Damon Huard

Damon Paul Huard (born July 9, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He is the director of community relations and fundraising for the University of Washington football program, his alma mater.

Huard was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent in 1996, and played 12 seasons in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and Kansas City Chiefs. While with the Patriots, he won two Super Bowl rings as a backup. He was the first player to hold a snap for kicker Ryan Longwell when they played for Aylen Junior High in Puyallup.

Damon Huard attended Puyallup High School, where he was a letterman for the Vikings in football and basketball. He played tight end as a sophomore, as the quarterback was senior Billy Joe Hobert who later was an NFL quarterback.

Professional career Cincinnati Bengals After going undrafted in the 1996 NFL draft, Huard was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent, but was waived on August 19.

Miami Dolphins After spending the 1996 season out of football,

In the Chiefs' 2007 training camp, Huard competed with second-year Brodie Croyle, the team's third-round draft choice in 2006. Huard was named the starter on August 25, and started the first nine games of the season, going In his final start, Huard suffered a back injury and was replaced by Croyle, but Croyle himself was injured after his second start, both losses, and Huard returned as the starter in Week 13. He suffered a hand injury in the game and Croyle started the Chiefs' next two games. In Week 16, Croyle was injured again and Huard had the opportunity to play as a reserve before Croyle returned to start the last game of the season. The Chiefs ended the season with a nine-game losing streak.

Croyle started the opener in 2008, but again suffered an injury and was replaced by Huard. In Week 2, Huard started but suffered a concussion and was replaced by Tyler Thigpen, a seventh-round draft pick in 2007. Thigpen started the Chiefs' Week 3 game before Huard returned for Weeks 4 and 5. Croyle returned after the bye week in Week 7 to start, was injured again, and replaced by Huard, who suffered a thumb injury. He was placed on injured reserve the next week, ending his season. The same week, Croyle was also placed on injured reserve, leaving Thigpen as the Chiefs' starter for the remainder of the season.

After the season, Scott Pioli, the Patriots' director of player personnel during Huard's time in New England, was hired to be the Chiefs' general manager. Huard was released by the Chiefs on February 24, roughly a week before Pioli traded for Matt Cassel, a Patriots backup who replaced an injured Brady in 2008, to be the Chiefs' starter in 2009.

San Francisco 49ers Huard signed with the San Francisco 49ers on March 4, 2009, and competed for a quarterback job behind Alex Smith and also with Shaun Hill and 2009 fifth-round pick Nate Davis; Huard was released on September 1, and retired.

After football The University of Washington announced in June 2013 that Huard had taken a new role as chief administrative officer of the football program. He had been a fundraiser for the previous three seasons in the athletic department. Under new head coach Chris Petersen, Huard became director of external relations. Huard and former Miami Dolphins teammate and quarterback Dan Marino have a winemaking venture in Woodinville, Washington called

Personal life Huard and his wife Julie Ann have three children.

His son, Sam Huard, plays quarterback at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and previously attended Washington, Cal Poly, and Utah. Sam started his first game in the 2021 Apple Cup.