Former University Of Kentucky Star/New York Giant Folk Hero Jared Lorenzen Playing Semi-Professional Football As A 320 Pound Quarterback
ByJared Lorenzen, for those of you non-Giants fans familiar with the name but can't quite place it, was once a cult hero in New York. If I could draw a pie chart for why, 10 percent would be for his actual quarterbacking skills, 5 percent would be for the fact that he threw left-handed, 20 percent would be for his personality/likeability, and the remaining 65 percent would be because he weighed approximately as much as his offensive lineman (which probably explains 90 percent of his personality/likeability). I'm guessing he was a cult hero during his four-year career at the University of Kentucky, too. Based on the string of news outlets covering his recent appearance on Twitter, he still has a following.
That's partly due to his new weight, at least 60 pounds more than his listed 260 while at Kentucky. Under center again, this time for the Northern Kentucky River Monsters of the Continental Indoor Football League, Lorenzen is listed at 320 pounds, but looks more, if that's possible (as seen in above picture). He was actually the team's general manager before deciding he was his own best option at quarterback, USA Today reported.
In these brief highlight clips, Lorenzen shows nifty footwork in eluding two smaller defensive linemen and flicking a 10 yard cross field pass from a still smooth release. He'd always had a pleasing delivery, part of the reason why Giants fans (who, in case you haven't figured out yet, welcome me as one of their members) were content to have him as their back-up quarterback for the 2006 and 2007 seasons (yes, that means Lorenzen has a Super Bowl ring, which is why he only works out his ring finger to maintain its fit), even if few thought he'd ever promote himself beyond that spot. Being a career backup probably wasn't so disagreeable to Lorenzen, who went undrafted in 2004 and stuck with the G-men until 2008, when he was signed by the Colts but released before the season began. He appeared in just a few NFL snaps, one of which was a memorable sneak play on third-and-one (which he converted).
When the NFL realizes the limits of your potential (e.g. Tim Tebow at quarterback), you're likely out of the league for good. Thus, Lorenzen moved back to Kentucky and messed around in a few semi-professional leagues. Two of the teams he played for folded during the season, and his current one started in one league that was renamed into another. For now, they're still playing.
Looking back at Lorenzen's college statistics, he had somewhat of a strange career. As a freshman starter, he threw for 3,600 yards, but only 19 TDs and 21 interceptions. The head coach tightened the leash over the next three years. His quarterback never threw more than eight interceptions in a season after that -- and never threw for more than 2,300 yards -- but he did manage 19, 24, and 16 touchdown passes his sophomore through senior seasons.
Listed as 6-foot-4, 260 pounds in college, Lorenzen actually lost weight in the NFL, and seemingly gained back the pounds he had lost and the pounds that he once had to make up his current weight.