User talk:Jcharle

John Charles (born June 18, 1971 in Stanford, California) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League and National Collegiate Athletic Association.

A graduate of Mountain View High School in Mountain View, California, Charles lettered in football, and baseball. Football, in his sophomore and junior year of 1987 and 1988, Mountain View won the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championships with a record of 10-0, respectively. One of Charles' teammates was Charles Huang, who was the co-founder of the Guitar Hero. Baseball, in his senior year of 1989, Mountain View won the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League championships. Charles earned All-League and All-America in football, All-League in baseball. Charles was a top 10 finalists for the, 1989, Times Tribune Athlete of the Year Award.

Charles continued as a starter in football at Foothill Community College, and remained the starter his freshman and sophomore years of 1989 and 1990. He broke the national community college career passing yardage record by throwing for 5,925 yards in two seasons at Foothill. Charles' final year earned him All-America Honors; he was named to the 1990 All-America Community College football team. The other quarterback chosen was, Brett Sallsbury of Palomar who went on to play quarterback at the University of Oregon. Charles was also chosen as the, 1991 Times Tribune Male Athlete of the Year. He was also the 1991 Athlete of the Year for the Greater San Jose Sports Association Awards. Past recipients for the award include Jim Plunkett, Dave Righetti, and Ronnie Lott.

Charles transferred to Portland State University, and eventually became the starter for the 1991 and 1992 seasons. Charles led Portland State to two consecutive semi-finals before losing to Pittsburgh State. He had thrown 3 or more touchdowns in 17 of 18 games he started. He earned National Player of the week honors from USA Today and Sports Illustrated twice. He was the only player to be named Player of the Year twice in the Western Football Conference. He was a Harlon Hill Trophy Finalist, the award that goes to the nation’s top-Division II player. Charles suffered a broken wrist during the end of his final year at Portland State. Charles earned Kodak and Small College All-America honors.

Charles was selected a free agent in the 1993 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He also played a season for the Arena Football League, San Jose Sabercats, in 1996 where he sustained a shoulder injury forcing him to retire. Charles is currently working with youth in the Portland, Oregon.