He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL draft.

During his freshman year, Painter moved to Vincennes, Indiana, where he attended Lincoln High School and was a PrepStar All-American.

Painter became the Boilers' starting quarterback indefinitely after Kirsch declared for the NFL draft and left Purdue a year early.

He averaged 295.9 yards per game, which was 12th most in the nation, while tying Drew Brees's Big Ten season record with 569 attempts.

[7] In his last season as the Boilermakers' main starting quarterback, the fifth year senior struggled with the absence of injured running back Jaycen Taylor and the graduation of Dustin Keller and Dorian Bryant.

He hurt his throwing shoulder resulting in a 4–8 overall record and only appeared in 10 games with nine starts, while reserve quarterbacks, Justin Siller and Joey Elliot, stepped in his place.

[8] Painter received criticism for his inability to win in games against teams ranked in the top 25 polls, which overwhelmed his career record numbers amongst the likes of his predecessors in Kyle Orton and Drew Brees.

Painter saw no game action as the backup to Manning in 2009 until weeks 16 and 17, when head coach Jim Caldwell decided to rest his starters for the playoffs after clinching the No.

Painter made his debut on December 27, 2009, against the New York Jets, throwing an interception and losing a fumble that was returned for a touchdown,[16] resulting in the first loss of the season (after winning the first 14 contests).

[22] Painter was able to post good numbers against the Atlanta Falcons 3rd team defense during a Thursday night exhibition game.

He was still released on August 31, as the Ravens chose to go with the previous year's 6th Round Pick Tyrod Taylor, who had versatility on his side.