Rattler attended Pinnacle High School in Phoenix, Arizona, for all of his four years of high school. He broke the Arizona high school passing record on his 18th birthday.[1] Rattler threw for 11,083 yards in his four years with 116 passing touchdowns and rushed for 1,040 yards with 14 rushing touchdowns.[2] Early in his senior season, he was named MVP of the Elite 11 at The Opening in Texas.[3]
In his final season at Pinnacle, Rattler starred in a Peter Berg-directed Netflix sports documentary series called QB1: Beyond the Lights. Rattler was later suspended for violating a district code of conduct, and was ineligible to play for the rest of the season due to cheating.[4] He initially said he had a sprained MCL, but the school administration later advised him not to speak of the nature of the code of conduct violation.
By the end of his sophomore year in high school, he had received 14 offers from NCAA D-I schools, including Alabama, Notre Dame, and Miami. On June 19, 2017, he visited Oklahoma on an unofficial visit and committed to Oklahoma a week later. On December 19, 2018, he signed his letter of intent to play for coach Lincoln Riley and the Sooners.[5] He was considered a 5 star quarterback by 247Sports[6] and Rivals.com,[7] and a 4 star by ESPN.[8] Rattler was also considered the consensus #1 quarterback and #1 overall prospect from Arizona in the 2019 recruiting class.[9]
Going into his redshirt freshman season, Rattler competed with Tanner Mordecai for the starting job.[14] On September 1, Lincoln Riley announced that Rattler had won the starting quarterback job over Mordecai,[15] and Rattler made his starting debut on September 12 against Missouri State.[16] On September 26, Rattler tied the Oklahoma record for most touchdown passes through two weeks with 8, set by Sam Bradford in 2008.[17] However, Rattler's starting job got off to a rocky start when he and his Sooners were upset by Kansas State in his second start.[18] In his third start, Rattler threw for 300 yards and 2 touchdowns in the upset loss at Iowa State. This loss snapped a streak of 24 straight home losses by Iowa State to Oklahoma.[19] Rattler and the Sooners made a comeback with the win against Texas in the Red River Rivalry game. On November 7, Rattler injured his hip in a win against Kansas.[20] As the starting quarterback, he led the Oklahoma Sooners to a 6th consecutive Big 12 Championship, winning 27–21 over Iowa State.
2021
Going into the 2021 season, Rattler was the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.[21][22][23] However, during Oklahoma's match-up against Texas, Rattler was benched during the second quarter for Caleb Williams and would not play the rest of the season.[24] In November 2021, Rattler's personal coach, Mike Giovando, announced that he would be leaving Oklahoma.[25]Ole Miss, UCLA, Arizona State, Nebraska, Pitt, Auburn, Missouri, and Oregon were among the schools that pushed for Rattler the hardest.[26]
As the starting quarterback for South Carolina in 2022, Rattler led his team to an 8–5 record.[31] He threw 3,012 passing yards and scored eighteen touchdowns but also threw twelve interceptions.[32] His performance in the first ten games of the season was described as "underwhelming": he averaged 198 passing yards and threw more interceptions than touchdowns.[33] However, at the end of the regular season, he led the Gamecocks in two massive upsets. He threw 438 passing yards and six touchdowns in a win over No. 5 Tennessee, breaking the program record for most touchdown passes in a game.[34] The following week, he played for 360 yards and two touchdowns in a win over No. 8 Clemson, South Carolina's archrival, becoming the first South Carolina starting quarterback to beat Clemson since Connor Shaw in 2013. With these wins, Rattler became the first South Carolina quarterback to ever win back-to-back games against top 10 teams.[35] South Carolina then reached its highest CFP ranking ever and its highest AP ranking since 2014, at No. 19 and No. 20, respectively.
In the 2022 Gator Bowl, Rattler and the Gamecocks lost to No. 21 Notre Dame 45–38 in a competitive game, finishing the season 8–5 and ranked No. 23, the program's first finish in the AP Poll since 2013, when they finished No. 4.[36]
On January 10, 2023, Rattler announced he would return to South Carolina for 2023.[37]
2023
Rattler led South Carolina to a 5–7 record in 2023, throwing a career-high 3,186 yards and 275 completions while doing so.[38][39] His 2023 season was described as "one of the best quarterback seasons in school history" and Rattler was described as being "among the country’s best signal-callers".[40]
Rattler declared for the 2024 NFL draft following the season, finishing fifth in career passing yards and first in career completion percentage at South Carolina.[41][42] He played in the 2024 Senior Bowl and was named its MVP.[43]
There were 137 players selected in between Rattler and the previous quarterback drafted, Bo Nix, setting a record for the common draft era.[47]
In the 2024 preseason, Rattler completed 20 of 38 pass attempts for 202 yards and a passing touchdown, as well as an 8 yard rushing touchdown.[48]
After starting quarterback Derek Carr suffered an injury in Week 5, Spencer Rattler became the Saints' starting quarterback for Week 6 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, completing 22 of 40 passes for 243 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions as the Saints lost 51–27.[49][50] In his second start, a 33–10 loss to the Denver Broncos, Rattler completed 25 of 35 passes for 172 yards, rushed for 34 yards, and was sacked six times. He fumbled twice, one returned for a touchdown, before leaving the game due to a hip injury late in the fourth quarter.[51]
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