Georgia football: 5 great Bulldogs who didn’t quite live up to the NFL hype

Quincy Carter first tried his hand at professional baseball after having initially committed to Georgia Tech. When things on the diamond didn’t pan out, however, he went to the Yellow Jackets’ rival in Athens instead. Upon his arrival, he won the starting job as a freshman and the hype train got rolling as he was the first true freshman starting quarterback for Georgia football in 53 years.

If the hype there wasn’t enough, the athletic quarterback turned heads in his first season with the Bulldogs on the field. Not only did he throw for 2,484 yards, 12 touchdowns and nine interceptions while rushing for 284 yards and four scores but the signal-caller also led his team to a 9-3 overall record, which culminated with a victory in the Peach Bowl and finishing as the No. 14 team in the country.

Georgia went just 8-4 overall in Carter’s final two seasons as the starting quarterback and, even though they ended the year with bowl wins, they didn’t finish ranked inside the top 15 in either of Carter’s final two seasons. But many regard Carter as one of the most physically gifted quarterbacks to ever play in Athens. That led to him being a second-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.

Carter made 31 starts with the Cowboys over the next three years and then played in seven games (three starts) the year after with the New York Jets. Unfortunately, outside of a 10-6 season with Dallas in 2003, he never found much success. He was oft-injured and, frankly, his erratic performance as a passer never got better. His NFL career stopped with the Jets, leaving the merits of his pro career few and far between.