Matthew Clayton Flynn (born June 20, 1985) is an American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at LSU.

College career

Flynn redshirted the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season, as did the other LSU quarterback signee, JaMarcus Russell.

In 2004, Flynn was a third string quarterback as a redshirt freshman, behind starter Marcus Randall and backup JaMarcus Russell. He was also LSU's holder on placekicks. Flynn played in all 12 games, but only three games at quarterback. His collegiate first complete throw went to Xavier Carter for a 67-yard touchdown against Mississippi State. Flynn also made a short appearance in the 2004 Capital One Bowl. In that game, he completed 1 of 4 passes for 11 yards in a 25-30 loss against Iowa. He finished the year by completing 4 of 10 passes for 99 yards and 1 TD.

Sophomore season

When Randall left the team, Russell and Flynn fought for the starting QB position. Russell got the job. Flynn was the backup. Flynn played in seven games at quarterback for the Tigers in 2005. He completed 27 of 48 passes for 457 yards, 7 touchdowns and 1 interception. In a win over North Texas, Flynn threw 7-of-7 for 139 yards and 3 TDs, all in the fourth quarter. In the 2005 SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs, starting quarterback Russell was injured. Flynn finished the game. He was then made the main quarterback for the Tigers in the 2005 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl against the University of Miami Hurricanes.  In that game, he led the Tigers to a 40-3 win over Miami.

Junior season

Flynn played in seven games as a junior. He completed 12 of 20 passes for 133 yards over the season. He had 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Both TDs came in a 49-0 win against Kentucky on October 14, 2006.

Senior season

 

When Russell was drafted by the Oakland Raiders, Flynn finally became a starter as a fifth-year senior.  He started every game that season except the SEC Championship in which he was injured.

Flynn threw a 22 yard TD pass to Demetrius Byrd to win the game against Auburn on October 20, 2007 with 1 second remaining on the clock. LSU won the game 30 - 24.

He then led the Tigers to a 4th quarter comeback against Alabama State University. The Tigers then beat Louisiana Tech the following weekend and became the #1 team in the nation. The next week the Tigers beat Ole Miss. In his final game at Tiger Stadium, the Tigers lost to Arkansas State University. With this loss, it was not likely the team could win the national title.  However, LSU, without Flynn, beat Tennessee for the SEC Championship. This win by LSU and losses by Missouri State University and West Virginia State University let LSU go to the championship game in New Orleans.

On January 7, 2008, Flynn led LSU to a BCS National Championship. They beat Ohio State 38-24. Flynn was named offensive MVP of the game.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Flynn was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 7th round (209th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 23, he was signed to a four-year contract through the 2011 season. He is now Green Bay's second-string quarterback. He  won the back-up role to Aaron Rodgers by beating out fellow rookie and second-round pick Brian Brohm. The battle for the second-string position became the most interesting battle in camp. Flynn was seen as being less talented than Brohm because of Brohm's larger size, and better arm and foot speed.

On December 19, 2010, Flynn made his first NFL start against the New England Patriots because starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers was hurt. Flynn threw three touchdown passes. He threw one each to John Kuhn, James Jones and Greg Jennings against New England. He also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown by Kyle Arrington. The Packers lost the game 31-27. Flynn completed 23 of 37 passes for 254 yards in the loss, and was praised for his good work

On January 1, 2012, the Packers were the #1 seed and rested most of their starting players., Matt Flynn started the final game of the season against the Detroit Lions. He threw for 480 yards and 6 touchdowns in the 45-41 victory. both of these statistics set all-time Green Bay Packers records, and got many other teams interested in signing Flynn as a starter.

Seattle Seahawks

Flynn was signed by the Seattle Seahawks in mid-March of the 2012 offseason to a 3-year deal worth up to $26 million and $10 million guaranteed.

References
 Green Bay Press Gazette (2010-12-19). "Green Bay Packers QB Matt Flynn has fine 1st road start ". Green Bay Press Gazette. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 

 Associated Press (2010-12-19). "Pats find worthy adversary in Flynn, hold off Pack for sixth straight". NFL.com. Retrieved 2010-12-20. 
 Matt Flynn's historic day leads Packers' backups past Lions.
 Flynn has fine first road start against the Patriots .
 LSU routs Kentucky.
 Rodgers calls Flynn "a top-15 quarterback" .
 Matt Flynn, Seahawks agree to deal

Other websites
Green Bay Packers bio 
LSU Tigers bio 

Sportspeople from Texas
American football quarterbacks
Green Bay Packers players
1985 births
Living people