# Sean Clifford

Sean Burke Clifford (born July 14, 1998) is an American professional football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State. He was the starting quarterback and team captain for the Nittany Lions from 2019 through 2022.

## Early life

Clifford graduated from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati in 2017. During his career, he passed for 4,004 yards and 30 touchdowns with a school record 1,100 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns as a quarterback. In his senior season he led the Bombers to a Division 1 State Championship. He committed to Penn State University to play college football.

## College career

After redshirting his first year at Penn State in 2017, Clifford spent 2018 as Trace McSorley's backup. He appeared in four games, completing five of seven passes for 195 yards with two touchdowns.
Clifford was named the starting quarterback in 2019. He was selected All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media, and named an Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
Clifford played in all nine games of a shortened season during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was 152-for-251 (60.6%) for 1,883 yards with 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Clifford again was named an Academic All-Big Ten Conference honoree and earned a bachelor's degree in advertising and public relations following the 2020 fall semester.
Clifford started all 13 games of the 2021 season and finished 261-for-429 passing with 3,107 yards, 21 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He was honored in the 2021 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class, selected to the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, earned a spot on the Senior CLASS Award first team, named All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media, named Penn State's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, and earned the team's Public Service and Lion's Pride Outstanding Senior Player Awards.
Clifford started all 13 games of the 2022 season and finished 226-for-351 passing with 2,822 yards, 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions. During the 2023 Rose Bowl, Sean Clifford's 88-yard touchdown pass to KeAndre Lambert-Smith became the longest passing play in Rose Bowl game history. He was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week twice (Purdue September 1, 2022; Minnesota October 22, 2022). He was also honored as the 2022 Brian Westbrook Regional Player of the Year.

### College statistics

Penn State Nittany Lions :
| Season | Games | Games | Games | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing |
| Season | GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | — | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted | Redshirted |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | — | 5 | 7 | 71.4 | 195 | 27.9 | 2 | 0 | 399.7 | 5 | −3 | −0.6 | 0 |
| 2019 | 12 | 12 | 10–2 | 189 | 219 | 59.2 | 2,654 | 8.3 | 23 | 7 | 148.5 | 116 | 402 | 3.5 | 5 |
| 2020 | 9 | 8 | 4–4 | 152 | 251 | 60.6 | 1,883 | 7.5 | 16 | 9 | 137.4 | 99 | 335 | 3.4 | 3 |
| 2021 | 13 | 13 | 7–6 | 261 | 428 | 61.0 | 3,107 | 7.3 | 21 | 8 | 134.4 | 99 | 163 | 1.6 | 2 |
| 2022 | 13 | 13 | 11–2 | 226 | 351 | 64.4 | 2,822 | 8.0 | 24 | 7 | 150.5 | 69 | 176 | 2.6 | 5 |
| Career | 51 | 46 | 32–14 | 833 | 1,356 | 61.4 | 10,661 | 7.9 | 86 | 31 | 143.8 | 388 | 1,073 | 2.8 | 15 |

## Professional career

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump |
| 6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) | 211 lb (96 kg) | 31+5⁄8 in (0.80 m) | 9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.62 s | 1.60 s | 2.75 s | 4.25 s | 6.84 s | 30.5 in (0.77 m) | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) |
| Sources: |||||||||||
Clifford was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fifth round with the 149th pick of the 2023 NFL draft. He signed his rookie contract on May 5, 2023.
He made his NFL debut on September 10, 2023, relieving Jordan Love in the closing minutes of a 38–20 win against the Chicago Bears; he attempted no passes and rushed the ball once for no gain. He did not see the field again until December 31, when he completed his first NFL pass attempt, a 37–yarder to Bo Melton, during a 33–10 win against the Minnesota Vikings.
Clifford was released on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster for Weeks 2 and 3 in September 2024. Clifford was signed by the Packers to the active roster on January 11, 2025.

## NFL career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Games | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Passing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Rushing | Sacks | Sacks | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | Lng | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Sck | SckY | Fum | Lost |
| 2023 | GB | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 37 | 37.0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 118.7 | 3 | −2 | −0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 2 | 0 | — | 1 | 1 | 100.0 | 37 | 37.0 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 118.7 | 3 | −2 | −0.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Source: pro-football-reference.com |||||||||||||||||||||||

## Business ventures

In 2022, Sean and Liam Clifford founded the student-athlete NIL agency, Limitless NIL. Limitless athletes have signed deals accumulating over $250,000 with over 50 companies. Limitless NIL was sold to TEAM Group Holdings inc. in 2023.