He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft.

[3] Booty reclassified to the class of 2003, becoming what is believed to be the first player ever to leave high school a whole year early to play college football.

[4][5][6] He headlined a class that was considered the best that season, and included other NFL-bound recruits such as Reggie Bush, LenDale White, Steve Smith, and Sam Baker.

[8][9][10] Booty earned the spot as the number two quarterback as a freshman, but had to redshirt his second season after suffering an elbow injury in August 2004.

Booty had back surgery to repair a bulging disc in his spine at the end of March 2006, but fully recovered and earned the starting spot for the 2006 season.

[16] Rivals.com named him one of the top-10 quarterbacks going into the 2007 season,[17] Sports Illustrated as one of the "Top 20 Players Heading into 2007,"[18] and he was considered a front-runner for the 2007 Heisman Trophy.

[9] Booty broke from convention and stated on a national television broadcast, more than a week before the NFL draft, that he hoped to be selected by the Minnesota Vikings.

He did not take a snap in 2008, but after starter Gus Frerotte went down with a lower back injury, Booty was listed as the second-string quarterback during the week 15 meeting with the Arizona Cardinals and Tarvaris Jackson made the start.

After an unimpressive performance in the pre-season, Booty was waived by the Vikings on September 5, 2009; he was subsequently signed to the team's practice squad.

Booty was high school backfield mates with former LSU and former San Diego Chargers running back Jacob Hester.