He was still able to guide Stanford on an 80-yard drive in the final minutes to pull off a 21–20 win, where he was seven-of-seven, culminating on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brian Manning with 0:58 seconds remaining in the contest.
His best game was the 38–0 win in the 1996 Sun Bowl against Michigan State University, where he earned Most Valuable Player honors after completing 22 out of 28 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown.
He made five starts, going 2–0 with a 2.79 ERA and earning his first professional win against Salem on August 21, after pitching six innings and allowing two solo homers with a walk and six strikeouts.
He allowed just one hit and had 11 strikeouts in 8 innings pitched during a win at Shreveport (8/6), leading to his selection as Texas League Pitcher for the week ending August 8.
In 2001, he opened the season on the Cardinals' major league roster and pitching 4 innings in three appearances, before being sent down to the Memphis Redbirds (AAA) on April 22.
Struggling after a stint in minor league baseball, Hutchinson decided to focus on professional football and held an open workout in 2002 that was attended by three teams (Dallas, Chicago and Kansas City).
[5] In 2002, as a 25-year-old rookie, Hutchinson was named the starter after a struggling Quincy Carter lost to the Arizona Cardinals and engaged in a heated sideline argument with Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones.
Hutchinson's first start was the 17–14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks where Emmitt Smith broke the NFL all-time rushing record.
[7][8] In 2003, with the arrival of new head coach Bill Parcells, all positions were opened to competition, and Hutchinson became involved in a publicized quarterback controversy,[9] when he and Carter competed for a roster spot in the 2002 edition of Hard Knocks, an HBO series that covers the training camp of an NFL team.
Carter eventually regained the starting role, bringing stability to the quarterback position and leading the team to a 10–6 record and a playoff appearance.
Hutchinson saw his only action of the season in the sixth game against the Detroit Lions, taking over for Carter for the final four drives (including kneel downs), completing one out of two passes for 8 yards.
In 2004, the Cowboys group of quarterbacks had expanded with the trade for yet another former baseball player (Drew Henson) and the acquisition of Vinny Testaverde off waivers, who was later named the starter after Carter was released on August 4.
He also became part of a succession of short-tenured quarterbacks following the retirement of Aikman, which included Carter, Randall Cunningham, Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe, Anthony Wright, Ryan Leaf, Henson and Clint Stoerner.
He played inconsistently before suffering a sprained right shoulder in the week 8 contest against the Cologne Centurions, forcing him to miss the final 2 games and losing nearly a month rehabilitating it back to health.
On September 29, 2004, Hutchinson was signed as a free agent by the Chicago Bears, after Rex Grossman suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season, reuniting with quarterback coach Wade Wilson who also held that position with the Cowboys.
Although Hutchinson was initially named the starter, he was eventually replaced in favor of rookie Kyle Orton, after he had poor preseason performances and the decision to sign Jeff Blake to be the backup.
[14] His father Lloyd was an outfielder in the Philadelphia Phillies' farm system and his brother Trevor was a pitcher in the Florida Marlins organization.