Jared Zabransky
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| College: | Boise State |
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Jared Zabransky (born December 4, 1983) is an free agent American football quarterback. He played college football at Boise State University and was selected to play on the Houston Texans' practice squad after spending the 2007 NFL preseason trying to make the active roster. Zabransky, the son of a potato farmer, graduated from Hermiston High School in Hermiston, Oregon and majored in social science at Boise State. The 6'-2", 203 pound "Z", as he is nicknamed, is considered an above-average passer and an adept scrambler as evidenced by his school record 85-yard touchdown run on October 29, 2004 against Hawaii.
Early years
Jared grew up in a farming family in Hermiston, Oregon. He attended Hermiston High School and was an outstanding three-sport athlete, competing in football, baseball, and basketball. Zabransky won Eastern Oregon's Athlete of the Year award his junior year in 2002. In addition to being on the honor roll, Zabransky showed his prowess on the gridiron by passing for 1,600 yards and 15 touchdowns as team captain.
Jared said in an interview for IGN, "We'd just get bored and see how far we could throw potatoes. I'd say I could get one about 80 yards." For fun, Jared said they rode dirt bikes, played Tecmo Super Bowl, and played sports.
College football career
Zabransky was redshirted in 2002, his first season at Boise State. He backed-up Ryan Dinwiddie in 2003, in which Jared completed 11-of-23 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown.
Zabransky took the reins as the Broncos' starting quarterback in 2004. It was this season that he led Boise State to an 11-1 record; the only loss was to Louisville. He was named honorable mention All-America by Sports Illustrated, second-team All-WAC, and was voted the team's Most Valuable Player.
In 2005, he remained in charge of the Broncos' high-powered offense. While he did start all 13 games, he had what many consider an off-year. He passed for 2,562 yards and threw 18 touchdowns. But he also threw 16 interceptions and was occasionally benched in favor of backup quarterback Taylor Tharp. Boise State's season opener against the Georgia Bulldogs was a disaster for Zabransky, in which he threw four interceptions in the first half, as well as committing a fumble. Despite having a subpar season for a player of his ability, he was able to help take Boise State to the MPC Computers Bowl on their home turf of Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho to face Boston College. After falling beind a 24-0 at the half, Boise State rallied, reducing Boston College's lead to 27-21 late in the 4th quarter. Hopes of a comeback were crushed, however, when Zabransky threw an interception in the Boston College endzone with 37 seconds remaining in the game. The Boise State Broncos finished the 2005 season with a 9-4 record.
Jared Zabransky was named 11th best quarterback in the nation by The Sporting News, as well as being named to the 2006 Maxwell Award watch list. Zabransky resumed his job as starting quarterback for the 2006 season, his senior year. The season proved to be a resounding success for both Jared and Boise State. Zabransky led his team to a perfect 12-0 regular season record, capturing BSU's fifth consecutive WAC championship. Statistically, it was Jared's best season as well. He finished the regular season with 20 touchdown passes and only 7 interceptions. The Boise State Broncos defeated the Oklahoma Sooners in overtime in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on January 1, 2007 by a score of 43-42. Zabransky helped his team into overtime by executing a last-minute hook-and-ladder pass play for the game-tying touchdown. Then, in overtime, Zabransky executed a Statue of Liberty on the game-winning two-point conversion on a handoff to Ian Johnson, who took it in for the two points and the win. Zabransky was named 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Offensive Player of the Game.
NFL career
Zabransky was not chosen in the 2007 NFL Draft. However, on April 30, 2007 he signed a free agent contract with the Houston Texans. [1] He was issued uniform number 15. He was released on August 31, 2007; however, on September 3, 2007 Zabransky was selected to be a member of the practice squad. Unlike most coaches who prefer to have three quarterbacks on the active roster, Head Coach Gary Kubiak prefers having two quarterbacks thus cutting Zabranksy. The Texans did not want to lose Zabransky and put him on the practice squad to develop some of his skills. [2]
Video games
Jared told ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit in an interview that he could throw a potato 80 yards. The comment has been referenced in the video games NCAA Football 07 and NCAA Football 08 where Herbstreit will sometimes say "That reminds me of the time that kid at the Liberty Bowl told me he could throw a potato 80 yards." [3]
On February 28, 2007 it was announced that Zabransky would grace the cover of EA's video game NCAA Football 08.[4] He is the second of the game's cover athletes to date to go undrafted, after its first feature athlete, Tommie Frazier on College Football USA 97.
References
- ^ Burke, Kerith (2007-04-30). "UPDATE: A dozen Broncos go pro as of Monday". KTVB.com Idaho News Now. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Texans release McCardell, Stanley, 18 others". NFL.com. 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cripe, Chadd (2006-10-31). "Boise State Football Camp Report: 'Z' comment immortalized". IdahoStatesman.com. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Sanner, Chris (2007-02-28). "Jared Zabransky to be the NCAA 2008 Coverman". MaddenMania.com. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
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