This past Monday Night, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to chat with Chad Pennington for roughly 15 minutes. Chad Pennington is the epitome of class; he was extremely personable and engaging. Both Mark and I have met him before and shared our stories with him. The first time I met him was at the “Taste of the NFL” in the spring of 2008. I remember removing a photo from my pocket and telling him that a fellow co-worker of mine requested his autograph. Chad looked at the photo and nearly fell off his stool. He gave a hearty laugh and said “I never forget a team mate. How is Llowe Turner doing?”
During our recent conversation, I looked him in the eye and said, “Chad if you were playing with a Rex Ryan defense we would have won a championship!” He returned my gaze and replied “Now, that’s a true statement.” Over the years, I’ve listened to various media types downgrade Chad’s arm strength but I’ve never seen a more accurate passer or smarter quarterback. Chad knew how to “protect” the ball and properly manage the game. Being a devout Jets fan and having to stomach the last three “turnover filled” years, I yearn for the Pennington era.
The below table is Chad Pennington’s statistics from four replays that I’ve conducted. I would sign up for his “Total Statistics” any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
Year | Team | Att | Com | Yards | % | TD | Int | % TD | % Int | Avg. Gain | Rating |
2002 | NYJ | 370 | 252 | 3124 | 68.1 | 28 | 5 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 8.4 | 113.6 |
2004 | NYJ | 399 | 248 | 2789 | 62.2 | 14 | 12 | 3.5 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 82.2 |
2006 | NYJ | 516 | 344 | 3896 | 66.7 | 18 | 16 | 3.5 | 3.1 | 7.6 | 87.8 |
2008 | MIA | 524 | 354 | 4093 | 67.6 | 16 | 3 | 3.1 | 0.6 | 7.8 | 98.7 |
Total | 1809 | 1198 | 13902 | 66.1 | 76 | 36 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 95.5 |
Great story and photo; thanks for sharing them with us. Too bad he got injured; I agree with you; very solid QB all the way around. I’d take him now (healthy) over many of the starters in the NFL today.
I always liked Pennington. I believe his Senior year of High school his school, Knox Webb, played in the Region Tournament hosted by my High School Alma Mater. He was a good basketball player as well. – Steve