Charlie Whitehurst Biography

Charles David Whitehurst (born August 6, 1982) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Clemson, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. Whitehurst has also played for the Seattle Seahawks and Tennessee Titans, and is the son of former NFL quarterback David Whitehurst.

Early years

Whitehurst was a player with the Alpharetta Youth Football Association (AYFA). His 1993 90 Pound Division 1 Team won both the Southeastern Region Championship and the State of Georgia Championship. His 1994 105 Pound Division 1 Team won the Division 1 Championship in GYFC and the Runner up for the State of Georgia Championship. He attended Taylor Road Middle School.

Whitehurst attended Chattahoochee High School in what is now Johns Creek, Georgia and was a three-year letterman in football and a four-year letterman in baseball.

College career

While playing college football at Clemson, Whitehurst became the first quarterback to go 4-0 in the rivalry between Clemson and the University of South Carolina, including a 63-17 rout of the Gamecocks in Columbia on November 22, 2003.

The following year he was used as a multiple weapon by Tommy Bowden and the Tigers offense. In addition to passing for 2,067 yards, 7 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, he had one punt for 25 yards and also had a 2 yard reception. After his 2005 senior year, he left Clemson with 9,665 passing yards, 49 touchdowns and 46 interceptions and a 124.2 quarterback rating. On the ground, he gained 98 yards on 266 attempts and 10 touchdowns.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Whitehurst was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the third round (81st overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played in two regular season games as the third-stringer to Billy Volek and starter Philip Rivers.

His first game was game 2 against the Tennessee Titans in 2006. Whitehurst rushed once for 14 yards and a touchdown in a 40-7 win. His second appearance came in game 5 at San Francisco, which also resulted in a win, 48-19. He had one rush for -1 yard. He entered two more games but did not record a stat, game 8 against the Cleveland Browns (a 32-25 win) and game 12 in a 24-21 win against the Buffalo Bills. From 2007-2009, he did not enter another NFL game.

Seattle Seahawks

Whitehurst was acquired by the Seattle Seahawks on March 17, 2010, in exchange for a 2011 third-round draft pick to San Diego, and the two teams switched second-round picks in the 2010 NFL draft. He was signed to a two-year, $8 million contract. Seattle's front office later stated they had already picked up a potential franchise quarterback in the draft by acquiring Whitehurst with the 2011 pick.

On November 7, 2010, Whitehurst made his first-career start and completed 12 of 23 passes for 113 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions in Week 9 against the New York Giants due to an injury suffered by starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck.

Whitehurst started on January 2, 2011, in a Sunday Night game against the division rival St. Louis Rams to determine the NFC West champion. Whitehurst was 5-for-5 for 85 yards on the opening drive and finished the first half going 16-for-21 with 138 yards and one touchdown. He finished the game with a total of 22 completions and 36 attempts and 192 yards. Hasselbeck returned as the starter for the subsequent playoff game.

Prior to the 2011 preseason, Whitehurst was named the backup to Tarvaris Jackson, the former Vikings quarterback whom Seattle acquired in the 2011 offseason. However, Jackson and Whitehurst were expected to compete for the starting job once Whitehurst became familiar with the new offensive schemes. Whitehurst went 14-of-19 passing with one touchdown to put Seattle on the board against the Vikings in 2011's second preseason action. Whitehurst took over for an injured Jackson during a week 5 matchup at the New York Giants. In that game Whitehurst outscored Jackson's 14 points in the first three quarters by putting up 20 points in the fourth quarter, going 11-for-19, 149 yards, and a 27-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, securing a 36-25 Seattle victory. Coach Pete Carroll named Whitehurst to take over as starting quarterback until Jackson healed from a pectoral injury, although no official date of Jackson's medical clearance had been released. Whitehurst was named the starter for Week 7 against the Cleveland Browns, because Jackson had suffered a pectoral injury against the Giants. Whitehurst went 12 of 30 for 92 yards, with no touchdowns and two turnovers. Whitehurst started in week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals, but was benched for an injured Jackson after going 4 of 7 for 52 yards.

San Diego Chargers (second stint)

On March 16, 2012, Whitehurst signed a two-year contract with his former team, the San Diego Chargers.

Tennessee Titans

On March 13, 2014, Whitehurst signed a two-year contract with the Tennessee Titans replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick as the backup quarterback. Whitehurst performed in 7 games with 5 starts at quarterback and recorded career-highs in completions (105), pass attempts (185), passing yards (1,326), touchdowns (7) and a 87.4 passer rating while rushing 20 times for 90 yards. Whitehurst registered a career-high two touchdown passes against the Cleveland Browns on October 5, 2014. Whitehurst posted a career-best 287 passing yards against the Jacksonville Jaguars on December 18, 2014.

Whitehurst made the start in week four against the Indianapolis Colts after Jake Locker's injury, his first start since Week 8 of 2011. He was waived on November 11, 2015.

Indianapolis Colts

On November 12, 2015, Whitehurst was claimed off waivers by the Indianapolis Colts. Whitehurst's best game of the season was on December 27, 2015, against the Miami Dolphins, throwing 9-14 for 78 yards and a 78.9 passer rating. He played in 4 games for the Colts before being placed on injured reserve on December 28, 2015.

Career statistics

Season	Team	Games		Passing										Rushing				Fumbles
		GP	GS	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	Avg	TD	Int	Sck	SckY	Rate	Att	Yds	Avg	TD	FUM	Lost
2006	San Diego Chargers	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	13	6.5	1	-	-
2007	San Diego Chargers	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	San Diego Chargers	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2009	San Diego Chargers	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2010	Seattle Seahawks	6	2	57	99	57.6	507	5.1	2	3	5	13	65.5	20	43	2.2	1	2	0
2011	Seattle Seahawks	3	2	27	56	48.2	298	5.3	1	1	8	46	62.9	4	13	3.3	0	2	1
2012	San Diego Chargers	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2013	San Diego Chargers	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-5	-0.8	0	-	-
2014	Tennessee Titans	7	5	105	185	56.8	1,326	7.2	7	2	18	103	87.4	20	90	4.5	0	3	0
2015	Tennessee Titans	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2015	Indianapolis Colts	4	0	16	32	50.0	150	4.7	0	1	5	28	50.3	2	1	0.5	0	-	-
	Total	24	9	205	372	55.1	2,281	6.1	10	7	36	190	74.7	54	155	2.9	2	7	1

Personal Life

Whitehurst"?s father, David Whitehurst, played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers from 1977-83 and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1984. Whitehurst"?s sister, Carrie Whitehurst, also went to Clemson, where she was a forward on the Clemson Tigers"? women"?s basketball team.

On January 12, 2016, People.com reported that Whitehurst was dating Grammy Award winning singer Jewel.