The Cardinals are part of the NCAA Division I Mid-American Conference. Charlie Cardinal is the team mascot. The Ball State Uni ...

. John was Honorable Mention All Big Ten (2023).

Early life and high school

Paddock was born in

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Bir ...

, where he attended

Bloomfield Hills High School Bloomfield Hills High School (BHHS) is a public high school in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, United States. It is the sole comprehensive high school of the Bloomfield Hills School District, and was established in 2013 when the district merged ...

. Coming out of high school, Paddock was rated as a two start quarterback. Paddock committed to play

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 ...

at the

Ball State University Ball State University (Ball State, State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana. It has two satellite facilities in Fishers, Indiana, Fishers and Indianapolis. On July 25, 1917, the Ball brothers, indust ...

College career

Ball State

In Paddock's first four seasons with Ball State, he appeared in only four games as a backup quarterback. In those four games, Paddock completed 24 of his 32 passes for 180 yards and an interception. In 2022, Paddock earned the starting quarterback job heading into week one. In week three of the 2022 season, Paddock completed 27 of his 44 passing attempts for 227 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception, as he got his first win as a starter shuting out

Murray State Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, ...

. Paddock finished the 2022 season completing 286 of his 480 pass attempts for 2,719 yards and 18 touchdowns, with 14 interceptions, going 5-7 as a starter. After the conclusion of the 2022 season, Paddock decided to enter 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 ...

Illinois

Paddock transfer to the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

as a walk on to play the final season of his college career. In week nine of the 2023 season, Paddock entered the game in the fourth quarter down by one score after starter

Luke Altmyer Luke Altmyer (born October 22, 2002) is an American football quarterback for the Illinois Fighting Illini. He previously played at Ole Miss. Early years Altmyer's hometown is Starkville, Mississippi and he attended Starkville High School. In Al ...

went down with an injury. Paddock completed all three of his passes for 85 yards including the game winning touchdown, as he helped Illinois beat

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

27-26. Paddock started the following week, throwing for 507 yards and four touchdowns with one interception and leading the Fighting Illini to a win in overtime over

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 48–45.

References

External links

Illinois Fighting Illini bio

Ball State Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddock, John Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football quarterbacks Ball State Cardinals football players Illinois Fighting Illini football players People from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan Players of American football from Oakland County, Michigan