American gridiron football player (born 1987)
American football player
Rush James "R. J." Archer II (born August 5, 1987) is a former American football quarterback . He went undrafted in the 2010 NFL draft , afterwards signing with the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).
Early lifep
Archer was a three-year starter at Albemarle High School . He holds the school's record for passing yards (4,568), touchdown passes (41), completions , and attempts.[ 1]
College
Archer enrolled at The College of William & Mary and was redshirted his first year, during which time he ran the scout team . During the 2006 and 2007 seasons , he changed positions from quarterback to wide receiver , where he totaled 69 receptions .[ 2] 2008 , he moved back to quarterback, but was not the full-time starter until the 2009 season when he threw for 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions .
College statistics
Year
Team
Passing
Rushing
Receiving
2006
William & Mary
0
1
0
0.0
0
0
0.0
1
15
15.0
0
30
489
0
2007
William & Mary
1
3
25
33.3
0
0
103.3
1
-1
-1.0
0
39
451
1
2008
William & Mary
28
53
387
52.8
3
1
129.7
23
90
3.9
2
0
0
0
2009
William & Mary
261
433
2,778
60.3
16
9
122.2
100
255
2.5
5
0
0
0
Career 290
490
3,190
59.2
19
10
--
125
359
2.9
7
69
940
1
Professional career
Archer was rated the 17th best quarterback in the 2010 NFL draft by NFLDraftScout.com.[ 3]
Archer went undrafted in the 2010 NFL draft , but was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free agent . He was released prior to training camp on June 29.[ 4] Spokane Shock of the Arena Football League .[ 5]
With injuries to Vikings quarterbacks Brett Favre and Joe Webb , Minnesota re-signed him to the practice squad on December 7. He was subsequently placed on the Other League Exempt list by the Spokane Shock.[ 6] Tarvaris Jackson was placed on injured reserve . He took the roster spot of guard Steve Hutchinson . The next day, it was reported that Archer was waived by the Vikings in favor of quarterback Rhett Bomar , who was signed off the practice squad of the New York Giants .[ 7]
Archer played for the Milwaukee Mustangs of the Arena Football League in 2011 and the Georgia Force of the AFL in 2012.[ 8]
On June 22, 2012, Archer was signed by the Detroit Lions .[ 9] [ 10]
On October 11, 2012, Archer was added to the practice roster of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
From 2013 to 2014, Archer played for the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League, recording 104 touchdowns on 5,381 passing yards.[ 8]
On February 9, 2015, Archer was signed by Seattle Seahawks . He was released on September 5, 2015.[ 14]
On September 22, 2015, Archer signed with the BC Lions . He was released following the season.
On December 3, 2015, the Sharks activated Archer from the other league exempt list.
AFL statistics
Year
Team
Passing
Rushing
2011 Milwaukee 219
367
59.7
2,334
27
14
80.81
18
35
5
2012 Georgia 228
380
60.0
2,404
49
12
97.52
7
43
1
2013 Jacksonville 72
102
70.6
741
12
3
108.33
7
28
0
2014 Jacksonville 366
633
57.8
4,640
92
14
107.93
20
43
6
Career 885
1,482
59.7
10,119
180
43
98.57
52
149
12
Stats from ArenaFan :[ 15]
References
^ "Website Deactivated" . Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2010 .^ "R.J. Archer, once a U.Va. Fan, returns home as W & M's QB" . Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2010 .^ a b "R.J. Archer" . nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved July 6, 2017 .^ "Minnesota Vikings - News, Scores, Stats, Schedule" . NFL.com ^ "spokaneshock.com: News" . www.spokaneshock.com . Archived from the original on November 28, 2010.^ "spokaneshock.com: News" . spokaneshock.com . Archived from the original on July 16, 2011.^ Access Vikings [@AccessVikings] (December 21, 2010). "Update: The Vikings waived R.J. Archer a day after signing him to the 53. He's likely headed back to their practice squad" (Tweet ) – via Twitter . ^ a b "ArenaFan: Rush 'RJ' Archer" . Retrieved April 29, 2013 .^ McIntyre, Brian. "R.J. Archer added by Lions to compete with Moore" . NFL.com the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2012 . ^ McCosky, Chris (August 23, 2012). "Lions release QB RJ Archer to make room for special teams ace Kassim Osgood" . The Detroit News . Retrieved August 23, 2012 . [permanent dead link ] ^ "The Blue Bombers have also added a QB R.J. Archer to practice roster" . CBC.ca . The Canadian Press. October 11, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2023 .^ "Transactions - November 2012" . cfl.ca. Archived from the original on August 2, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2017 .^ "2012 Winnipeg Blue Bombers" . profootballarchives.com. Retrieved March 27, 2017 .^ Don Coble (February 10, 2015). "Former Jacksonville Sharks QB R.J. Archer excited about getting NFL shot in Seattle" . www.jacksonville.com . The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved February 11, 2015 . ^ "Rush 'RJ' Archer" . arenafan.com. Retrieved July 6, 2017 .
External links
Arthur Matsu (1926)Ed Mioduszewski (1951–1952)Dan Henning (1961–1963)Dan Darragh (1965–1967)Bill Deery (1974) Tom Rozantz (1976–1978)Chris Garrity (1979–1981) David Murphy (1981–1983) Stan Yagiello (1982–1985)Ken Lambiotte (1986) Chris Hakel (1990–1991)Shawn Knight (1993–1994)Mike Cook (1996–1998) David Corley Jr. (1999–2002)Lang Campbell (2003–2004)Mike Potts (2005–2007)Jacob Phillips (2005–2008) R. J. Archer (2009)Mike Callahan (2010) Michael Paulus (2010–2011) Brent Caprio (2011–2013) Michael Graham (2011–2013) Raphael Ortiz (2012) Steve Cluley (2014–2016) Tommy McKee (2017) Shon Mitchell (2017–2018) Dean Rotger (2018) Ted Hefter (2018, 2020) Kilton Anderson (2019) Hollis Mathis (2019–2021) Darius Wilson (2021–2024) Tyler Hughes (2023)
