Jason Mitchell Street[1] is a fictional character in the NBC/DirecTV (The 101 Network) television drama Friday Night Lights, portrayed by Scott Porter.

Introduced as the small town "All-American," Jason is the starting quarterback of the Dillon Panthers, with a promising future career, until an injury during the season-opening football game results in quadriplegia.

In Season 3, due to Porter leaving the show, Jason moves to New York City after landing an entry-level position at a sports agency to be near his infant son.

[3] The character is inspired by the real-life events in the career of David Edwards, a high school player in San Antonio, Texas.

[4][5] Jason is portrayed as a confident, affable, charismatic and popular all-American high school student from a middle-class home with loving and supportive, although sometimes over-protective, parents.

Despite his social status as a jock and star quarterback, he is well-liked by everyone, young and old, in both his school and the community (including the notoriously difficult and loud-mouthed Buddy Garrity[6]).

Tim Riggins once called him "the heart" of the Panthers team[7] and as the season progresses, it becomes apparent that he still commanded his former teammates' respect and loyalty, even from his wheelchair.

Prior to his injury, Jason was dating Lyla Garrity, who was then captain of the cheerleading team, and had an on-off relationship and brief engagement before circumstances led them to break up for good.

He is ranked as one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, with a scholarship offer to the University of Notre Dame, but during the first game of the season he suffers a severe spinal cord injury while successfully tackling a defender in what would have been a game-ending touchdown.

He initially has difficulty readjusting upon returning home – dealing with his feelings of inferiority and getting used to being stared at – and takes out his anger and bitterness on his mom and Lyla.

In the meantime, Jason discovers through the local daily that his parents have brought a lawsuit against Coach Taylor for not properly training him how to tackle someone - an activity quarterbacks generally do not have to do.

He puts an end to the lawsuit and writes out an undisclosed amount, which he says is enough to cover his parents' mortgage and debt incurred by his medical expenses, to which the school officials agree.

He eventually decides to move on and makes a clean break from his past "glory years" by quitting the team and donating all his old tapes to the athletic department.

[17] Jason regains feeling back in his right hand and learns of a dangerous experimental surgery being conducted by a clinic in Mexico that can possibly help him walk again.

Jason misinterprets the statement and goes to New York with Tim, believing he will land a job at the agency and provide support and stay in Erin and Noah's lives.

The agent, surprised to see him, tells Jason that he has graduates from Ivy League schools fighting to get into the firm daily, and that he must maintain quotas just to keep his own job.

Porter was praised by paralyzed viewers of the show for his "inspiring and believable" portrayal of a quadriplegic in the first season when Jason is first injured and then endures several months in rehab.

[22] A former high school football player himself, Porter stated in an interview with TV Guide that he had visited a spinal cord injury rehabilitation facility in Austin, Texas to do research on his character.