Kyle Orton

Infobox NFLactive


caption=Orton (left) throws a pass to Garrett Wolfe
currentteam=Chicago Bears
currentnumber=18
currentposition=Quarterback
birthdate=birth date and age|1982|11|14
birthplace=Altoona, Iowa
heightft=6
heightin=4
weight=215
debutyear=2005
debutteam=Chicago Bears
college=Purdue
draftyear=2005
draftround=4
draftpick=106
pastteams=
* Chicago Bears (2005-present)
status=
statweek=17
statseason=2007
statlabel1=TD-INT
statvalue1=12-15
statlabel2=Passing yards
statvalue2=2,347
statlabel3=QB Rating
statvalue3=62.2
nfl=ORT716150

Kyle Orton (born November 14, 1982 in Altoona, Iowa) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played college football at Purdue.

College career

Orton played for Purdue. While there, Orton wore uniform No. 18 in honor of former Nebraska Cornhuskers' quarterback Brook Berringer, who died in a plane crash in 1996. [http://chi.scout.com/a.z?s=25&p=8&c=1&nid=2985036] Orton grew up a Husker fan, but chose to attend a program with a stronger passing attack. Orton tied former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees' record for the number of passing yards in a game (522 vs. Indiana Hoosiers) and is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start at least three consecutive bowl games (Brees and Mark Herrmann being the other two). Orton started in the 2001 Sun Bowl, the 2002 Sun Bowl, the 2003 Capital One Bowl, and the 2004 Sun Bowl. During his time at Purdue, Orton joined the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.Fact|date=February 2008

In 2004, Orton was the preseason third-team "All-American" quarterback, behind USC's Matt Leinart and Oklahoma's Jason White. Orton had a nice start to the season, having led Purdue to a 5-0 start with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. Orton was touted as the front runner for the Heisman Trophy, until he received multiple injuries in consecutive games against the Michigan and Northwestern that forced him out of his starting position for a month.

Professional career

2005

In the 2005 NFL season, Orton was rushed into the Bears starting lineup as a rookie after a preseason injury to starter Rex Grossman, and the poor play of back up Chad Hutchinson. Orton started the first 14 games of the season, however was replaced by Grossman after halftime during the Bears' Week 15 victory against the Atlanta Falcons. After sitting for Week 16, Orton started the regular season finale game against the Minnesota Vikings, whose outcome for the Bears would not affect their post-season hopes; the Bears had clinched the NFC North championship and a first-round bye in the playoffs with their Week 16 victory over the Green Bay Packers. Grossman would go on to play in the Bears playoff loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Overall, the Bears had a record of 10-5 in games that Orton started, including an eight-game winning streak after a 1-3 start. Despite the team's success, Orton finished with the lowest quarterback rating in the NFL (59.7) among all "qualified" quarterbacks (those with 224+ pass attempts). [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/statistics?stat=pass&sort=rat&league=nfl&season=2&year=2005] Despite the low rating, the Bears coaches repeatedly insisted that they were pleased with Orton's performance. The coaching staff asked Orton to minimize mistakes and to let the rushing attack and the defense win ballgames rather than employing an aggressive passing attack. Measuring Orton by victories, his rookie season was a successful one even by historical standards. Orton's 15 starts and 10 victories are both rookie records for Bears quarterbacks, and the 10 victories are the second most in the NFL since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, behind only Ben Roethlisberger's 14 victories in 2004.

2006

Following the 2005 season, the Bears signed veteran Brian Griese as the team’s second string quarterback. Orton, now demoted, became the Bears’ third-string quarterback, and did not see any playtime throughout the entire 2006 season.

2007

The following off-season, the Bears acquired Chris Leak, who had previously led the Florida Gators to a BCS Championship, shortly after the 2007 NFL Draft. Leak struggled in training camp, while Orton, who had trained in the off season, excelled.Mayer, Larry, [http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=3649 Slimmed-down Orton turning heads in camp] (August 1, 2007), chicagobears.com. Retrieved on August 5, 2007.] According to the "Chicago Tribune", he was en route to overtaking Griese's (then) second string position. [cite news | first=John | last=Mullin | coauthors= | title=Veterans relive exhibition but some Bears have things to prove | date=August 11, 2007 | publisher= | work =Chicago Tribune | pages =1; 8 | accessdate = 2007-04-11] Orton continued to show signs of improvement in the preseason. He completed sixteen of twenty-five passes for 151 yards and one touchdown en route to leading the Bears to a comeback victory over the Houston Texans. [NFL.com, [http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/live/NFL_20070811_CHI@HOU Texans fall to Bears in Schaub's debut] , (August 11, 2007). Retrieved on August 13, 2007.]

After the Bears lost their chances of making a post-season berth, Lovie Smith chose to start Orton over Griese, who served as Grossman’s back-up. [ChicagoBears.com, [http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=4188 Excited Bears quarterback settling in under center] . Retrieved on December 17, 2007.] Orton made his first start in nearly two seasons on December 17, 2007 against the Minnesota Vikings, the last team he started against before relinquishing his starting role to Grossman. The Bears lost the game by a score of 20-13, with Orton finishing with 22 completions on 38 attempts, with 184 yards and 1 interception. [Yahoo! Sports, [http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/boxscore;_ylt=AlsOwSIjnzupJC8d96aM5qoisLYF?gid=20071217016 Minnesota 20, Chicago 13] , Retrieved on December 17, 2007.] He improved in the final two games of the season; leading the Bears to two consecutive victories by throwing three touchdowns and an interception for 294 yards. [NFL.com, [http://www.nfl.com/players/kyleorton/gamelogs?id=ORT716150 Kyle Orton: Game Logs] , Retrieved on February 9, 2008.]

2008

On February 25, 2008 the Bears and Orton agreed to a one-year contract extension running through the 2009 season. Competition for the starting quarterback job was to be expected to be fierce with incumbent Rex Grossman during training camp. On August 18, after solid preseason outings against the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks, Bears head coach Lovie Smith named Orton the team's starting quarterback for the 2008 season. [ChicagoBears.com, [http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=5015 Bears name Orton their starting quarterback] , Retrieved on August 18, 2008] On September 7, 2008, Orton lead the Bears to a 29-13 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the first regular season game of the 2008 season.

References

External links

* [http://www.nfl.com/players/kyleorton/profile?id=ORT716150 Official NFL Profile]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=7282 ESPN Profile]
* [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/players/11/08/first.person1114/ SI Interview]