Kurt Palandech (born November 11, 1994) is an

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 ...

for the

Nojima Sagamihara Rise The Nojima Sagamihara Rise are an American football team located in Sagamihara City, Kanagawa, Japan. They are a member of the X-League. Similar to how fellow X-League member Elecom Kobe Finies's visual identity is inspired by the National Footb ...

in the Japanese X-League. He also played for the Berlin Rebels in the

German Football League The German Football League (GFL) is an American football league in Germany and was formed in 1979. Playing rules are based on those of the American National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA. In 1999, the league switched its name from ''Ameri ...

(GFL).

High school

Palandech attended

Plainfield North High School Plainfield North High School (PNHS) is a four-year public high school located in Plainfield, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, in the United States. Founded in August 2005, it is one of four high schools in the Plainfield Community Consoli ...

and was a three-sport athlete. He was selected to the All-Area Team for football and baseball.

College

Palandech spent his freshmen year redshirting at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (also known as UND or North Dakota) is a public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was established by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishment of the state of ...

. After completing his redshirt year, he transferred to

Laney College Laney College is a Public college, public community college in Oakland, California. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County, California, Alameda County. Laney Coll ...

, in Oakland, California. In his only season with the Laney Eagles, Palandech threw for 1,634 passing yards and 17 touchdowns while also rushing for 390 yards and five touchdowns. From 2015 to 2017, Palandech played for the

UNLV Rebels The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confer ...

, throwing 1,489 passing yards and 14 touchdowns and rushing 728 yards with 9 touchdowns, averaging 5.0 yards per carry. In his first start as a junior, Palandech threw for 252 yards, 3 touchdowns, no interceptions and also rushed for 157 yards, with a 76-yard touchdown. This performance in a 69-66 triple overtime win against Wyoming earned him Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week. In 2017, Palandech was selected as a semifinalist for the

William V. Campbell Trophy The William V. Campbell, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. It i ...

, which recognizes the best football scholar-athlete in the nation, considered by many and nicknamed the "Academic

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

". Palandech was a three-time Academic All-Mountain West honoree, three-time recipient of the Mountain West Scholar-Athlete Award, and was named to the

National Football Foundation The National Football Foundation (NFF) is a non-profit organization to promote and develop amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States and "developing the qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, competitive zeal and the dr ...

& College Hall of Fame 2018 NFF Hampshire Honor Society. In 2019, Palandech was named to the

All-Decade Team.

Professional

Cedar Rapids River Kings

Palandech began his professional football career in 2019 playing for the

Cedar Rapids River Kings The Cedar Rapids River Kings were a professional indoor football team based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The River Kings joined the Indoor Football League (IFL) as an expansion team in 2011 as the Cedar Rapids Titans and first took the field for the 20 ...

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 amon ...

(IFL). In Cedar Rapids, he was reunited with former UNLV teammate, Kyle Saxelid. In the River King's first win that year, Palandech threw for 143 yards and five touchdowns without a turnover.

Berlin Rebels

In 2019, Palandech signed with the

Berlin Rebels The Berlin Rebels are an American football team from Berlin, Germany. The team is playing in the German Football League, the highest level of American football in Germany. In the most recent seasons the Rebels managed to qualify for the play-offs ...

. After missing three games, he threw for 2,306 yards and 24 touchdowns while leading the Rebels to a playoff appearance.

Nojima Sagamihara Rise

In 2020, Palandech signed with the

and won the X-League Rookie of the Year Award.

References

External links

UNLV Rebels bio

Palandech
at

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palandech, Kurt Living people 1994 births American football quarterbacks Laney Eagles football players UNLV Rebels football players Cedar Rapids River Kings players German Football League players American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Japan Players of American football from Illinois People from Plainfield, Illinois X-League (Japan) players