Maxwell David Hesketh Duggan (born March 12, 2001) 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

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

. He won the

Davey O'Brien Robert David O'Brien (June 22, 1917 – November 18, 1977) was an American football quarterback. He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU) and professionally in the National Football League (NFL) with the Philadelphia Eagle ...

and

Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's top upperclassmen quarterback in college football. Candidates are judged on accomplishments on the field as well as on their character, scholastic achievemen ...

s in 2022 after leading TCU to the

2023 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship is a college football bowl game that is scheduled to be played on January 9, 2023, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The ninth College Football Playoff National Championship, the g ...

Early years

Duggan grew up in

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The city is the most populous in Southwest Iowa, and is the third largest and a primary city of the Omaha–Council Bluffs ...

as the youngest child of Debra Dodds and

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

, who had met while both were athletes at the

University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is the flagship univ ...

in the early 1980s. His two older siblings, Sam and Megan, were both adopted from

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. At

Lewis Central High School Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

, Duggan played football, baseball, basketball and ran track. On the football field, he was coached by his father and was four-year starter at quarterback. As a senior, he passed for 2,130 yards and 24 touchdowns while adding another 1,223 yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground on his way to being named the 2018 Iowa Gatorade High School Player of the Year. Rated as a 4-star prospect, Duggan was ranked as the top recruit in Iowa for the Class of 2019. Despite scholarship offers from regional programs

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

, national powers like

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

as well as his favorite team from childhood, Notre Dame, Duggan chose to play his

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 ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

, announcing his commitment to the Horned Frogs via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. He graduated from Lewis Central a semester early in order to enroll at TCU in January 2019.

College career

2019

Duggan's collegiate debut came in the Frogs' 2019 season opener, a 39–7 home victory over

Arkansas-Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a public historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or university in the state of Arkansas. UAPB is part of the University of ...

when he came on in relief of starter Alex Delton late in the first quarter, scoring his first career rushing touchdown on his first possession. His first career touchdown pass came in the second half on a 37-yard strike to

Jalen Reagor Jalen Armand Reagor (born January 2, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU and was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round ...

. He made his first career start three weeks later in a game against SMU, becoming just the second true freshman to start at quarterback under longtime TCU coach

Gary Patterson Gary Allen Patterson (born February 13, 1960) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the special assistant to the head coach at the University of Texas. He is the former head football coach at Texas Christian University ...

. In late October, he scored the game-winning touchdown on an 11-yard run with less than two minutes remaining as TCU upset 15th-ranked

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, 37–27. He ended his first season having thrown for a school freshman record 2,077 yards and 15 touchdowns..

2020

Prior to Duggan's sophomore season in 2020, a medical screening that was part of enhanced safety protocols associated with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

revealed that he had been born with

Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome (WPWS) is a disorder due to a specific type of problem with the electrical system of the heart. About 60% of people with the electrical problem developed symptoms, which may include an abnormally fast heartbeat, ...

, a condition that affects the

electrical system Electricity is the set of physics, physical Phenomenon, phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagne ...

of the

heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

. Two days after undergoing a nine-hour surgery to fix the issue, he returned to the hospital with a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...

and underwent an additional, emergency surgery. Despite these medical ordeals, he was ready to play in the Frogs' 2020 season opener, throwing for 241 yards and three touchdowns against

. A week later in a road game against 9th-ranked

, Duggan once again sealed an upset win over the Longhorns with his legs as he scored from 26 yards out late in the fourth quarter in the 33-31 TCU victory. Beginning with a road win over Baylor on Halloween, Duggan led the Frogs to wins in five of their last six contests - highlighted by his 369 yards of total offense (265 passing, 104 rushing) in a 29–22 home victory over 15th-ranked

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. TCU accepted an invitation to play

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

in the

Texas Bowl The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replaced ...

, but the game was canceled as part of the second wave of the pandemic. Duggan ended the 10-game, shortened season with 1,795 yards and 10 touchdowns passing - and with 526 yards on the ground and 10 rushing touchdowns, became the first TCU quarterback to lead the team in rushing since

Gil Bartosh Gilbert C. Bartosh Sr. (May 21, 1930 – June 4, 2016) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) from 1974 to 1976, compiling a record of 6–28. Considered the g ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

2021

Duggan's junior campaign was a frustrating time for the TCU program and him personally. He did throw for a career-best 346 yards and 4 touchdowns against 4th-ranked

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, but he was hampered by injuries for much of the season as he played through a broken bone and torn tendons in one of his feet. In a late October road loss against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

that dropped the Frogs' record to 3–5, Duggan was benched when his injuries severely limited his productivity. The next day, Patterson's tenure at TCU came to an abrupt halt and interim coach

Jerry Kill Gerald R. Kill (born August 24, 1961) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at New Mexico State University. He played college football at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1979 to 1982. Kill served as the head ...

took over for the remainder of the season. While Duggan was out, backup Chandler Morris threw for 461 yards in leading TCU to a 30–28 upset victory over 12th-ranked Baylor. After TCU hired

Sonny Dykes Daniel "Sonny" Dykes (born November 9, 1969) is an American football coach, and a former college baseball player. He is currently the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU), and previously served in the same role at Southern Meth ...

as their new head coach in November, speculation that Morris' performance against Baylor could signal the end of Duggan's time as the Frogs' starting quarterback increased when Dykes told reporters that there would be open competition for the job going into 2022.

