Josh McCown

Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL).

He is currently the quarterbacks coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL.

In McCown's senior year in 1997, he led the team to the playoffs and was the East Texas Player of the Year, District 17-4A Offensive Player of the Year, and an All-State honorable mention.

He also played basketball and won All-District second team honors as a shooting guard his senior year.

McCown played college football for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University from 1998 to 2000, passing for 4,022 yards and 27 touchdowns, but also threw 34 interceptions.

He started 25 total games for the Mustangs.

He played in 9 games, starting 5, for the Mustangs his freshman season in 1998, completing 46 of 99 passes for 619 yards and 7 touchdowns with 8 interceptions.

McCown split time with sophomore Chris Sanders in 1998.

He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft after playing college football for the SMU Mustangs and Sam Houston Bearkats.

McCown was also a member of the Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Miami Dolphins, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Philadelphia Eagles, and Houston Texans of the NFL, and the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League (UFL).

He is the older brother of former NFL quarterback Luke McCown, younger brother of former Texas A&M quarterback Randy McCown and father of UTSA Roadrunners quarterback Owen McCown.

McCown attended Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Texas, where he was named the East Texas Player of the Year and earned All-State honorable mention honors as a senior.

He played three seasons for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University, where he passed for totals of 4,022 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 34 interceptions.

He then transferred to play his final season of college football for the Sam Houston State Bearkats of Sam Houston State University.

In his only season with the Bearkats, he threw for 3,481 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, earning Southland Football League Player of the Year and Third-team Division I-AA All-American honors.

McCown was then drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft and played for the team from 2002 to 2005.

He was mainly the backup quarterback during his tenure with the Cardinals but was the team's primary starter in 2004.

He was a backup with the Detroit Lions in 2006 and was traded to the Oakland Raiders in 2007, where he started nine games.

McCown then signed with the Miami Dolphins in 2008 but was traded to the Carolina Panthers before the start of the 2008 regular season.

He was a backup with the Panthers from 2008 to 2009.

He then played for the Hartford Colonials of the UFL in 2010, followed by a short off-season stint with the San Francisco 49ers in 2011.

McCown was then a backup with the Chicago Bears from 2011 to 2013.

In eight games, and five starts, in 2013, he threw for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns, and one interception, garnering the third-best passer rating in the NFL.

The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce inducted him into their Wall of Fame in 2013.

He then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was the team's primary starter in 2014.

However, after underperforming, McCown was released by the team and signed by the Cleveland Browns.

He was the primary starter for the Browns in 2015 and a backup for the Browns in 2016.

He was released by the Browns after the 2016 season and then signed with the New York Jets.

He was the primary starter for the Jets in 2017 and set single-season career highs with 267 completions, a 67.3 completion percentage, 2,926 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns and 5 rushing touchdowns.

After serving as a backup for the Jets in 2018, McCown retired from the NFL and joined ESPN as an NFL analyst.

However, he came out of retirement to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in August 2019, serving as a backup during the 2019 season.

In the Wild Card Round of the 2019–20 NFL playoffs, McCown replaced an injured Carson Wentz and played the majority of the game at the age of 40, becoming the oldest quarterback in NFL history to make his postseason debut.

In November 2020, he was signed off of the Eagles' practice squad by the Houston Texans; his last NFL team.

In 2023, McCown was hired by the Panthers to be their quarterbacks coach under head coach Frank Reich.

McCown was fired by the Panthers after a 1–10 start to the season.

He became the Vikings' quarterbacks coach in 2024.

McCown grew up on a ranch in Jacksonville, Texas, and attended Jacksonville High School.

He had a significant growth spurt in high school that helped his football career.

McCown later said, "My first driver's license said 5-foot-4. At 16, I was 5–4."

A coach of McCown's also said, "We knew Josh was going to be a good football player if he ever grew. But it sure took awhile. He really started shooting up in the second half of his junior year."