Carson Brown Strong (born September 14, 1999) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

in 2022, and was also a member of the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

and

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

Early life

Strong was born on September 14, 1999, in

Vacaville, California Vacaville is a city located in Solano County, California, United States. It is located from Sacramento, California, Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is on the edge of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The city was founded in ...

. He later attended Will C. Wood High School, where he passed for 2,732 yards and 26

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

as a junior. He did not play his senior season due to a knee injury. In June 2017, Strong announced his commitment to play

at the

University of Nevada, Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and prim ...

. Nevada was Strong's only FBS offer despite being a three-star recruit.

College career

Strong made his debut at Nevada against Portland State in August 2018, where he rushed for 4 yards in the 72–19 win. He

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 at Nevada. Strong was named the starting quarterback for the 2019 season. In 10 starts, he completed 237 of 374 passes for 2,335 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. He returned as a starter in 2020. Despite a shortened season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Strong and the Wolf Pack finished with a 7–2 record and won against

Tulane The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it be ...

in the 2020 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. Strong started 9 games that season, completing 249 of 355 passes for 2,858 yards, 27 touchdowns and 4 interceptions, winning the

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

Offensive Player of the Year award. In 2021, Strong led the Wolf Pack to an 8–4 record in his best season at Nevada. Strong completed 366 of 522 passes for 4,175 passing yards, 36 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, winning the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year award again and becoming the fifth player in conference history to win the award in back-to-back years. On December 14, 2021, Strong announced his intention to opt-out of the 2021 Quick Lane Bowl and to declare for the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

College statistics

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles

On April 30, 2022, Strong signed an undrafted free-agent deal with the

. It included a $20,000 signing bonus and $300,000 base guarantee. He was released on August 30.

Arizona Cardinals

On December 13, 2022, Strong was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, 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. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

. He was released one week later.

Michigan Panthers

On March 19, 2023, Strong signed with the

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on May 16, 2023. He was not part of the roster after the 2024 UFL dispersal draft on January 15, 2024, and was waived on January 29. Two days later, Strong announced his retirement from playing, citing recurrent knee issues.

USFL statistics

Coaching career

On July 21, 2023, Strong joined

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

's coaching staff under Jay Norvell as a volunteer assistant. A week after starting at Colorado State, Strong joined his alma mater Nevada's coaching staff as an assistant coach.

References

External links

Nevada Wolf Pack bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Carson 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Vacaville, California Players of American football from Solano County, California American football quarterbacks Nevada Wolf Pack football players Philadelphia Eagles players Arizona Cardinals players Michigan Panthers (2022) players Colorado State Rams football coaches Nevada Wolf Pack football coaches