Kyle Orton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Chicago Bears — No. 18 | |
| Quarterback | |
| Date of birth: November 14, 1982 | |
| Place of birth: Altoona, Iowa | |
| Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | Weight: 217 lb (98 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2005 for the Chicago Bears | |
| Career history | |
| College: Purdue | |
| NFL Draft: 2005 / Round: 4 / Pick: 106 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Selected NFL statistics (through Week 17 of the 2007 NFL season) |
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| TD-INT | 12-15 |
| Passing yards | 2,347 |
| QB Rating | 62.2 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982 in Altoona, Iowa) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played college football at Purdue.
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[edit] Early years
Kyle Orton attended Southeast Polk High School in Pleasant Hill, Iowa, where he lettered in football, basketball, and tennis.
[edit] College career
Orton played for Purdue. While there, Orton wore uniform No. 18 in honor of former Nebraska Cornhuskers' quarterback Brook Berringer.[citation needed] Orton tied former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees' record for the number of passing yards in a game (522 vs. Indiana Hoosiers) and is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start at least three consecutive bowl games (Brees and Mark Herrmann being the other two). Orton started in the 2001 Sun Bowl, the 2002 Sun Bowl, the 2003 Capital One Bowl, and the 2004 Sun Bowl. During his time at Purdue, Orton joined the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.[citation needed]
In 2004, Orton was the preseason third-team "All-American" quarterback, behind USC's Matt Leinart and Oklahoma's Jason White. Orton had a nice start to the season, having led Purdue to a 5-0 start with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. Orton was touted as the front runner for the Heisman Trophy, until he received multiple injuries in consecutive games against the Michigan and Northwestern that forced him out of his starting position for a month.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] 2005
In the 2005 NFL season, Orton was rushed into the Bears starting lineup as a rookie after a preseason injury to starter Rex Grossman, and the poor play of back up Chad Hutchinson. Orton started the first 14 games of the season, however was replaced by Grossman after halftime during the Bears' Week 15 victory against the Atlanta Falcons. After sitting for Week 16, Orton started the regular season finale game against the Minnesota Vikings, whose outcome for the Bears would not affect their post-season hopes; the Bears had clinched the NFC North championship and a first-round bye in the playoffs with their Week 16 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Grossman would go on to play in the Bears playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Overall, the Bears had a record of 10-5 in games that Orton started, including an eight-game winning streak after a 1-3 start. Despite the team's success, Orton finished with the lowest quarterback rating in the NFL (59.7) among all "qualified" quarterbacks (those with 224+ pass attempts) [1]. Despite the low rating, the Bears coaches repeatedly insisted that they were pleased with Orton's performance. The coaching staff asked Orton to minimize mistakes and to let the rushing attack and the defense win ballgames rather than employing an aggressive passing attack. Measuring Orton by victories, his rookie season was a successful one even by historical standards. Orton's 15 starts and 10 victories are both rookie records for Bears quarterbacks, and the 10 victories are the second most in the NFL since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, behind only Ben Roethlisberger's 14 victories in 2004.
[edit] 2006
Following the 2005 season, the Bears signed veteran Brian Griese as the team’s second string quarterback. Orton, now demoted, became the Bears’ third-string quarterback, and did not see any playtime throughout the entire 2006 Chicago Bears season.
[edit] 2007
The following off-season, the Bears acquired Chris Leak, who had previously led the Florida Gators to a BCS Championship, shortly after the 2007 NFL Draft. Leak struggled in training camp, while Orton, who had trained in the off season, excelled.[1] According to the Chicago Tribune, he was en route to overtaking Griese's (then) second string position.[2] Orton continued to show signs of improvement in the preseason. He completed sixteen of twenty-five passes for 151 yards and one touchdown en route to leading the Bears to a comeback victory over the Houston Texans.[3]
After the Bears lost their chances of making a post-season berth, Lovie Smith choose to start Orton over Griese, who served as Grossman’s back-up.[4] Orton made his first start in nearly two seasons on December 17, 2007 against the Minnesota Vikings, the last team he started against before relinquishing his starting role to Grossman. The Bears lost the game by a score of 20-13, with Orton finishing with 22 completions on 38 attempts, with 184 yards and 1 interception. [5] He improved in the final two games of the season; leading the Bears to two consecutive victories by throwing three touchdowns and an interception for 294 yards.[6]
[edit] 2008
On February 25, 2008 the Bears and Orton agreed to a 1 year contract extension running through the 2009 season. This will open up for a competition with Grossman for the starting job.
[edit] References
- ^ Mayer, Larry, Slimmed-down Orton turning heads in camp (August 1, 2007), chicagobears.com. Retrieved on August 5, 2007.
- ^ Mullin, John. "Veterans relive exhibition but some Bears have things to prove", Chicago Tribune, August 11, 2007, pp. 1; 8. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
- ^ NFL.com, Texans fall to Bears in Schaub's debut, (August 11, 2007). Retrieved on August 13, 2007.
- ^ ChicagoBears.com, Excited Bears quarterback settling in under center. Retrieved on December 17, 2007.
- ^ Yahoo! Sports, Minnesota 20, Chicago 13, Retrieved on December 17, 2007.
- ^ NFL.com, Kyle Orton: Game Logs, Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Brandon Hance |
Purdue Boilermakers Starting Quarterbacks 2001-2004 |
Succeeded by Brandon Kirsch |
| Preceded by Rex Grossman |
Chicago Bears Starting Quarterbacks 2007 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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