Matt Cassel was born on May 17, 1982. He played on the Northridge (Calif.) team that was a finalist at the 1994 Little League World Series and was featured in the HBO documentary "Freshman Year," filmed in 1999-2000.

He likes to jet ski and play ping pong. His older brother, Jack, is a pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization and younger brother, Justin, is on UC Irvine's baseball team. He attended Chatsworth (Calif.) High.

Matt was a 1999 Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, Tom Lemming Top 100, Super Prep All-Far West, Tom Lemming All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first team, Orange County Register Fab 15 third team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 second team and All-L.A. City second team pick as a senior quarterback.

He cCompleted 137-of-261 passes (52.5 pct) for 2,020 yards with 14 TDs and five interceptions as a senior, also running for 252 yards on 115 carries (2.2 avg) with 11 Touchdowns … Passed for 324 yards with 5 Touchdowns in one game … As a junior, completed 199-of- 360 passes (55.3 pct) for 2,930 yards with 26 Touchdowns and seven interceptions and rushed for 496 yards with six scores … Helped Chatsworth to the L.A. City baseball title in 1999 while hitting .390 with three home runs and 29 RBI as a fi rst baseman and third baseman ... Was a communication major at USC.

Matt backed up two Heisman Trophy winners at USC in Carson Palmer, now of the Cincinnati Bengals, and current USC quarterback Matt Leinart.

Matt played one season of baseball for USC (2004) and was selected by the Oakland Athletics in the 36th round of the 2004 baseball draft.

Matt Cassel was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round (230th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft.