Brooks Bollinger

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Brooks Bollinger
Date of birth	November 15, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Grand Forks, North Dakota
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg)
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Wisconsin
NFL Draft	2003 / Round 6 / Pick 200
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference CBS.com DatabaseFootball ESPN
Team(s)
2003–2005 2006-Present	New York Jets Minnesota Vikings

Brooks Putnitzbacher Bollinger (born November 15, 1979 in Grand Forks, North Dakota) is a quarterback for the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

[edit] College career

The 6 foot 1 inch, 205 lb Wisconsin graduate began his football career at Central High School located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Bollinger went on to be a four-year starting quarterback for Wisconsin. In his freshman year, Bollinger led Wisconsin to their second straight Rose Bowl victory, with help from Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. The following year, Bollinger continued to develop into a primetime quarterback by helping the Badgers win the Sun Bowl over the UCLA Bruins. Wisconsin struggled in Bollinger's junior year, posting a 5-7 overall record and did not make it to a bowl game. Bollinger ended his collegiate career with an overtime victory over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl. Brooks finished with an impressive 30-12 record as a starter at Wisconsin.

[edit] NFL career

Bollinger started his Jets career in 2003. As the sixth round draft pick, Bollinger was benched for the entire year while Vinny Testaverde and Chad Pennington led the team as quarterbacks. His idle NFL career ended in 2004, when he replaced an injured Quincy Carter to take his first snap in an NFL game against Arizona. Bollinger completed 5 of 9 passes for 60 yards.

Bollinger did not play again until 2005, when first and second-string quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler were both injured in a game against Jacksonville. This unfortunate series of events kickstarted Bollinger's career as the quarterback for the Jets. After the incident, Jets head coach Herman Edwards tried to bring experience at the QB position to the team by signing veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde. The 41-year-old Testaverde failed to perform up to expectations and was benched for Bollinger. Bollinger kept improving with experience and finished the season strong as the starter with a 2-7 record. Brooks also won honors as the Jets Most Valuable Player for the month of December, including his first 300+ yard passing game versus Miami on December 18th 2005.

Bollinger was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 for Defensive Tackle C.J. Mosley and a draft pick where he will be reunited with new head coach Brad Childress, his Offensive Coordinator in college. After a game against the Chicago Bears in which Vikings starting QB Brad Johnson threw 4 INTs, Bollinger came in and replaced him. He threw for 70 yards (with seven completions on nine attempts), before he was injured and replaced by rookie Tarvaris Jackson.

With Johnson departing the Vikings for the Dallas Cowboys, it is possible that Bollinger could become the Vikings' permanent starting QB in 2007.

Brad Childress has claimed that the Quarteback position for the 2007 season will be up for grabs and that both Bollinger and Tarvaris Jackson could become the starter. Drew Henson will be the mentor to the new quarterback as he signed March 15th 2007.