Jason Kenneth Vander Laan (born September 22, 1992) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

and current offensive coordinator for Rockford High School. He played college football as a

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 ...

at Ferris State. Vander Laan was signed by the New York Jets as an

undrafted 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 2016.

College career

At Ferris State, Vander Laan set the NCAA all-divisions record for career rushing yards by a quarterback with 5,953. He also set the NCAA Division II record for rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback (1,607 in 2013). Also, at Ferris State he won 2 Harlon Hill Trophies, which is awarded to the best player in all of NCAA Division II.

Legacy

On October 22, 2022, Vander Laan's No. 15 was retired by the Bulldogs.

College statistics

Professional career

New York Jets

Vander Laan was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2016. With the Jets, he converted from a quarterback to a tight end. He was released by the team on August 28, 2016. He was re-signed to the practice squad on December 20, 2016. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jets on January 2, 2017. He was waived by the Jets on September 3, 2017.

Indianapolis Colts

On November 3, 2017, Vander Laan was signed to the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 25, 2017. He was waived by the Colts on May 7, 2018.

Carolina Panthers

On May 21, 2018, Vander Laan signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. He was waived on September 1, 2018, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 19, 2018. Vander Laan was waived during final roster cuts on August 30, 2019.

New England Patriots

On September 25, 2019, Vander Laan signed with the New England Patriots practice squad. On October 15, 2019, he was released.

New Orleans Saints

On October 23, 2019, Vander Laan was signed to 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 ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 22, 2019. He was placed on injured reserve on December 6, 2019, with a head injury. Vander Laan chose to opt-out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

on July 28, 2020. He was waived after the season on February 12, 2021.

Coaching career

On March 10, 2021, Vander Laan was hired by Rockford High School as an offensive coordinator.

References

External links

Ferris State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vander Laan, Jason 1992 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football tight ends Carolina Panthers players Ferris State Bulldogs football players Indianapolis Colts players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players New York Jets players People from Frankfort, Illinois Players of American football from Cook County, Illinois