Mike Quinn

Michael Patrick Quinn (born April 15, 1974 in Las Vegas, Nevada) is a former professional gridiron football quarterback. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and was also a member of the Rhein Fire, Indianapolis Colts, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Denver Broncos, Montreal Alouettes and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He played college football at Stephen F. Austin.

Quinn attended Lee High School in Houston, Texas and Stephen F. Austin University. He started playing football in high school and played in his university, where he started for one season, his senior season. After he went undrafted in the 1997 NFL Draft he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. With Pittsburgh, he ended up making the roster as the third–string quarterback. Following the season, he was allocated to the Rhein Fire, whom he led to the championship game. He spent 1998 and 1999 as a backup for the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys before signing with the Miami Dolphins. Quinn spent two seasons backing up for the Dolphins. In 2002, he was one of the first group of players signed by the National Football League (NFL) expansion franchise, the Houston Texans. As he had done for the previous years in his career, Quinn spent two seasons as a backup for the new franchise. The final year of his NFL career was spent with the Denver Broncos in training camp and with the Steelers' practice squad. After going unsigned, Quinn signed with the Montreal Alouettes joining their practice squad in August 2005, leaving the team after the season. Quinn joined another Canadian team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in March 2006 but after receiving playing time in a backup role he was released in August.

Personal
Quinn attended Robert E. Lee High School in Houston, Texas. He was named to the state All-Star team during his tenure. Currently, he and his wife, Jennifer, live in Houston, Texas. At Stephen F. Austin, he majored in accounting.

College career
On November 12, 1995 in a game against Southwest Texas State, Quinn came into the game for starting quarterback James Ritchey and threw three touchdown passes.

In the game against Samford on October 27, 1996, Quinn led Stephen F. Austin to a 43–14 win after throwing a touchdown pass to Chris Jefferson at the end of the first half. SFA held the lead for the rest of the game. Against McNeese State on November 3, Quinn led a come from behind win for SFA by throwing two touchdowns to Mikhael Ricks in the fourth quarter. The next week, Quinn threw for 283 yards and threw four touchdown passes to lead Stephen F. Austin to another win making them 7–2. However, against Southwest Texas State on November 17, Quinn threw 23 incomplete passes.

1997–2003
Quinn signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent following the 1997 NFL Draft. Quinn entered training camp behind Kordell Stewart, Mike Tomczak and Jim Miller on the depth chart, but after training camp Quinn had beaten out Miller and became the team's third-string quarterback. He saw his only game action on November 9 against the Baltimore Ravens, throwing for 10 yards on one completion. Following the 1997 season, the Steelers allocated Quinn to play in NFL Europe, he later agreed to play for the Rhein Fire. In his second game with the Fire on April 12, Quinn completed 13 of 21 passes for 194 yards. He also completed two touchdown passes. With Quinn as the starting quarterback, the Fire played in the World Bowl. However, Quinn was hampered by a sprained ankle and could not play in the game. He returned to the Steelers after the NFL Europe season but was waived on August 31.

After being waived by Pittsburgh, Quinn was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts on September 1. To make room for Quinn the Colts had to release Jim Miller, who had lost a roster spot on the Steelers to Quinn a year earlier. However, after signing Doug Nussmeier, the Colts waived Quinn.

The Dallas Cowboys, who were unsuccessful claiming Quinn 10 days earlier, claimed him after he was waived by the Colts. In Dallas, Quinn became the Cowboys second-string quarterback after Troy Aikman was injured and Jason Garrett became the starter. He played in three games for the Cowboys in 1998, completing one pass for 10 yards. In 1999, Quinn did not play in a game for Dallas. During the 2000 off–season, Garrett signed as a free agent with the New York Giants and quarterback Paul Justin was signed by Dallas to compete for the backup spot with Quinn. He was released on May 5, 2000.

Quinn signed with the Miami Dolphins on May 23, 2000. On November 6, Quinn threw a touchdown pass to Deon Dyer but was waived by the Dolphins on November 10, only to be re-signed four days later. In the 2001 preseason, Quinn sprained a joint in his shoulder and was waived/injured. He was released from injured reserve with an injury settlement on September 6.

The Houston Texans, the newest franchise in the NFL, signed Quinn to a reserve/future contract on December 30, 2001. Following the 2002 NFL Draft in which the Texans drafted quarterback David Carr with their first ever pick, Quinn became the backup. Quinn and Tony Banks ended up winning the backup jobs to Carr over Kent Graham and Ben Sankey. Banks was second–string with Quinn being the third–string quarterback. The Texans waived Quinn during final cuts on August 25, 2003. He was the final member of the Texans first signings still on the team. He was re-signed to the practice squad on November 17 after David Carr suffered a sprained right shoulder. However, when Banks also became injured, Quinn was signed from the practice squad to back up the now healthy Carr and rookie Dave Ragone.

2004–2006
The Denver Broncos signed Quinn as an unrestricted free agent in March 2004. At the end of training camp, Quinn was released by the Broncos.

Quinn was re-signed by the Steelers on September 22 and assigned to their practice squad. He was released from the practice squad on November 10.

Quinn was signed to the Montreal Alouettes practice roster on August 29, 2005.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed Quinn on March 22, 2006 joining quarterbacks Tee Martin, Russ Michna and Kevin Glenn on Winnipeg's roster. In his CFL preseason debut against the Montreal Alouettes on June 2, Quinn threw a 24 yard touchdown pass to Quentin McCord however the Blue Bombers lost 25–24. After making the team out of training camp, Quinn injured his sternum and shoulder which caused him to miss three weeks. In his first week back with Winnipeg, Quinn was forced into the starting role after Kevin Glenn suffered a knee injury. However, a string of poor performances which included an interception in the end zone while Winnipeg was in field goal position led to his release on August 28.