April 15, 2015 By: Justin St. Peter

Former UW-Whitewater starting quarterback Matt Blanchard is headed to the green and gold after signing a deal with the Green Bay Packers.

The former Warhawks quarterback won the national championship in 2009, 2010 and 2011 with the Warhawks.

The Packers had been rumored to be looking for another developmental quarterback to serve as a backup quarterback to NFL MVP and former Wisconsin Badger Scott Tolzien after not re-signing backup Matt Flynn.

Blanchard’s agent, Paul Sheehy, told ESPN reporter Rob Demovsky that Blanchard had worked out for the Packers last week.

“He’s just thrilled,” Sheehy told Demovsky. “Being a Wisconsin kid who played at Whitewater, he couldn’t be happier.”

Blanchard’s NFL dream was achieved when he was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He went on to spend part of that year on their practice squad.

The Carolina Panthers picked him up in 2013 and stashed him on their practice squad the whole season.

Then last year, he sustained a concussion in a preseason game against the New England Patriots on Aug. 22. The Panthers subsequently placed him on season-ending Injured Reserve, where they would pay him his contract as he recovered. He just would not count as a player on their 53 man roster.

Blanchard’s NFL career would not have been possible without his success at UW-Whitewater.

In 2009, he got an opportunity to play a little bit in mop-up duty at the end of blowouts and was 10-14 passing for 122 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception.

He came into the 2010 season as the starter and shined in 10 games before being hurt before the playoffs. He watched from the bench as his backup, Lee Brekke, stepped in and won the national championship.

Blanchard was 163-225 that year with 2,132 yards through the air and 203 rushing yards. He had 21 touchdowns passing and two on the ground while only throwing one interception.

Blanchard was even better in his final season as he stayed healthy the whole year and went out on top with a 13-10 national championship victory over Mount Union College on Dec. 16, 2011, in the Alonzo Stagg Bowl in Salem, Virginia.

That year was Blanchard’s finest as he completed 220 of his 319 passes for 2,852 yards. He had only four interceptions compared to his 23 touchdowns. Blanchard also added 507 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The details of Blanchard’s contract have yet to be released.