Kurt Benkert (born July 17, 1995) 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 ...

who is a free agent. 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 ...

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He originally signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2018, and was also a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. The

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

have his rights for the 2023 XFL season after he was assigned to the team, he announced he would not play for the league.

Early years

Benkert attended Cape Coral High School in Cape Coral, Florida and transferred to

Island Coast High School Island Coast High School is located in Cape Coral, Florida. It is one of four high schools in the city of Cape Coral and is also a part of the Lee County School District. Total enrollment is 1,615 students as of July 2018. It is the newest high ...

in Cape Coral prior to his senior year. As a senior, he passed for 2,261 yards with 20 touchdowns. He committed to East Carolina University to play college football.

College career

After redshirting his first year at East Carolina in 2013, Benkert appeared in three games in 2014, completing eight of 10 passes for 58 yards and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. He was named East Carolina's starting quarterback heading into 2015, however he suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

before the season. In May 2016, he transferred to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. In his first year at Virginia, Benkert was named the starting quarterback. He completed 228 of 406 passes for 2,552 yards, 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. In the third game of his senior season in 2017, Benkert broke the school record for passing yards in a game with 455.

Professional career

Atlanta Falcons

Benkert signed with the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent on May 1, 2018. He was waived on September 1, 2018, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Falcons on December 31, 2018. On August 6, 2019, Benkert was placed on injured reserve after suffering a toe injury in the preseason. On September 5, 2020, Benkert was waived by the Falcons and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's week 11 game against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021, but was waived on February 18, 2021.

Green Bay Packers

On May 17, 2021, Benkert signed with the

. On August 31, 2021, Packers released Benkert as part of their final roster cuts. He was signed to the practice squad the next day. Benkert was elevated to the active roster on December 7, 2021, to replace

Jordan Love Jordan Alexander Love (born November 2, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Utah State and was drafted by the Packers in the first round of th ...

, who had been placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list the day before. He saw the field for the first time in his professional career on December 12,

kneeling Kneeling is a basic human position where one or both knees touch the ground. Kneeling is defined as “to position the body so that one or both knees rest on the floor,” according to Merriam-Webster. Kneeling when only composed of one knee, and ...

the ball twice in the closing seconds of a 45–30 win over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Packers. On June 17, 2022, Benkert was released by the Packers.

San Francisco 49ers

On September 20, 2022, Benkert signed with the

practice squad. He was released on October 12. He re-signed to the team’s practice squad on October 18, 2022. On November 15, 2022, Benkert was released from the team again.

Houston Roughnecks

On December 12, 2022, Benkert was assigned to the

of the

. In a public statement, Benkert stated that, after initially seeking to join the league, he had chosen not to sign a contract, stating that it "no longer feels like the right (opportunity) to pursue" and that the decision was "the fault of no one(,)" with Benkert stating he would instead spend spring 2023 out of football with his family. The Roughnecks will retain his rights should he choose to join the league.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Esports career

Benkert signed with Spacestation Gaming. He is alternate for Spacestation Gaming ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

'' team.

Personal life

Benkert married Samantha Morreal on July 2, 2016.

References

External links

Virginia Cavaliers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benkert, Kurt 1995 births Living people American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons players Green Bay Packers players San Francisco 49ers players East Carolina Pirates football players People from Cape Coral, Florida Players of American football from Florida Virginia Cavaliers football players Twitch (service) streamers