Aaron Sparrow (born January 27, 1972) 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 three 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 ...

(AFL) with the

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena. ...

and

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 ...

. He played college football at

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

. He was also a member of the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

, Augusta Stallions, Buffalo Destroyers, Norfolk Nighthawks and

Wichita Stealth The Wichita Stealth was an arena football team. They played their home games at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita, Kansas. They originally began play in the original incarnation of the Indoor Football League as a 2000 expansion team known as the ...

Early years

Sparrow played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth, Virginia. He was the All-Tidewater Player of the Year in 1989 and 1990. He also earned '' Parade'' All-American honors and helped the team win a state championship. Sparrow recorded career totals of 78 touchdown passes and 5,182 career passing yards.

College career

Sparrow originally committed to play football for the Virginia Cavaliers but ended up transferring to Norfolk State University after failing to meet academic requirements. Sparrow played for the

Norfolk State Spartans The Norfolk State Spartans refer to the 14 intercollegiate sports teams representing Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Virginia, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, tennis and track and field; w ...

from 1992 to 1995. He recorded 617 completions, 1,119 attempts, 8,758 passing yards and 79 TD passes in his college career. He was a 3-time All- CIAA selection, 1994 CIAA Offensive Player of the Year, 1995 CIAA Co-Offensive Player of the Year and a 2-time Division II All-American from 1994 to 1995. He was Named to the Football Gazette Division II All-America Team as a junior in 1994, when he passed for 3,212 yards and 31 touchdowns while completing what was then a school record 59.8 percent of his passes. Sparrow was also named 1st team Football Gazette and 3rd Team AP All-American as a senior. He was inducted into the Norfolk State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.

Professional career

Calgary Stampeders

Sparrow signed with the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) in May 1996. He was released by the team on June 11, 1996.

Nashville Kats

Sparrow appeared in two games for the

of the

(AFL) in 1997. He had a tryout with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the CFL after the 1997 season.

Grand Rapids Rampage

Sparrow played in one game for the

of the AFL during the 1998 season, completing 13 of 16 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw an interception during the game and hurt his shoulder when he attempted to tackle the returner. He finished the game but could not throw a football when he woke up the next morning. Sparrow missed the rest of the 1998 and 1999 seasons rehabbing from surgery.

Augusta Stallions

Sparrow played for the Augusta Stallions 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 2000, earning af2 Offensive Player of the Year honors after completing 335 of 513 of his passes for 4,000 yards and 78 touchdowns with a 122.94 passer rating. He also rushed for 54 yards and eleven touchdowns. He garnered First Team All-af2 recognition as well.

Buffalo Destroyers

Sparrow was signed by the Buffalo Destroyers of the AFL in October 2000. He was placed on injured reserve on April 9, 2001. He was released by the Destroyers on July 20, 2001.

Carolina Cobras

Sparrow signed with the

of the AFL on November 27, 2001, recording fourteen touchdown passes on 595 yards during the

2002 Arena Football League season The 2002 Arena Football League season was the 16th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2003. The league champions were the San Jose SaberCats, who defeated the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVI. In the process the SaberCats ...

. He was released by the Cobras on November 2, 2002.

Norfolk Nighthawks

Sparrow played for the Norfolk Nighthawks of the af2 in 2003 and completed 239 of 395 passes for 3,006 yards and 51 touchdowns. During his time with the franchise, Sparrow was the oldest player on the roster.

Wichita Stealth

Sparrow played for the

of the af2 in 2004.

AFL statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

References

External links

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparrow, Aaron Living people 1972 births American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football Norfolk State Spartans football players Calgary Stampeders players Nashville Kats players Grand Rapids Rampage players Augusta Stallions players Buffalo Destroyers players Carolina Cobras players Norfolk Nighthawks players Wichita Stealth players Players of American football from Portsmouth, Virginia