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Jacob Cooper Locker (born June 15, 1988) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and was selected by the Titans with the eighth overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft.
A backup during his entire rookie season, after becoming the Titans' starting lineup quarterback for the 2012 season, Locker compiled a 9–14 career record with the Titans over the next three seasons. He abruptly retired after the 2014 season, with the end of his rookie contract, following an injury-plagued, four-year professional career.
He helped Ferndale to a No. 12 ranking in USA Today's final West Region rankings, and a No. 12 ranking in MaxPreps's final national rankings. Personally, he was a highly ranked college recruit. He was one of four Seattle Times "Blue Chip" recruits and ranked No. 5 nationally at QB, and No. 1 in the West, by PrepStar. Locker also ranked 85th in Scout.com's National "Hot 100" and ranked 68th overall and fourth among "dual-threat" quarterbacks in Rivals.com's national rankings.
He was also a successful quarterback as an underclassman. As a junior, he threw for 1,314 yards and 16 TDs and rushed for 987 yards and 15 TDs. Locker led Ferndale to a 13–2 record and a Washington 3A state runner-up finish in 2004. He was selected first-team all-state by the AP. As a sophomore, he threw for 713 yards with nine TDs, while running for 478 yards and three scores. In addition to quarterback, Locker played four years as a defensive back at Ferndale and was the first freshman ever to start in coach Vic Randall's 21-year career.
Locker was also a standout baseball pitcher and outfielder. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the 40th round (1,212th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. He did not sign so that he could play college football the University of Washington.
On November 10, Locker was injured during a game at Oregon State, removed from the field by ambulance, and taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis. He returned to the stadium in the fourth quarter to watch the end of the game, though he was wearing a neck brace.
Locker was named to the Rivals.com 2007 Freshman Second-team All-American team and was named Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. In 2007, he set UW records for rushing yards in a season by a freshman (986), rushing yards in a season by a quarterback (his 986 yards was also a Pac-10 record), rushing attempts by a quarterback (172), passing yards by a freshman (2,062), touchdown passes by a freshman (14), and longest pass completion (98 yards to Marcel Reece vs. Arizona).
In the second game of the season against Brigham Young University, with the Huskies trailing 28–21, Locker rushed for a touchdown with two seconds remaining to bring the score to 28–27. After tumbling into the end zone, Locker threw the ball up into the air and was assessed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. This backed the point after touchdown kick, which was to tie the game and in all likelihood send it to overtime, from the 3-yard line to the 18-yard line. The kick was blocked and UW lost by a point. The call was seen as controversial, in that it followed the letter of the rule dictating that players who score a touchdown must hand the ball over to officials in an orderly fashion but some believe violated its spirit, because Locker's act of throwing the ball was simply an emotional reaction to a big play and not an attempt to taunt his opponents or delay the game. Locker later apologized for incurring the penalty. Against Stanford on September 27, Locker suffered a broken thumb and was sidelined for the remainder of the season, which ended at 0–12, the worst record in program history.
Locker finished his college career in the Holiday Bowl with a 19–7 win over heavily-favored Nebraska, despite completing only five of sixteen passes in the game. This atoned for a 56–21 loss to the Cornhuskers in Seattle earlier in the season, a game in which Locker was criticized for his 4–20 performance with two interceptions.
This win lifted Locker's record to as a starter for the Huskies. Twenty-eight quarterbacks were selected in the first round of the NFL draft from 2000 to 2010, but only five others had losing records as college starters: Patrick Ramsey, Kyle Boller, J. P. Losman, Jay Cutler, Josh Freeman. Locker graduated in December 2010 with a degree in history.-->
Adam Schefter posted on his Twitter page that an anonymous NFL GM, in speaking with ESPN NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, told Mortensen that Locker is "a bigger, taller, right-handed version of Steve Young."Schefter, Adam. (December 9, 2009). Twitter.com Retrieved December 10, 2009.
Prior to Locker's announcement declaring his intention to stay for his senior season, ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay had projected Locker as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft. But there was also some disagreement in certain circles with McShay's assessment—it had been reported that Locker was advised by the NFL Collegiate Advisory Committee that he would not have received a "1st round grade.".
ESPN analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. predicted before and after the 2010 draft that Locker would be the No. 1 overall pick in 2011...
ESPN analyst John Clayton stated in October of Locker's disappointing senior campaign that the quarterback might fall to the 2nd or 3rd round in the 2011 draft due to his inaccuracy and poor play.
Locker saw his first real playing time on November 20, against the Atlanta Falcons, replacing an injured Matt Hasselbeck. In a losing effort, Locker threw for 2 touchdowns and 140 yards.
Locker completed his rookie season with 4 passing touchdowns as well as 1 rushing touchdown. He acted as backup and occasional relief to Hasselbeck, playing in five games.
Locker finished 2012 with 2,176 yards passing, ten touchdown passes, and 11 interceptions. He rushed 41 times for 291 yards and a touchdown, playing in 11 games.
The following week against the Houston Texans, Locker completed 17/30 of his passes for 148 yards with 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions, but the Titans ultimately fell short in the game losing 30–24 in overtime.
On September 22, 2013, Locker became the first Titans quarterback to beat the San Diego Chargers since the club's 1992 season as the Houston Oilers; Locker threw a 34-yard strike to Justin Hunter with fifteen seconds to go, securing a 20–17 Titans win. Locker earlier in that game had rushed in a seven-yard score.
On September 29, 2013, in a 38–13 win over the New York Jets, Locker was hit by two Jets defenders and was carted off the field with what appeared to be a serious right leg injury. Initial news reports, from multiple sources, indicated that the injury was to his right hip. Locker, according to a report by the team posted on USA Today, would miss three weeks. Ryan Fitzpatrick became the Titans' starting quarterback for the next two games.
On October 19, the ESPN website reported Locker would start against the 49ers; he completed 25 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns with his first interception of the season in a 31–17 loss.
On November 3, Locker played against the Rams. He completed 13/22 of his passes for 185 yards. He had no touchdowns and 2 interceptions. He added on 3 carries for 10 yards and a touchdown rushing. Despite a poor passing performance, the Titans won 28–21.
During a November 10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Locker sustained a Lisfranc injury to his right foot, ending his season. Fitzpatrick started for the Titans for the rest of the season and the team finished with a 7–9 record.
On October 22, 2014, Locker was benched along with Charlie Whitehurst in favor of rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger. He returned to start the Week 15 game against the New York Jets, and left the game with a shoulder injury. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve, ending his season.
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