Jay McDonagh (born February 7, 1973) 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 wi ...

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 ...

who played four seasons in 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 ...

with the Buffalo Destroyers, New Jersey/Las Vegas Gladiators and

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fol ...

. He played college football at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

. He was also a member of the Bologna Phoenix,

Green Bay Bombers The Green Bay Bombers was an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 and 2000. The Bombers franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office w ...

Madison Mad Dogs The Madison Mad Dogs were an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League ( PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 & 2000. The Mad Dogs franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office w ...

Quad City Steamwheelers The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois. The team was founded on September 1, 1999 when the Quad Cities was ...

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

and Bologna Warriors.

Early years and college career

McDonagh attended Gordon Technical High School in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. McDonagh played college football for the

Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I program representing Western Michigan University (WMU) in college athletics. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's baseball, basketball ...

. He was a two-time All-Conference selection at Western Michigan and three-time team MVP. He earned All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

second team honors in 1995. McDonagh recorded career totals of 529 completions for 892 attempts, 6,148 yards and 45 touchdowns.

Statistics

''Source'':

Professional career

Bologna Phoenix

McDonagh played for the Bologna Phoenix in Italy during the 1997 season. The Phoenix advanced to the Italian Super Bowl while McDonagh was voted as league and team MVP.

Green Bay Bombers

McDonagh played for the

of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foo ...

in 1998. He was named Offensive Player of the Year and an All-Star after throwing for 56 touchdowns.

Buffalo Destroyers

McDonagh was a backup quarterback for the Buffalo Destroyers in 1999. He was briefly traded the

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followi ...

in March 2000 but the transaction was voided.

Madison Mad Dogs

McDonagh played for the

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

in 2000. He earned All-League honors while helping his team to an 11–6 record. In defeat of the Billings Thunderbolts, he completed 18 of 37 passes for 172 yards and 5 touchdowns. In a victory against the Minnesota Purple Rage, McDonagh completed 15 of 23 passes for 4 touchdowns and 199 yards.

Quad City Steamwheelers

McDonagh played for the

of 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 ...

in 2001. He played in 15 games, finishing with a

quarterback rating Passer rating (also known as passing efficiency in college football) is a measure of the performance of passers, primarily quarterbacks, in gridiron football. There are two formulas currently in use: one used by both the National Football Leagu ...

of 131.9. He completed 303 of 424 pass attempts for 73 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the season. McDonagh averaged 254.8 passing yards per game and helped the team to their second championship by winning

ArenaCup II The ArenaCup was the af2's championship game. For the league's first five years, it was held at the arena of the higher seeded team. However, the 2005 ArenaCup was the first to be played at a neutral site in Bossier City, Louisiana. The 2006 Aren ...

. He threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns in the ArenaCup victory over the

Richmond Speed The Richmond Speed were one of the original 15 teams to join the inaugural 2000 AF2 season. They started off in the American Conference in 2000, before going over to the Northeast Division in 2001, then to the Atlantic Division from 2002–2003. ...

New Jersey/Las Vegas Gladiators

McDonagh signed with the

New Jersey Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Ca ...

in November 2001. He played for the Gladiators from 2002 to 2003, recording 107 touchdowns on 6,357 passing yards.

Colorado Crush

McDonagh signed with the

in November 2003. He was released by the Crush on January 29, 2004.

Columbus Destroyers

McDonagh was signed by the

' practice squad on April 2, 2004. He was promoted to the active roster on April 6, 2004.

Bologna Warriors

McDonagh played for the Bologna Warriors in Italy during the 2005 season. The Warriors advanced to the Italian Super Bowl but they lost to Bergamo Lions 42–14.

AFL statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonagh, Jay Living people 1973 births Players of American football from Chicago American football quarterbacks Western Michigan Broncos football players Buffalo Destroyers players Quad City Steamwheelers players New Jersey Gladiators players Las Vegas Gladiators players Columbus Destroyers players Colorado Crush players