Matt Flynn

Matthew Clayton Flynn (born June 20, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Packers in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU.

Early years
Matt Flynn attended Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas, where he was coached by Mike Owens. Flynn was one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the state of Texas, alongside Drew Tate of Baytown, Texas. As a junior in 2001, Flynn guided his team to a 5A playoff appearance but lost to the eventual state champion Mesquite High School. Flynn completed 101-of-199 passes for 1,650 yards, 13 touchdowns and 9 interceptions for the season. As a senior, he completed 124-of-206 passes for 1,679 yards and 9 touchdowns. He also displayed his ability on the ground with 305 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns. Flynn displayed toughness by leading Robert E. Lee High School to a semifinal appearance in one of the toughest classifications in Texas despite playing his last four games with a broken foot. His team lost to Midland High School 24-14.

Flynn was a member of the SuperPrep Texas 124, Dallas Morning News Texas Top 100 and the Tyler Morning Telegraph All-East Texas Football Team. He chose LSU over Tennessee, Texas Tech, Texas A&M.

Freshman season
Flynn redshirted the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, as did the other LSU quarterback signee, JaMarcus Russell. In 2004, he served as third string quarterback as a redshirt freshman, behind starter Marcus Randall and backup JaMarcus Russell. He also doubled as the LSU's holder on placekicks. Flynn played in all 12 games, but only three games at quarterback. His collegiate first completion went to Xavier Carter for a 67-yard touchdown against Mississippi State. Flynn also made a short appearance in the 2004 Capital One Bowl, completing 1-of-4 passes for 11 yards in a 25-30 losing effort against Iowa. He finished the year by completing 4-of-10 passes for 99 yards and 1 TD.

Sophomore season
The departure of Randall left Russell and Flynn battling for the starting QB position. Russell eventually got the job, leaving Flynn as backup. He played in seven games at quarterback for the Tigers in 2005, completing 27-of-48 passes for 457 yards, 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. In a win over North Texas, Flynn threw a perfect 7-of-7 for 139 yards and 3 TDs, all in the fourth quarter. In the 2005 SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs, starting quarterback Russell was injured and Flynn finished the game. He was then given the nod to start for the Tigers in the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the University of Miami Hurricanes. In that game, he led the Tigers to a 40-3 rout of Miami.

Junior season
Again serving as backup to Russell, Flynn appeared in seven games. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 133 yards over the season, recording 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Both TDs came in a 49-0 rout against Kentucky on October 14, 2006.

Senior season


With Russell's departure, Flynn would finally become a starter as a fifth-year senior. He would start every game this season except the SEC Championship in which he was injured.

Flynn threw a 22 yard TD pass to Demetrius Byrd to win the game against Auburn on October 20, 2007, there was one second remaining on the clock; Colt David kicked the extra point to make the final score LSU 30-Auburn 24.

He would then lead the Tigers to a 4th quarter comeback against Alabama. Flynn and the Tigers would then go on to beat Louisiana Tech the following weekend and climb back to the #1 spot after a loss by then #1 Ohio St. The following week the Tigers would handily beat Ole Miss. In his final game at Tiger Stadium, Flynn and the Tigers lost to Arkansas, seemingly losing any chance at the national title. However, LSU, without Flynn, beat Tennessee for the SEC Championship, and losses by Missouri and West Virginia vaulted LSU back into the title game in New Orleans.

On January 7, 2008, Flynn led LSU to a BCS National Championship, beating Ohio State 38-24. Flynn was named offensive MVP of the game. As the starting quarterback for LSU, Flynn led the Tigers to an undisputed #1 ranking in the polls.

Green Bay Packers
Flynn was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round (209th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 23, he was signed to a four year rookie contract through the 2011 season. He is currently listed as the Packers' second string quarterback, having won the competition for the back up role to Aaron Rodgers, beating out fellow rookie and second round pick Brian Brohm. The battle for the second string position became the most intriguing battle in camp. Flynn was seen as being less talented than Brohm because of Brohm's superior size, arm and foot speed, coupled with the fact Brohm was selected much higher in the draft compared to Flynn.

On December 19, 2010, Flynn made his first NFL start against the New England Patriots after starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers was not cleared medically to start. Flynn threw three touchdown passes; one each to John Kuhn, James Jones and Greg Jennings against New England, but threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the second half. The game went down to the final play when Flynn, with the ball at the New England 15-yard line, lost it when he was sacked. The Packers lost the game 31-27. Flynn completed 23 of 37 passes for 254 yards in the loss.

On November 14, 2011, Flynn scored his first career rushing touchdown in the 4th quarter against the Minnesota Vikings, and performed his first Lambeau Leap as a result.

Personal
His father, Alvin, was a quarterback at Baylor in the 1960s. His mother, Ruth, was the director of the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles. Matt has 4 siblings: Adam, Bill, Rebecca, and Amanda.