Jake Eaton (born February 11, 1981) is a high school

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

in Proctor, Vermont. Before his executive career, Eaton played in the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

with the

Cape Fear Wildcats A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

in 2004 and the

Manchester Wolves The Manchester Wolves were a professional arena football team, based at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire, which folded at the end of the 2009 season along with the rest of the league. They played in the East Division of the ...

in 2005. He went on to the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

in 2006 and played for the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

before retiring in 2009. Eaton was inducted into the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

Early life and education

Eaton was born on February 11, 1981, in

Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may refer to: *Rutland (city), Vermont * Rutland (town), Vermont *Rutland County, Vermont *West Rutland, Vermont West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,214 at the 2020 census. The t ...

. During his childhood, Eaton lived with both of his parents after their divorce. He competed in athletics and softball before attending

Rutland High School Rutland High School is a senior high school located in Rutland, Vermont, and attended by students in grades 9-12. It has been located on Stratton Road since 1994. Prior to 1994 Rutland High School was located on Library Avenue (current Rutland Int ...

. At Rutland, Eaton totaled 1,582 points in basketball. As a gridiron football player, Eaton amassed over 5,000 passing yards and over 50 touchdowns. At Vermont Division I championships, Eaton led Rutland to the high school championship game in 1996. His team would win the championship game held that year. The following year, Eaton won the high school title in 1997 with Rutland. He also reached the final with Rutland in 1998. For the Division I basketball championship, Rutland and Eaton made it to the semifinals in 1999. Outside of sports, Eaton was interested in working with children for his career. At the

from 1999 to 2002, Eaton played for the Maine Black Bears football team. As a quarterback, Eaton replaced injured teammate Brian Scott in 1999 for five games. Eaton was the season leader in passing yards from 2000 to 2002. With 7,145 passing yards, Eaton was in the top five for career passing yards with Maine during 2022. During these seasons, Eaton and Maine were defeated in the quarterfinals of the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs. In November 2002, Eaton broke his medial collateral ligament. Due to his knee, Eaton did not quarterback the Maine players that reached the quarterfinals of the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football playoffs. After leaving the team in 2002, Eaton had 77 combined touchdowns with his rushes and passes.

Career

After college, Eaton became part of the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

in April 2004. He remained with the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

team until he lost his spot in June 2004. That year, Eaton went to the

and played in three games with the

. He then moved to the

in 2005 and totaled 4,006 yards alongside 88 touchdowns. In 2006, Eaton joined the

as a member of the

. During his time with the Predators, Eaton underwent medical treatment for his multiple knee injuries in 2008. As a quarterback until 2009, Eaton had a career total of 958 passing yards and 16 touchdowns. After ending his football career, Eaton became an elementary school gym teacher and high school

in Proctor, Vermont, during the 2010s.

Awards and honors

For Rutland, Eaton won the

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

for Vermont in 1998 and 1999. While with the Maine football team, Eaton was offensive player of the year for the university in 2000. Eaton was also one of the winners of the Most Valuable Player award for Maine from 2001 to 2002. Eaton was inducted into the University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 2016. In 2017, he was selected to join a hall of fame for the Vermont Principals' Association. Eaton was also chosen to become part of the

Vermont Sports Hall of Fame The Vermont Sports Hall of Fame is an athletics hall of fame in the U.S. state of Vermont. Above all, induction "is for accomplishments in sports and recreation that generate a great source of pride to the state." Launched as a project in 2011, t ...

in 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Jake 1981 births Edmonton Elks players Cape Fear Wildcats players Manchester Wolves players Orlando Predators players American football quarterbacks Athletic directors Living people Maine Black Bears football players People from Rutland (city), Vermont Players of American football from Vermont