Zach Calzada (born November 8, 2000) 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 currently plays for the

Incarnate Word Cardinals The Incarnate Word Cardinals, also known as UIW Cardinals, are composed of 23 teams representing the University of the Incarnate Word in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, swimming & div ...

. He played formerly for the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...

and the

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

. Calzada attended and played high school football at Lanier High School in

Sugar Hill, Georgia Sugar Hill is a city in northern Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County and a suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The population was 18,522 as of the 2010 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Gwinnett ...

and began his college career at

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

before transferring to Auburn in 2022.

Early life and high school career

Calzada grew up in

and attended Lanier High School. He missed a large portion of his senior season after suffering a cracked rib and a punctured lung in the third game of the year. Calzada eventually returned to play and finished the season with 122 completions on 240 pass attempts for 14 touchdowns and was named an Under Armour All-American as Lanier reached the state semifinals. He finished his high school career with 3,429 yards and 29 touchdowns on 238 of 467 passing. Calzada was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Texas A&M over offers from

North Carolina State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

College career

Texas A&M

As a freshman, Calzada completed 12 of 24 pass attempts for 133 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Calzada did not see any playing time during the

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

season. Calzada competed for the starting quarterback spot going into the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

season, but Haynes King was ultimately chosen. Calzada was named the Aggies starter following an injury to King in the second game of the season. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in a 41–38 upset victory over top-ranked Alabama. Following the game, Calzada was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

Offensive Player of the Week, the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National Co ...

Player of the Week, and the

Maxwell Award The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the college football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best all ...

Player of the Week. Calzada finished the season with 2,185 passing yards, 17 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions in ten starts. On December 13, 2021, Calzada announced he would be transferring from Texas A&M, via social media.

Auburn

On January 6, 2022, Calzada announced he would transfer to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. On December 5, 2022, Calzada announced he would enter the transfer portal again.

Incarnate Word

On January 11, 2023, Calzada announced he would transfer to The University of the Incarnate Word, an FCS school located in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. He was named the Cardinals' starting quarterback entering his first season with the team.

Statistics

Personal life

Calzada is a

Cuban American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or t ...

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bioAuburn Tigers bioIncarnate Word Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calzada, Zach 2000 births Living people American sportspeople of Cuban descent Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia American football quarterbacks Auburn Tigers football players Incarnate Word Cardinals football players Texas A&M Aggies football players