Matthew Paul Gutierrez (born June 9, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

. He 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 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 ...

in 2007. 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 ...

Idaho State , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

. He was also a member of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

Washington Redskins 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) N ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, Arizona Rattlers and

Kansas City Command The Kansas City Command (formerly the Kansas City Brigade) were a professional arena football team that played in the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was founded before the 2006 season. Former Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Kevin Porter ...

Early years

Gutierrez 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 ...

for perennial powerhouse De La Salle High School in

Concord, California Concord ( ) is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. According to an estimate completed by the United States Census Bureau, the city had a population of 129,295 in 2019 making it the eighth largest city in the San Francisco Ba ...

, where he never lost a game as a Spartan. He was teammates with former NFL

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Maurice Jones-Drew Maurice Christopher Jones-Drew (born March 23, 1985), often called "MJD", is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and earned unan ...

College career

Gutierrez went on to play at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where he was slated to be the starter in 2004 before he suffered a shoulder injury (a torn labrum) before the season opener during pregame warm-ups. Backup quarterback freshman

Chad Henne Chad Steven Henne (; born July 2, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan. While there, Henne became only the second true freshman starti ...

played well during the games Gutierrez was unable to play and was thus awarded the starting job. Gutierrez then transferred to

Idaho State University , mottoeng = "The truth will set you free" , established = , former_names = Academy of Idaho(1901–1915)Idaho Technical Institute(1915–1927)University of Idaho—Southern Branch(1927–1947)Idaho State ...

, where he started at quarterback in 2006.

Professional career

New England Patriots

After going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft, Gutierrez was signed by the

on May 8 as an

. Gutierrez played in his first career regular season game on September 9 against the

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

and completed his first regular-season pass for a 15-yard gain against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

on December 23. He appeared in five games with the team as a rookie while being inactive for 11 others. Matt Gutierrez at Patriots at Raiders 12-14-08

During the 2008 preseason, Gutierrez completed 29 out of 45 passes for 362 passing yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. On August 30, Gutierrez was part of the final cuts as the Patriots cut down to the mandatory 53-man roster. He was re-signed to the team's

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, ...

on September 10, then promoted to the active roster on September 13 after a season-ending injury to starter

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 ...

. He was inactive for the remaining 14 games of the season.

waived Gutierrez on August 3, 2009 after signing

Andrew Walter Andrew Scott Walter (born May 11, 1982) is an American businessman and former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft after playing college football at Arizona State Univers ...

Kansas City Chiefs

Gutierrez was claimed off waivers by the

on August 5, 2009.

waived Gutierrez on June 14, 2010.

Chicago Bears

Gutierrez signed with the

on August 18, 2010. He was released on August 30, 2010. The Bears re-signed Gutierrez in January 2011 to a reserve/future contract.

Omaha Nighthawks

Gutierrez was signed by the

of the United Football League on September 28, 2010.

Chicago Bears (second stint)

Gutierrez signed a reserve/future contract with the

in 2011. He was waived on August 8.

Washington Redskins

On August 10, 2011, Gutierrez was claimed off waivers by the

. On September 3, 2011 the Redskins cut him.

Arizona Rattlers

On September 27, 2011, Gutierrez signed with the Arizona Rattlers of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

St. Louis Rams

On December 6, 2011, Gutierrez was added to the practice squad of the

. Two days later, on December 9, 2011 Gutierrez was cut from the practice squad.

Kansas City Command

On March 31, 2012, the Rattlers traded Gutierrez to the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Matt 1984 births Living people American football quarterbacks Arizona Rattlers players Chicago Bears players Idaho State Bengals football players Kansas City Chiefs players Kansas City Command players Michigan Wolverines football players New England Patriots players Omaha Nighthawks players St. Louis Rams players Washington Redskins players People from Concord, California Players of American football from California Sportspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area De La Salle High School (Concord, California) alumni