Matt Schaub retires after 16-year NFL career

After 16 years in the National Football League, Matt Schaub is hanging up his cleats. The 2003 Virginia graduate had an impressive run in the pros, finishing up his career in Atlanta. The Falcons drafted Schaub in the third round — the 90th pick overall — and he played his first three seasons there before spending seven (2007-2013) with the Houston Texans. After Houston, Schaub spent one year with Oakland (now Las Vegas) and one year with Baltimore before returning to Atlanta for his final four seasons.

Schaub started 93 of the 155 games he played in his career and amassed 25,467 yards passing with 136 touchdowns. He completed 64.2% of his passes and played in three playoff games over his career (one in 2004, two in 2012). Schaub was selected to the Pro-Bowl twice in his career, including in 2009 when he led the league in passing yards (4,770) and yards per game (298.1).

At Virginia, it’s hard to find a statistic that Schaub doesn’t doesn’t lead in. He holds the school records in passing attempts (1069), completions (716), yards (7502), and touchdowns (56). Schaub also has the most games with 200 yards passing (20) and the best completion percentage (67%) for his career as a Wahoo.

As far as single-season performances go, Schaub holds the No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the Virginia record books for his 2002 and 2003 seasons, respectively. In 2002, Schaub finished with 2,976 passing yards and 28 touchdowns. As a fourth year in 2003, he had 2,952 yards and 18 touchdown passes. Bryce Perkins moved into the No. 1 spot with his 2019 performance with 3,538 yards and 22 touchdowns, while Schaub’s fellow Atlanta Falcons teammate Kurt Benkert is No. 2 with 3,207 yards and 25 touchdowns in 2017.

Until Virginia’s Commonwealth Cup victory in 2019, Schaub was at the helm of the Hoos’ last victory over the Hokies in 2003.

Congratulations to Matt Schaub on his incredible career, both at Virginia and in the NFL!