Background and career
Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback. He is the offensive passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). McCown played three seasons of college football for the SMU Mustangs, throwing for 27 touchdowns and 34 interceptions. He then transferred to play his final season of college football for the Sam Houston State Bearkats. In his only season with the Bearkats, he threw for 3,481 yards, 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, earning Southland Football League Player of the Year and third-team Division I-AA All-American honors. McCown was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft. McCown was in the NFL for eighteen seasons and was a member of twelve different franchises. He also played one year in the United Football League (UFL). While a backup for the majority of his NFL career, McCown re-emerged into a starting quarterback role after throwing for 1,829 yards, 13 touchdowns, and one interception with the Chicago Bears in 2013 in relief of the injured Jay Cutler. Overall, McCown was the primary starter for the Cardinals in 2004, the Oakland Raiders in 2007, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, the Cleveland Browns in 2015, and the New York Jets in 2017. With the Jets, he set single-season career highs with 267 completions, a 67.3 completion percentage, 2,926 passing yards, 18 passing touchdowns and 5 rushing touchdowns. After the 2018 season, McCown retired from the NFL and briefly joined ESPN as an NFL analyst. However, he came out of retirement to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in August 2019. In the Wild Card Round of the 2019–20 NFL playoffs, McCown replaced an injured Carson Wentz and played the majority of the game at the age of 40, becoming the oldest quarterback in NFL history to make his postseason debut. In 2020 with the Eagles, McCown became the oldest practice squad player in NFL history and the first NFL player to work remotely. In 2023, he was hired by the Panthers to be their quarterbacks coach under head coach Frank Reich. McCown was fired by the Panthers after a 1–10 start to the season. He became the Vikings' quarterbacks coach in 2024.
Joshua Treadwell McCown was born on July 4, 1979, in Jacksonville, Texas. He grew up on the family's ranch and attended Jacksonville High School. He had a significant growth spurt in high school that helped his football career. McCown later said, "My first driver's license said 5-foot-4. At 16, I was 5–4." A coach of McCown's also said, "We knew Josh was going to be a good football player if he ever grew. But it sure took awhile. He really started shooting up in the second half of his junior year." In McCown's senior year in 1997, he led the team to the playoffs and was the East Texas Player of the Year, District 17-4A Offensive Player of the Year, and an All-State honorable mention. He also played basketball and won All-District second-team honors as a shooting guard his senior year. The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce inducted him into their Wall of Fame in 2013.
McCown played college football for the SMU Mustangs of Southern Methodist University from 1998 to 2000, passing for 4,022 yards and 27 touchdowns, but also threw 34 interceptions. He started 25 total games for the Mustangs. He played in 9 games, starting 5, for the Mustangs his freshman season in 1998, completing 46 of 99 passes for 619 yards and 7 touchdowns with 8 interceptions. McCown split time with sophomore Chris Sanders in 1998. McCown was the first freshman to start at quarterback for the team since 1989. He started all 10 games for the Mustangs in 1999, completing 125 of 234 passes for 1,434 yards and 11 touchdowns with 10 interceptions. He set a school record for consecutive completions when he completed 19 passes in a row against Tulsa in 1999. McCown started 9 games for the Mustangs his junior year in 2000, completing 169 of 331 passes for 1,969 yards and 9 touchdowns with 16 interceptions. He threw for 420 yards against Texas-El Paso in 2000, which was the third-highest total in SMU history. He started the first six games of the 2000 season before being replaced by David Page for three games. McCown then started the final three games for the Mustangs.
McCown transferred his senior year to play for the Sam Houston State Bearkats of Sam Houston State University. He transferred to be in an offense that threw more and to have a better chance to win. He also did not have to sit out the 2001 season because Sam Houston State was in Division I-AA. McCown surpassed his three-year SMU touchdown total in just one season for the Bearkats, completing 259 of 429 passes for 3,481 yards and 32 touchdowns with 12 interceptions as a senior in 2001. The Bearkats finished the season with a 10–3 record and were Southland Football League co-champions with McNeese State. Sam Houston State defeated Northern Arizona in the first round of the Division I-AA national playoffs to reach the I-AA quarterfinals, where the Bearkats lost to eventual national champion Montana. He set single-season school records in pass completions, attempts, yards, and touchdowns. McCown's 3,481 passing yards ranked eighth on the school's career list. He also rushed for 351 yards and 6 touchdowns on 112 attempts. He threw for 404 yards and tied a school single-game record with 5 touchdowns against Western Illinois in 2001. McCown was named the SFL Player of the Year and earned first-team All-SFL honors in 2001. He was also named a third-team Division I-AA All-American by The Sports Network. Following his senior season, he was one of 16 players considered for the Walter Payton Award, given to the top performer in NCAA Division I-AA football. McCown finished seventh in the Walter Payton Award voting. He replaced Joey Harrington on the 2002 Senior Bowl roster after Harrington suffered a knee injury in the East–West Shrine Game. McCown played in the Senior Bowl and had a "strong game", completing 7 of 11 passes for 117 yards while also rushing for a 12-yard touchdown. He majored in history at Sam Houston State. McCown was inducted into the Sam Houston Athletic Hall of Honor in 2013.
McCown had an impressive performance at the NFL Combine, which saw him post a 40-yard dash in the mid-4-second range, a 10-foot long jump, and a 38+1⁄2-inch vertical jump. One scout who attended the combine said, "He could be the third quarterback taken or the eighth quarterback." McCown was rated the sixth-best quarterback in the 2002 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2002 NFL draft, with the 81st overall pick, and was the fourth quarterback to be drafted. Dave McGinnis, the head coach of the Cardinals when McCown was drafted, later stated, "[McCown] had all the background essentials you really liked. And he's a fabulous athlete. If you were going to start a pickup basketball game in the building, he'd be one of your first choices." McCown played for the Cardinals from 2002 to 2005. Entering his rookie season, McCown became the team's second-string quarterback after former Cardinals backup Chris Greisen was released in August. McCown made his NFL debut on December 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, relieving starter Jake Plummer late in the third quarter of an eventual 49–0 loss. McCown played in 2 games in 2002, completing 7 of 18 passes for 66 yards with 2 interceptions. He also rushed once for 20 yards.
In 2003, McCown was the backup to Jeff Blake for the first 13 games of the season. On September 14 against the Seattle Seahawks, McCown completed 18 of 32 passes for 150 yards with 2 interceptions after relieving the injured Blake late in the first quarter of an eventual 38–0 loss. Prior to the game against the San Francisco 49ers on December 7, it was reported that the Cardinals would play both starter Blake and McCown in the game. Blake played the first half, completing 8 of 20 passes for 59 yards and 1 interception. McCown played the second half, completing 11 of 20 passes for 120 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Cardinals lost by a score of 50–14. McCown was then promoted to starter and started the final three games of the season. Head coach Dave McGinnis stated, "Josh is the right decision professionally for our organization," and "Some quality time is what he needs against good teams ... and it's important to find out what we have there." In the final game of the season on December 28 against the Minnesota Vikings, McCown threw a game-winning 28-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Nate Poole as time expired to beat the Vikings by a score of 18–17. The Vikings would have made the playoffs if they had won the game, but the Green Bay Packers made the playoffs in their place. The Packers also invited McCown and Poole to attend their first playoff game. While McCown declined the invitation due to the birth of his third child, Poole attended the game and was presented with a key to the city. McCown played in 8 games, with 3 starts, in 2003 and completed 95 of 166 passes for 1,018 yards and five touchdowns with six interceptions. He also rushed for a career-high 158 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