2022

In August, the quarterback competition that lasted throughout the spring and summer ended when Dykes and offensive coordinator

Garrett Riley Garrett Riley (born September 11, 1989) is an American football coach who is currently the offensive coordinator at Clemson University. He was previously the offensive coordinator at Texas Christian University. Coaching career Riley began his ...

informed Duggan that Morris would be the starter. Rather than entering the

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 ...

to find a new program, Duggan elected to remain at TCU and told Dykes that he intended to be the best backup quarterback in the country and that he'd do anything to help Morris succeed. With the Frogs leading 17–6 in the 3rd quarter of the season-opener at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, Morris injured his knee. Duggan came on in relief, leading the Frogs on two touchdown drives to pull away, 38–13. After throwing for a career-high 390 yards in a win over

Tarleton State Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 14,000 students in the fall of 2020. History John Tarleton Agricultural ...

and going on the road to reclaim the Iron Skillet from crosstown rival SMU to finish the non-conference schedule 3–0, Duggan and the Frogs made a statement with a resounding 55–24 victory over 18th-ranked

. With 302 yards and 3 touchdowns passing and 116 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing, Duggan earned Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. In each of the next three weeks, Duggan led the Frogs to come-from-behind victories - first on the road at 19th-ranked

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

with a last-minute, game-winning 24-yard touchdown pass to

Quentin Johnston Quentin Johnston (born September 6, 2001) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at TCU and was selected by the Chargers in the first round of the 202 ...

and then overcoming double-digit deficits at home against both 8th-ranked

in double overtime and 17th-ranked

to reach 7–0. In November, Duggan and TCU defeated in-state rivals

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, 18th-ranked

and Baylor in consecutive weeks to reach 11–0. In the game against Baylor, the Frogs trailed by 8 late in the 4th quarter. After a touchdown to pull within 2 and a quick stop by the TCU defense to get the ball back with 1:30 on the clock and no timeouts, Duggan led a 54-yard drive to get into field goal range - setting up a dramatic final sequence in which the TCU field goal unit ran onto the field with the clock running before kicker Griffin Kell connected on a game-winning 40-yard field goal that left the

McLane Stadium McLane Stadium is an American football stadium in Waco, Texas owned and operated by Baylor University. Originally named "Baylor Stadium", the facility's name was changed to "McLane Stadium" in December 2013 to honor Baylor alumnus and business ma ...

crowd stunned. After a home win over

that made Duggan the first quarterback to lead TCU to a perfect 12-0 regular season since

Andy Dalton Andrew Gregory Dalton (born October 29, 1987) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Red Rifle", Dalton previously played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas Cowboys, and ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, the Frogs were set for a rematch with Kansas State in the

2022 Big 12 Championship Game The 2022 Big 12 Championship Game was a college football game played on December 3, 2022, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It was the 21st edition of the Big 12 Championship Game, and determined the champion of the Big 12 Conference for the ...

. Down by 11 in the 4th quarter, Duggan led TCU on yet another comeback, scoring on an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:51 remaining to put him over 100 rushing yards for the game and connected with tight end Jared Wiley on the 2-point conversion to force overtime. The Wildcats prevailed in OT - but the next day, 12-1 TCU became the first team from the state of Texas to be selected to play in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. They defeated 2nd-ranked

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

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 ...

on December 31. Duggan's accolades for the season include becoming the first Horned Frog to be named

Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year Coaches of the Big 12 Conference bestow the following individual awards at the end of each American football, football season. Offensive Player of the Year * 1996: Troy Davis (running back), Troy Davis, RB, Iowa State Cyclones football, Iowa State ...

since

Trevone Boykin Trevone Dequan Boykin (born August 22, 1993) is an American football quarterback for Galgos de Tijuana of the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional (LFA). He played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU) and was signed by the Se ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and the first TCU player to win the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Co ...

(named after former TCU quarterback

) and the

. On December 6, he became the first TCU player since

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

to be named a finalist for the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. He would finish second in the Heisman voting, behind

Caleb Williams Caleb Williams (born November 18, 2001) is an American football quarterback for the USC Trojans. Williams played for the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021 before transferring to USC as a sophomore in 2022, where he won several player of the year awards, i ...

from

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. On December 18, 2022, Duggan announced he would forego his remaining college eligibility and declare for the

2023 NFL Draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

. He will still start for the Horned Frogs in the College Football Playoff. In the

, they beat the wide favorites Michigan

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

51-45 in the

. He went 14 of 29, threw for 225 yards, and 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. They are slated to face the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

in the

College Football Playoff National Championship The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. ...

on January 9th.

Statistics

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Max American football quarterbacks Living people TCU Horned Frogs football players 2001 births