Chad Pennington (born June 26, 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American football quarterback for the NFL's New York Jets.
Pennington played in college for Marshall University, where he set school records in several passing categories and led the school to four Mid-American Conference titles. He was selected by the Jets in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft.
After serving as a backup for his first two seasons with the Jets, Pennington was asked to start as quarterback after the team started 1-3 in the 2002 NFL season. Thanks to his play, the Jets would end up finishing with a 9-7 record, which earned them the AFC East division title. He would lead the team to an easy wild card round victory over the Indianapolis Colts before losing in the divisional round to the Oakland Raiders. He ended the year with the highest Passer Rating (104.2) in the NFL.
In a 2003 preseason game, Pennington injured his non-throwing hand, which forced him to sit out the first six games of the 2003 NFL season. The Jets lost their first four games that season and would end up with a 6-10 record. The Jets and Pennington rebounded in 2004, starting the season 5-0 before finising at a 10-6 mark. Pennington injured his rotator cuff during a Week 9 game against the Buffalo Bills and was forced to miss three games. Second string QB Quincy Carter was 2-1 in Pennington's absence. After returning to action with a rout of the Houston Texans, Pennington struggled the rest of the season and there was speculation that Pennington's shoulder was not fully healed. After a scuffle with the New York media and losses to the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams, the Jets still managed to earn a Wild Card berth. Pennington answered speculation that his shoulder was ailing with a sterling 20-17 overtime win against the AFC West Champion San Diego Chargers. This win came in the first round of the playoffs and Pennington's numbers were impressive: 23-33 for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Pennington then faced the 15-1 Steelers at Pittsburgh. Despite the Jets offensive struggles and being in a 10-0 hole, the Jets rallied to score 17 unanswered points. However, Pennington would see his season end with his kicker Doug Brien missing two crucial game winning field goals. The Steelers would go on to win in overtime, the third overtime in a row for Pennington and the Jets.
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Last updated: 05-14-2005 06:58:21
