Erik Ainge

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Erik Ainge
New York Jets — No. 9
Quarterback
Date of birth: June 12, 1986 (1986-06-12) (age 22)
Place of birth: Portland, Oregon
Height: 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Weight: 221 lb (100 kg)
National Football League debut
No regular season or postseason appearances
Career history
College: Tennessee
NFL Draft: 2008 / Round: 5 / Pick: 162
 Teams:
Current status: Active
Career highlights and awards
  • No notible achievements

Erik Douglas Ainge (born June 12, 1986 in Portland, Oregon) is an American football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League. Ainge played college football at the University of Tennessee. Ainge attained a 3.4 GPA during his tenure at Tennessee and earned a degree in Political Science.

Contents

[edit] Early life and family

Ainge was born and grew up in Portland, Oregon and attended Glencoe High School. His father, Doug Ainge, attended Brigham Young University on a basketball scholarship and is currently a basketball coach at Linfield College. His grandfather, Don Ainge, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball; he declined their offer. He also earned a football/basketball scholarship to the University of Oregon in 1954-1955. His uncle, Danny Ainge, is a former professional basketball and baseball player who starred in the NBA for the Boston Celtics, the Sacramento Kings, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Phoenix Suns, and also played Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays. Danny is currently the director of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics. Erik's cousin Austin (Danny's son) started at point guard for BYU's basketball team for two seasons.

[edit] High school career

Ainge was a star athlete at Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, Oregon. As a freshman and sophomore, he played baseball and basketball in addition to football. Ainge was the starting pitcher on his baseball team and was said to throw a 90 mph fastball. He also averaged 17 points, 8 rebounds, and three assists in basketball as a junior, and as a senior was a preseason honorable mention on the Street and Smith's All-American team. He was a two-year starter at quarterback on the football team, leading the Crimson Tide as deep as the Oregon state quarterfinals. As a junior he passed for 2,559 yards and 16 touchdowns. As a senior, he passed for 3,078 for 475 yards, 5 touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Crimson Tide to 62 points through three quarters of action. Following his senior season Ainge was named all-state, prep star all-American, and the 2003 Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year. During his senior season Ainge also became one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks on the west coast

Ainge during a game
Ainge during a game

[edit] Collegiate career

As a freshman at UT in 2004, Ainge threw 17 touchdown passes in 9 games, breaking Peyton Manning's freshman TD record of 15. His 1,452 passing yards ranked second behind Manning in UT freshman history. Ainge split time for much of the year with Brent Schaeffer, who later transferred to Ole Miss. After an injury just before halftime against Notre Dame, Ainge was replaced by former University of Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen's brother Ricky. It was evident that the Notre Dame injury was something Ainge never mentally recovered from and injuries plagued his career at UT. As a freshman, before the injury Ainge played without fear but after he was very skidish in the pocket after that hit.

In 2005, his sophomore season, he threw 5 touchdown passes and 7 interceptions. One of his most infamous moments was in a game against LSU where he was being sacked by LaRon Landry in the end zone, and flung the ball up into the air just before he was ruled down for a safety. Ainge's head also hit the goalpost on the play, tweaking his neck. As a result, Senior QB Rick Clausen took over. Ainge finished his sophomore season with a strong performance and a win at Kentucky.

As a junior in 2006, Ainge was named the starter heading into spring practice, and for the first time in his career was able to take all of the first team reps throughout the preseason. Ainge also had a new position coach and offensive coordinator when David Cutcliffe replaced Randy Sanders. He led his team to 7-1 record before being injured in the closing minutes of a game against South Carolina. He would then miss the majority of the next two losses for Tennessee before returning to lead his team to season-ending wins against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. During the season Ainge would set career highs in most statistical categories and break the Tennessee single-season record for completion percentage. He now owns a 17-5 record as a starter. The 2007 Outback Bowl was the first bowl appearance for Ainge. He had a solid outing in a 20-10 loss to Penn State. Ainge missed the 2005 Cotton Bowl due to injury, and the Vols did not qualify for a bowl game following his sophomore season.

On March 8, 2007 it was reported that Ainge would have to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus. Ainge stated that the injury occurred during weightlifting exercise. He is 100% recovered, and it has had no effect on his 2007 season. A similar injury to former Vols receiver Robert Meachem caused him to miss his entire freshman season.[1] Rivals.com named Ainge as one of the top-10 quarterbacks going into the 2007 season.[1]

Eric's senior year statistics included 3,522 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions. Despite throwing 513 passes his senior year Eric was only sacked 3 times. He completed 62.6 % of his passes and had a 135.48 QB rating. Ainge was able to achieve this success despite nagging injuries which hampered him all season. The strongest statistical game for Ainge was a 52-50 overtime win over Kentucky in which Ainge threw 7 touchdowns and 397 yards and his Bowl win over Wisconsin (Outback Bowl) in which Ainge threw for 365 yards and two touchdowns. Eric also lead Tennessee to a 35-14 victory of Nationally ranked Georgia in which he completed 17 of 22 passes.

[edit] List of achievements during collegiate career

[edit] Awards

[edit] Championships

[edit] Bowl appearances

[edit] Honors

  • Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week, September 18, 2004 (vs. Florida)[2]
  • 2004 Freshman All-America The Sporting News (2nd)[3]
  • SEC Offensive Freshman of the Year The Sporting News[4]
  • Freshman All-SEC Coaches[5]
  • 2005 Academic All-SEC[6]
  • USA Today National Player of the Week, September 4, 2006 (vs. California)[7]
  • SEC Offensive Player of the Week, September 11, 2006 (vs. Air Force)[8]
  • SEC Offensive Player of the Week, October 2, 2006 (at Memphis)[9]
  • SEC Offensive Player of the Week, October 9, 2006 (at Georgia)[10]
  • Cingular All-America Player of the Week, October 9, 2006 (at Georgia)[11]
  • Walter Camp Div. I-A National Offensive Player of the Week, October 9, 2006 (at Georgia)[12]

[edit] Professional career

Ainge was selected in the fifth round (162th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the New York Jets.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Rivals.com's QB Power Rankings, CNNSI.com, April 2, 2007.
  2. ^ http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ainge_erik00.html
  3. ^ http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ainge_erik00.html
  4. ^ http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ainge_erik00.html
  5. ^ http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ainge_erik00.html
  6. ^ http://utsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/ainge_erik00.html
  7. ^ http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/2006-09-04-player-of-the-week_x.htm
  8. ^ http://tennessee.scout.com/2/567355.html
  9. ^ http://cfn.scout.com/2/574830.html
  10. ^ http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=2&url_article_id=7781&url_subchannel_id=&change_well_id=2
  11. ^ http://cingular.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=1710
  12. ^ http://wwww.secsports.com/index.phps=&url_channel_id=2&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=7775&change_well_id=2

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Rick Clausen		 Tennessee Volunteers
Starting Quarterbacks
2004-2007		 Succeeded by
Jonathan Crompton
v • d • e
New York Jets 2008 NFL Draft selections
v • d • e
New York Jets starting quarterbacks
Dorow • Wood • Namath • Woodall • Davis • Todd • Robinson • Ryan • O'Brien • Nagle • Esiason • Reich • O'Donnell • Testaverde • Lucas • Pennington • Bollinger • Clemens