Matthew Montgomery Barkley (born September 8, 1990) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at USC, and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Barkley has also played for the Chicago Bears, and San Francisco 49ers.
Barkley was born in Newport Beach, California, and attended Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. In 2005, he became the first freshman quarterback to start at Mater Dei since Todd Marinovich. As a freshman, he passed for 1,685 yards and 10 touchdowns, but suffered a season-ending injury (broken collarbone) during the playoffs in a quarterfinal win over Colton High School. The injury was caused by future USC teammate, running back Allen Bradford, who played linebacker in high school.
His high school coach, Bruce Rollinson, permitted him to call his own plays, something he had never allowed a player to do during two decades at Mater Dei. As a sophomore, he passed for 1,349 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2006. Barkley passed for 3,576 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2007, completing 63 percent of his passes with nine interceptions. In three seasons, he passed for 6,994 yards and 57 touchdowns.