Darrell Hackney (born August 7, 1983) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2006. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at UAB. Hackney has also been a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Florida Tuskers.

Early years

Hackney attended Douglass High School in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and was a student and a letterman in football and baseball. In football, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution twice named him as an All-State Honorable Mention selection, and as a senior, he was also named the Atlanta Quarterback of the Year and his team's Most Valuable Player. Hackney graduated from Douglass High School in the year 2001.

College career

Attending college at the UAB, he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2001 as a true freshman. Hackney currently holds several of the career UAB passing records, including passing yards (9,886 yards), touchdowns (71 touchdowns), completions (694 completions) and most total offense per game (243.4 yards per game). He also holds several single-season records for the Blazers.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Hackney was not drafted and was subsequently signed as a free agent with the

. The Browns cut him on September 2, 2006.

Denver Broncos

On January 2, 2007, he signed with the Denver Broncos. Hackney spent the training camp with the Broncos where he competed with

Preston Parsons Preston Thomas Parsons (born February 19, 1979) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at Northern Arizona. Parsons has also been a member o ...

, and Patrick Ramsey for the backup quarterback position. On August 31, 2008, Hackney was signed to the Broncos

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on November 1 after

Patrick Ramsey was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. Three days after the Broncos traded for

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Dr ...

, Hackney was waived on April 6, 2009.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Hackney was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on May 28, 2009. He was released on June 8, 2009.

Florida Tuskers

Hackney was signed by the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League, but was released prior to the 2009 season on September 26.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackney, Darrell 1983 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football quarterbacks Players of Canadian football from Atlanta Canadian football quarterbacks UAB Blazers football players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Florida Tuskers players