Matthew Lawrence LoVecchio (born February 2, 1982) was a starting

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

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

football team in 2000–01, and for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 2003–04.

Early years

LoVecchio grew up in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. He attended Bergen Catholic High School in

Oradell, New Jersey Oradell is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the borough's population was 8,244,, an increase of 266 from the 2010 United States census, 2 ...

, where he earned four letters as a football quarterback, throwing for 3,400 passing yards and 48 touchdowns, and was named an Honorable Mention pick on ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'''s All-American Prep Team.

College

As a freshman at the

in 2000, LoVecchio assumed the starting quarterback role following an injury to Arnaz Battle and two starts by interim QB Gary Godsey, a converted tight-end. He won his first seven games as a starter, during which the team averaged over 400 yards of total offense and 36 points per game. His stats for the season included 1,118 passing yards, eleven touchdowns and only one interception out of 158 attempts. The team was rewarded with a berth in the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been playe ...

against Oregon State. However, the Beavers dominated the Irish in a 41–9 victory. The following year, LoVecchio struggled, losing his first two games and eventually yielding the starting job to Carlyle Holiday. Head coach Bob Davie was fired at the end of the 2001 season, and when new head coach Tyrone Willingham did not name LoVecchio as the starter in the spring of 2002, the quarterback decided to transfer to

. LoVecchio stated of his leaving Notre Dame, "It's just a personal decision, that's all I'm going to say right now." After sitting out the 2002 season per NCAA regulations, LoVecchio started eleven games for the Hoosiers in 2003, completing 155 of 291 passes for 1,778 yards and three touchdowns, including an eight-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of a 17–14 win at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. In 2004, he completed 153 of 271 passes for 1,951 yards and thirteen touchdowns.

College career statistics

Professional career

LoVecchio was not drafted by any

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

franchise. He signed on with the

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

during training camp in 2005, but failed to make the final roster. He was offered a chance to play in

NFL Europe 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 ...

, but declined and retired from football.

Personal life

After retiring, LoVecchio worked for

Merrill Lynch Merrill (officially Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated), previously branded Merrill Lynch, is an American investment management and wealth management division of Bank of America. Along with BofA Securities, the investment bank ...

and

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

, now working as an institutional bonds trader for

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

in New York City.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovecchio, Matt Living people 1982 births American football quarterbacks Bergen Catholic High School alumni Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players People from Englewood, New Jersey People from Franklin Lakes, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey Indiana Hoosiers football players