Tony Pike

Anthony Steven Pike (born March 10, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Cincinnati and was drafted by the Panthers in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

Tony Pike
Pike (right) with the Carolina Panthers in 2010
No. 16
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (1986-03-10) March 10, 1986
Cincinnati, Ohio
Height:6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight:223 lb (101 kg)
Career information
High school:Reading (OH)
College:Cincinnati
NFL Draft:2010 / Round: 6 / Pick: 204
Career history
Career highlights and awards
  • Second Team Big East (2008)
  • 2008 All-Mayday Team (ESPN)
  • First Team Big East (2009)
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT:0–0
Passing yards:47
QB rating:60.1
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Born to Steve and Cheri Pike, Tony attended Reading High School, where he was named Cincinnati Division II-III Player of the Year as a senior at football. As a senior, he completed 319 of 531 passes for 4,355 yards and 46 touchdowns, earning first-team all-state honors. Pike also played basketball, helping the Blue Devils win a state title as a junior and reach the regional finals as a senior.[1]

College career

Pike enrolled at University of Cincinnati in January 2005. He was redshirted for the 2005 season.

In 2007, he made his collegiate debut against Southeast Missouri State,[2] Pike finished the night 6-of-9 for 57 yards and a touchdown. In 2008 college football season, Dustin Grutza was the named the team's starting quarterback following Ben Mauk's failure to gain a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. In a 52–26 loss to Oklahoma Sooners, a team that would play for the national championship that season, Grutza broke his ankle and was replaced by Pike.[3]

The Bearcats traveled to Akron, Ohio to play the Akron Zips. Against the Zips, Pike broke his arm and was replaced by redshirt freshman Zach Collaros, who led the Bearcats to a 17–15 victory.[4]

After returning as starting quarterback, Cincinnati recovered to beat two top-25 opponents, No. 23 South Florida Bulls and No. 20 West Virginia Mountaineers. Pike led the team to the outright 2008 Big East Championship, and the Bearcats played in their first-ever BCS bowl game, the 2009 Orange Bowl.[5]

He finished the regular season 183-291 passing for 2,168 yards and 18 touchdowns. He completed 63 percent of his passes and finished second in the Big East passing efficiency list with 141.07. Pike was named to the 2008 All-Mayday Team by ESPN college football analyst Mark May.[6] He also was named to the Second-Team All-Big East Team.[7]

Pike enjoyed even more success in 2009. Despite missing three games due to a re-injury of his broken non-throwing arm (when he was again replaced by Collaros), Pike threw for 2,520 yards and 29 touchdowns, including a school-record six touchdowns in a single game against Illinois. Pike threw just six interceptions in 2009, and led the 2009 Bearcats to a 12-0 regular season and second straight outright Big East title. The team finished the regular season at No. 3 in the BCS rankings, and was invited to the 2010 Sugar Bowl.

Statistics
YearTeamPassingRushing
CmpAttPctYdsY/ATDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTD
2007Cincinnati112055.0914.61379.777510.70
2008Cincinnati19932461.42,4077.41911136.456470.81
2009Cincinnati21133862.42,5207.5296149.83160.22
Career42168261.75,0187.44920141.4941281.43

Source:[8]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 6 in
(1.98 m)		 223 lb
(101 kg)		 4.90 s 1.69 s 2.86 s 4.53 s 7.06 s 28 1⁄2 in
(0.72 m)		 9 ft 0 in
(2.74 m)
All values from NFL Combine[9]

Pike was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the sixth round (#204 overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. He competed with fellow rookie Jimmy Clausen for playing time behind incumbent Matt Moore in 2010.

In week 9 of his rookie season against the New Orleans Saints, Pike made his NFL debut after Clausen (who had replaced an injured Moore earlier in the game) was benched. He was 6-12 for 47 yards and was sacked once. The Panthers lost 34-3 and fell to 1-7. Pike was waived/injured on August 30, 2011, and was given an injury settlement.

Pike had two elbow surgeries, the second in March 2012. In the Spring of 2012, he participated in tryouts for the Cincinnati Bengals. He was not signed and offensive coordinator Jay Gruden commented that "He doesn't have enough confidence in his elbow to zip the ball and let it loose."[10]

Statistics
YearTeamGPGSPassingRushing
CmpAttPctYdsY/ATDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTD
2010CAR1061250.0473.90060.1000.00

Source:[11]

Personal life

At the end of his football career, Pike made a move to become a sports broadcaster in Cincinnati. Pike contributes to ESPN 1530 shows and Cincinnati Bearcats football broadcasts.

References
  1. http://www.gobearcats.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/pike_tony00.html
  2. Cincinnati Wins Big In Season Opener
  3. The Associated Press. "Oklahoma overpowers Cincy behind Bradford's 5 TDs", ESPN.com. September 6, 2008. Accessed December 8, 2008.
  4. The Associated Press. "Pike breaks arm in Bearcats' victory over Akron", ESPN.com. September 27, 2008. Accessed December 8, 2008.
  5. Reynolds, Tim. "Cincinnati-Virginia Tech matched for Orange Bowl" Archived 2009-08-02 at WebCite, The Associated Press. December 7, 2008. Accessed May 24, 2009.
  6. Football's Tony Pike Named To All-Mayday Team gobearcats.com
  7. Football Places 10 On All-BIG EAST Teams
  8. "Tony Pike". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  9. "Tony Pike". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
  10. Kirkendall, Josh. "Jay Gruden On Tony Pike: He Doesn't Have Confidence In His Surgically Repaired Elbow". SB Nation - Cincy Jungle. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  11. "Tony Pike". pro-football-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2016.
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