Casey Jarrett Beathard ( BETH-ərd; born November 16, 1993) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was selected by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft. Beathard has also been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins.
Beathard attended Battle Ground Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. He played high school football for the Battle Ground Academy Wildcats. After his high school football career, Beathard committed to the University of Iowa to play college football.
Beathard redshirted during his freshman year at Iowa.
In the 2013 season, Beathard appeared in a limited role in five games for the Hawkeyes. On September 21, he made his collegiate debut against the Western Michigan Broncos, where he had a 54-yard completion and four carries for 30 yards. On November 9 against the Purdue Boilermakers, Beathard scored his first career collegiate touchdown on a five-yard rush. Beathard added another rushing touchdown in his next appearance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on a four-yard rush. In the Outback Bowl against the LSU Tigers, Beathard threw a touchdown pass to teammate Kevonte Martin-Manley in the fourth quarter of the 21–14 loss.
Beathard finished the 2013 season with 179 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions to go along with 13 carries for 49 yards and two touchdowns.
Beathard continued his role as a backup in the 2014 season. In the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers, starter Jake Rudock suffered a minor injury and Beathard took the field to begin the second half, with the Hawkeyes trailing 17–7. While Pitt had been dominant throughout much of the first half, the team gained a new energy in the second half with Beathard under center. Beathard would take the Hawkeyes to a 24–20 victory.
After a last-minute loss to non-conference in-state rival Iowa State Cyclones, who would eventually go 2–10 (winless in conference play), fans in the community were vocal with their criticisms of the Iowa coaching staff, citing the conservative play calling, unused potential of players, and the apparent apathy of head coach Kirk Ferentz. Ferentz was in his 16th year of coaching the Hawkeyes, and his contract as head coach was guaranteed until 2020, an extension offered after their 2010 Orange Bowl victory against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets when the Hawkeyes finished their season 11–2. Iowa fans were impressed by Beathard's energy against Pitt, and his comeback victory sparked debate about his position as a starter.
Beathard started the following game against the Purdue Boilermakers, where Iowa won 24–10. Following their bye week, Rudock was declared healthy by Ferentz, and returned as a starter against the Indiana Hoosiers, where they won 45–29. Fan criticism of the program continued throughout the season, as the team continued to lose against the better part of their schedule.
The criticism, informally called the "Iowa quarterback controversy", revolved primarily around Beathard being the deserving man of the starting spot, while some fervent fans called for the firing of Ferentz. The public criticism of the coaching staff was so strong that Iowa athletic director [Gary Barta] spoke publicly on multiple occasions in support of Ferentz in regards to the issue.
With Rudock at the helm for the remainder of the season, Iowa would go on to defeat the Northwestern Wildcats by a surprisingly large margin in a 48–7 home victory but was defeated in an equally grand way at the Minnesota Golden Gophers the following week, losing 51–14. The Wisconsin Badgers and the Nebraska Cornhuskers, conference rivals and two of the toughest games on Iowa's 2014 schedule, came to Kinnick Stadium in the final two games of the regular season. Wisconsin, with Heisman runner-up halfback Melvin Gordon, avoided an upset and defeated Iowa 26–24; the Hawkeyes came up short against Nebraska as well, losing in overtime, 37–34, after blowing a 17-point lead.
Iowa received a bid to the TaxSlayer Bowl against the Tennessee Volunteers, and pressure from fans and the media left the Iowa coaching staff uncertain and the need to make a solid decision. Beathard's father, Casey Beathard, made statements to The Tennessean, a local Tennessee media outlet, stating that his future would be evaluated after the game, and that "he's hoping he doesn't have to transfer". Though taken out of context by media, Beathard Sr. affirmed that it was not a threat of transfer; regardless, Ferentz made an announcement shortly before gameday stating that both quarterbacks would take snaps during the game, hinting at an on-field competition for the spot.
Both Rudock and Beathard took snaps during the TaxSlayer Bowl, and the Hawkeyes lost 45–28 to Tennessee. The Volunteers got off to a large start; both Rudock and Beathard had poor drives during the first half, but Beathard handled the majority of second-half snaps. Beathard was able to rally the Hawkeyes from a 35–7 first-half deficit, though they were not able to win the game.
Shortly after the TaxSlayer Bowl loss, Kirk Ferentz released a depth chart for the following 2015 season — a very irregular time for a coach to do so — which named Beathard the starting quarterback for the 2015 season. Rudock, who in 2014 was a senior and preparing to graduate, had been being recruited by new Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh; and, after Beathard was officially named next season's starter, Rudock transferred to the University of Michigan for graduate study and for his one year of graduate eligibility.
Beathard helped lead the 2015 Iowa Hawkeyes football team to an undefeated 12–0 record during the regular season, as he threw for 2,570 yards, 14 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He was selected by both the coaches and media as a second-team player on the 2015 All-Big Ten Conference football team. The Hawkeyes' winning streak ended in the 16–13 loss to the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Championship. Beathard passed for 216 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the loss. During the Rose Bowl against the Stanford Cardinal, Beathard threw for 239 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception in the 45–16 loss.
In his final season with the Hawkeyes, Beathard helped lead the team to an 8–4 record in the regular season. The team qualified for the Outback Bowl against the Florida Gators. The Gators won by a score of 30–3 in Beathard's final collegiate game. Overall, in the 2016 season, Beathard had 1,929 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions to go along with two rushing touchdowns.
Beathard played in the 2017 Senior Bowl for the North team, and was limited to two passes for 4 passing yards as the North lost 15–16 to the South. He attended the NFL Combine and performed the vertical jump, broad jump, and positional drills. Due to a hamstring injury, he opted to skip the 40-yard dash, short shuttle, and three-cone drill. On March 27, 2017, Beathard participated at Iowa's pro day along with Desmond King, Jaleel Johnson, George Kittle, Riley McCarron, LeShun Daniels Jr., Cole Croston, Faith Ekakitie, Anthony Gair, Jake Duzey and Ron Coluzzi. He performed the short shuttle, three-cone drill, vertical jump, broad jump, and passing drills for the team representatives and scouts who attended from all 32 NFL teams. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Beathard was projected to be a sixth- or seventh-round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.
The San Francisco 49ers selected Beathard in the third round (104th overall) of the 2017 NFL draft. He was the sixth quarterback to be selected that year. On June 12, 2017, Beathard signed his rookie contract, a four-year, $3.52 million with a signing bonus of $706,288. Beathard competed with Matt Barkley and Nick Mullens throughout training camp for the job as the backup quarterback. Head coach Kyle Shanahan named him the backup to Brian Hoyer to begin the regular season after Barkley was released.
During Week 6, Beathard made his NFL debut against the Washington Redskins, replacing Hoyer in the second quarter. He played for the rest of the game. In the fourth quarter, he threw his first NFL touchdown, a 45-yard pass to wide receiver Aldrick Robinson. Beathard finished the narrow 26–24 loss completing 19 of 36 passes for 245 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. After the game, he was named the 49ers starter. During a Week 7 40–10 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Beathard was 22-of-38 for 235 yards and had five carries for 30 yards and his first rushing touchdown. In Weeks 8 and 9, Beathard passed for 461 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions while also rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals.