Kellen Clemens
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Kellen Vincent Clemens (born June 7, 1983) 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 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 spent eleven seasons in the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL). He was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. 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 ...
at
Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
. He has also been a member of the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
, Houston Texans,
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...
, and
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
/
Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
.


Early years

Born and raised in
Burns Burns may refer to: * Burn, an injury (plural) People: * Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters Business: * Burns London, a British guitar maker Places: ;In the United States * Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
in
eastern Oregon Eastern Oregon is the eastern part of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost ...
, Clemens 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 ...
for the Burns Hilanders and led them to the Oregon state 3A championship game in 1999. In his high school career, he threw for a state-record 8,646 yards (610-of-1,112) and 102 touchdowns. He also received
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
All-American honors and Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year while in high school, where he completed 218 of 395 passes for and 37 touchdowns with 325 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns in his senior season. He was coached by Terry Graham using the
run and shoot offense The run and shoot offense (also known as Run N' Shoot) is an offensive system for American football which emphasizes receiver motion and on-the-fly adjustments of receivers' routes in response to different defenses. It was conceived by former ...
.


College career

Clemens 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 ...
at the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
in Eugene. He played for head coach
Mike Bellotti Robert Michael Bellotti (born December 21, 1950) is an American college football analyst for ESPN and ABC. He was with the University of Oregon's football program for over 20 years serving as offensive coordinator for six years, head coach fo ...
while at Oregon. He assumed the role of starting quarterback in all 13 games in 2003 and responded by throwing for more touchdown passes and yards than any sophomore in school history, surpassing
Dan Fouts Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973-87). After a relatively undistinguished fi ...
—who had 16 touchdowns and 2,390 yards, in 1970. Clemens posted three rushing touchdowns, three passing touchdowns and a career-best 437 passing yards in a road victory over
Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
as a junior. As a senior in 2005, he broke his ankle while playing against
Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
. Despite missing remaining three games of the season, Clemens finished 2005 with 2,406 passing yards, 19 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 152.87 passer efficiency rating. He finished his Oregon career with 7,555 passing yards, which ranked third in school history at the time before being passed up by
Marcus Mariota Marcus Ardel Taulauniu Mariota (born October 30, 1993) is an American football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted second overall by the Tennessee Titans in the 2015 NFL Draft. Mariota pl ...
in the 2014 season.


Statistics


Professional career


New York Jets

Clemens was selected by the New York Jets in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft, the 49th overall pick, to serve as the secondary quarterback to
Chad Pennington James Chadwick Pennington (born June 26, 1976) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Marshall, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was select ...
. A healthy Pennington resulted in little playing time for Clemens in 2006. He made his NFL debut in relief appearance against the
Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...
, recording his first career pass attempt and rushing once for two yards in the 41–0 loss. He entered in a Week 14 31–13 loss to the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
, rushed once for eight yards but did not attempt a pass. He recorded only two attempts and 0 completions in his rookie season. Due to an injury to Pennington in the Jets's 2007 season opener against the New England Patriots, Clemens recorded his first completed pass in the NFL with a final record for the day of five complete passes on ten attempts in the 38–14 loss. Clemens made his first career start in Week 2 of the 2007 season. His effectiveness was minimized by the Ravens's defense for the first three quarters, with the Jets trailing 20–3 at one point. However, in the fourth quarter, Clemens led the Jets on a scoring drive that cut Baltimore's lead to 20–13. On the last drive, he attempted what would have been a game-tying touchdown pass to Jets wide receiver
Justin McCareins Justin Morgan McCareins (born December 1, 1978) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He also played for the New York Jets. ...
, but the pass was dropped by McCareins and intercepted by the Ravens'
Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who played as a middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in the National Football League (NFL). He played co ...
. His next appearance came in week 8 against the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
. A struggling Pennington was pulled by head coach Eric Mangini in the middle of the fourth quarter and replaced by Clemens. Clemens led two drives against the Buffalo defense. Down 13–3 and pressed for time, Clemens attempted to quickly move the Jets offense down the field but was intercepted twice. The following day, on October 29, 2007, Clemens was named the starting quarterback for the next game against the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
. In the 23–20 loss, he had 226 passing yards and a passing touchdown. He finished the 2007 season with 1,529 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and ten interceptions in 11 games. In 2008, Clemens was only on the field in two games to attempt five passes as the backup to
Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...
. When
Mike Nugent Michael Nugent (born March 2, 1982) is a former American football placekicker. He played college football for Ohio State University, and was twice recognized as a consensus All-American. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round o ...
, the Jets's kicker, injured his thigh in the September 7 game against the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
, Clemens filled in as the team's placekicker, but was not called upon to kick. On August 26, 2009, Jet's head coach
Rex Ryan Rex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is an American former football coach and analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching position ...
announced that
Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...
would be the starting quarterback for the 2009 season, a position left vacant after
Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...
was released from the Jets in February. On December 3, Clemens was forced to come in against the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
after Mark Sanchez sprained his PCL. Clemens started the Jets's next game against the 1-11
Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
. Despite an unexceptional personal performance by Clemens, the Jets were still able to pick up an important 26–3 victory. Clemens threw for 125 yards with no touchdowns in 2009 and played mostly when
Mark Sanchez Mark Travis John Sanchez (born November 11, 1986) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football at the University of Southern California (USC) and was draft ...
was injured. He was re-signed to a one-year contract for the 2010 season on April 13, but the only action he saw was in the Week 17 game against the
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
.


Washington Redskins

On July 27, 2011, Clemens signed a one-year contract with the
Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...
where he competed for a backup role during the 2011 preseason. He was released by the team on September 3.


Houston Texans

Clemens was signed by the Houston Texans on November 23, 2011, after starting quarterback
Matt Schaub Matthew Schaub (born June 25, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played for 17 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Cavaliers, and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the th ...
was placed on injured reserve. Two weeks later, he was waived in order for the Texans to sign
Jeff Garcia Jeffrey Jason Garcia (born February 24, 1970) is a former American football quarterback. After attending high school and junior college in Gilroy, California, Garcia played college football at San Jose State University. A four-time CFL All-Sta ...
.


St. Louis Rams

The
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...
claimed Clemens off of waivers from Houston on December 7. 2011. After an ankle sprain sidelined starting quarterback
Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, most notably with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the ...
and with backup A. J. Feeley out with a thumb injury, Clemens started on December 18 against the
Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...
. With only 11 days to get familiar with the team and the offense, Clemens passed for 229 yards completing 25-of-36 passes. In that game, he completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver
Danario Alexander Danario Alexander (born August 7, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Missouri Tigers football, Missouri. Early years Alexander earned honorable mention All-State and First-team All-District honors as ...
, his first NFL touchdown pass since Week 17 of the 2007 season with the Jets, but the Bengals won by a score of 20–13. Clemens started the final two games for the Rams, both losses to the Steelers and rival 49ers. He finished the 2011 season with two touchdown passes and one rushing touchdown, and was re-signed by the Rams. In the 2012 season, Clemens only saw action in two games against the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals. He completed one pass for 39 yards and had two rushes for five yards. After Bradford went down with a season-ending injury in Week 7 in
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, Clemens started the final nine games, going 4-5 as the Rams' starter and finished with 1,673 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions.


San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

Clemens signed a two-year contract with the San Diego Chargers on March 13, 2014. In the 2014 season, he only appeared in two games and completed one pass for 10 yards. Clemens threw his first touchdown as a Charger on September 27, 2015, a 19-yard pass to
Keenan Allen Keenan Alexander Allen (born April 27, 1992) is an American football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California before leaving after his junior year. He was draft ...
against the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
. In the 2016 season, Clemens appeared in one game, a 38–7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, in relief of
Philip Rivers Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was se ...
at quarterback. In addition, he saw some playing time on special teams throughout the season. Clemens was re-signed to a one-year contract on March 9, 2017. On September 2, 2017, he was released by the Chargers, but was re-signed two days later. In the 2017 season, he remained in a relief role and completed six passes for 75 yards and an interception.


NFL career statistics


Personal life

Clemens grew up herding cattle in eastern Oregon on his family's ranch in Burns, where they own over 100 head of
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...
.As a young boy, Kellen enjoyed horseback riding in his spare time. Clemens is an active and practicing
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, and is married with four children with a strong religious devotion to the
Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the fir ...
of Nazareth. In a February 2012 interview with the
National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...
, he noted that his patron saint is
Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and has special religious devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. He also noted that he wears the
Brown Scapular The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (also known as the Brown Scapular) belongs to the habit of both the Carmelite Order and the Discalced Carmelite Order, both of which have Our Lady of Mount Carmel as their patroness. In its small form, it ...
in connection to this religious faith. Furthermore, Clemens claimed, "You have to vote for the candidate who is most
pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respon ...
," and said he voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. Clemens has four younger sisters. He majored in
Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...
at the University of Oregon. Earning International League All Star recognition in 1998 Clemens is an active member of Catholic Athletes for Christ. He and his wife Nicole currently reside in
Walla Walla, Washington Walla Walla is a city in Walla Walla County, Washington, where it is the largest city and county seat. It had a population of 34,060 at the 2020 census, estimated to have decreased to 33,927 as of 2021. The population of the city and its two su ...
. Clemens also expressed a feeling of deep honour when
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
blessed and kissed their four-week-old baby girl at the final procession of the
Papal Mass A Papal Mass is the Solemn Pontifical High Mass celebrated by the Pope. It is celebrated on such occasions as a papal coronation, an ''ex cathedra'' pronouncement, the canonization of a saint, on Easter or Christmas or other major feast days. ...
on April 17, 2008, at
Nationals Park Nationals Park is a baseball stadium along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Home to Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals since its completion in 2008, it was the first LEED-certified green major profe ...
in
Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Clemens, in appreciation for the blessing, gave Pope Benedict his autograph by signing his mitre.


References


External links


Oregon Ducks bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clemens, Kellen 1983 births Living people Ranchers from Oregon People from Burns, Oregon People from Hanover Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Oregon American football quarterbacks Oregon Ducks football players New York Jets players Washington Redskins players Houston Texans players St. Louis Rams players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Chargers players Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Morris County, New Jersey Catholics from New Jersey Catholics from Oregon