Jeff Otis (born January 30, 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
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...
as a
street 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
Columbia.
Otis was also a member of the
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The tea ...
,
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arri ...
and
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
. He is the son of former
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL)
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
Jim Otis
James Lloyd Otis (born April 29, 1948) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1970s. Otis played college football for Ohio St ...
.
He graduated from the
Darden School of Business
The Darden School of Business is the graduate business school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Darden School offers MBA, PhD, and Executive Education programs. The school was founded ...
at the University of Virginia in 2011 with an MBA.
Early years
Jeffrey David Otis
[ competed in ]football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
and track
Track or Tracks may refer to:
Routes or imprints
* Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity
* Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across
* Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...
at Christian Brothers College High School
Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Lasallian Catholic college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis and is ...
. He was a member of the Missouri East All-Star Team. Jeff also was an All-West County selection and a St. Louis Post Dispatch Super 30 nominee.
College career
He played for the Columbia Lions
The Columbia University Lions are the collective athletic teams and their members from Columbia University, an Ivy League institution in New York City, United States. The current director of athletics is Peter Pilling.
Ivy League athletics
Th ...
in his NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
career. Jeff ranks second in the All-Time Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
passing list with yardage of 4,666 and pass completions 429. Jeff was in the starting role for the Lions in 2003. Jeff responded by finishing third in the league in per game passing average at 255.2 yards per contest. Jeff was named an outstanding player for the Lions. Jeff ranked seventh in Division I-AA
The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...
in completions per game, and finished third on Columbia University's all-time single-season list with 217 completions. Jeff rated fourth on the school's single-season touchdown list with 17 and third in total offense with 2,675 yards.
Professional career
Arizona Cardinals
Otis was undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...
. After the NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
, he was later signed as a free agent with Arizona on January 5, 2006. He was allocated to NFL Europe
NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...
by the Cardinals where he helped the Frankfurt Galaxy Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Frankfurt Galaxy:
* Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 1991 and 2007
* Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF)
The Frankfurt Galaxy is an American football team in Frankfurt, ...
to a championship in World Bowl XIV
World Bowl XIV, officially known as Yello Strom World Bowl XIV, was the 2006 championship game of the NFL Europe League. It was held at the LTU arena in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday, May 27, 2006. The game was between the defending World Bowl ...
. Otis was later released.
First stint with Raiders
Otis signed as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
on March 26, 2007. He was released by the Raiders before the regular season in 2007.
Kansas City Chiefs
Toward the end of the 2007 season, Otis was added to the Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division.
The tea ...
' practice squad.
Second stint with Raiders
On March 25, 2008, Otis was re-signed by the Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
.Oakland Raiders – Transactions
He was released prior to the regular season.
The Raiders re-signed Otis to their practice squad on November 12, 2008.
St. Louis Rams
Otis signed with the
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arri ...
on March 16, 2009.
[Rams Re-Sign Stterstrom](_blank)
Yahoo Sports, March 17, 2009 The Rams waived him on April 30.
Third stint with Raiders
Otis was re-signed to the
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, ...
of the
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
on December 23, 2009.
Personal life
His father
Jim Otis
James Lloyd Otis (born April 29, 1948) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1970s. Otis played college football for Ohio St ...
was a
running back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...
for the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...
.
He and his brother also went to CBC High School in St. Louis. They won the Missouri State Title in 2015.
References
External links
Just Sports StatsOakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Otis, Jeff
1983 births
Living people
Players of American football from St. Louis
American football quarterbacks
Columbia Lions football players
Arizona Cardinals players
Frankfurt Galaxy players
Oakland Raiders players
Kansas City Chiefs players
St. Louis Rams players
University of Virginia Darden School of Business alumni