Tyler Palko Tyler Palko ( born August 9 , 1983 ) is an American football quarterback and currently a free agent . He currently works for Northwestern Mutual as a financial representative in Pittsburgh and also does weekly broadcasts for Pitt Panthers Television on Comcast . Palko was the starting quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh ( Pitt ) from 2004 to 2006 . The left - handed thrower was not selected in the 2007 NFL Draft , but was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent . After spending most of the 2007 season on the Saints practice squad and occasionally the active roster , Palko was waived and did not play in a game in 2008 . He joined the Arizona Cardinals on a future contract in December 2008 , but was waived again in September 2009 . Palko then joined the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League before receiving a release to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers in November 2009 . He signed a future contract with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2010 , but spent most of his time on the team ' s practice squad before joining the active roster near the end of the season . After entering the 2011 season as the backup to Matt Cassel , Palko was elevated to starting quarterback after Cassel broke his hand . Early years . Palko attended West Allegheny High School in Imperial , Pennsylvania , where he was named Associated Press 2001 Pennsylvania Big School Player of the Year . He was also a member of the " USA Today " All - America Team ( Second - team ) and three - time " Pittsburgh Post - Gazette " WPIAL Class AAA Player of the Year . Palko led his West Allegheny Indians to a PIAA state title in 2001 for AAA in Pennsylvania . At West Allegheny he played under his father , Bob Palko , earning four letters in football ; additionally , he earned three letters in basketball and one in track and field . In his high school senior year , he was named 2002 YMCA Tribune - Review Scholar - Athlete honoree . In 2002 , Palko was selected to play in the U . S . Army All - American Bowl , an all - star game for high school athletes . College career . Palko played at the University of Pittsburgh , where his career began in 2002 as a lettered true freshman . He completed 2 - 3 passes for 13 yards on the season , and rushed for an eight - yard touchdown late in Pitt ' s Insight Bowl victory over Oregon State . Palko was redshirted the following season in 2003 . As a redshirt - sophomore in 2004 , Palko threw for 3 , 067 yards and 24 touchdowns , with only seven interceptions , earning him second - team All - Big East honors . He was also named Pitt ' s MVP and offensive captain as a first - year starter . Palko ' s 24 touchdowns led the Big East and were the third - highest single - season total in Pitt history , and his total passing yardage was the most ever for a sophomore and third - best overall in school history as well . Palko also had four 300 - yard passing games and one 400 - yard passing game during this season alone . In a game against the University of South Florida , Palko threw for a career - high 411 yards , the fifth - highest in school history , and matched a personal best of five touchdowns with no interceptions . Palko threw another five touchdown passes and totaled 334 yards in the air with no interceptions against Notre Dame , becoming the first quarterback to throw for five touchdowns in a single game as a visiting team player against the Fighting Irish . Late in the fourth quarter against Notre Dame , the Panthers went on two late scoring drives : one for a touchdown and the second for a game - winning field goal with one second left to play . Palko also led three consecutive scoring drives against Temple to overcome a 10 - point fourth quarter deficit . They also surprised the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Backyard Brawl after being down 13 - 9 in the fourth quarter . Palko led a drive that consisted of four third - down conversions , ending with his two - yard touchdown run . Pittsburgh earned a bid to play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Utah Utes , where Palko was sacked nine times in a 35 - 7 loss . After replacing Walt Harris as head coach in the spring of 2005 , Dave Wannstedt chose Palko over Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback during Pitt ' s spring training . Flacco was left to run Pitt ' s second team and eventually transferred to Division I - AA University of Delaware . Flacco became the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008 , a year after Palko had been signed and subsequently waived by the Saints . As a junior in 2005 , Palko earned second - team Big East honors for a second consecutive season and was also named Pitt ' s captain for the second year in a row . Palko ' s passing statistics were not as outstanding as the previous year ' s , with 2 , 392 yards and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions . However , his six rushing touchdowns were a career high and a team high for the season , and Palko was Pitt ' s third leading scorer with 36 points . Palko ' s 371 yards and four passing touchdowns against Rutgers University were season highs in 2005 , while his 35 completions out of 58 attempts were both career highs . Against West Virginia , he threw for 308 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss . Palko also threw for 198 yards and a touchdown against a strong opponent in the University of Louisville . In the season - opener against Notre Dame , Palko threw for 220 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing for a four - yard score as well . In his final season as a Panther in 2006 , Palko threw for 2 , 871 yards ( less than his 2004 and 2005 totals ) , but set a new career high with 25 touchdowns ; he only rushed for 77 yards and two scores on the season . Palko and the Panthers opened the season against the University of Virginia with 283 yards passing and three touchdowns . Palko followed it up with a 267 - yard game against Cincinnati , a 277 - yard performance against Michigan State , and exceeded the 300 - yard mark against The Citadel with 313 yards for four scores . Later in the season against West Virginia , Palko threw for a season high 341 yards along with two touchdowns in a 45 - 27 loss . In the season finale against Louisville , Palko threw for 307 yards and a touchdown , but was picked off three times as well . Palko ' s aerial yardage and passing efficiency rating of 163 . 2 was first in the conference , as were his completions per game . His ten 300 - yard passing games during the season tied a Big East record set by Rutgers ' Ryan Hart . He also ranked 4th in the NCAA in passing efficiency in 2006 with 163 . 2 ( the leader was Colt Brennan with 186 ) . Palko , along with linebacker H . B . Blades , were invited to attend the Senior Bowl at season ' s end . Palko ended his college career tied for second in school history with Alex Van Pelt in career touchdown passes ( 66 ) and was second in Pitt history in career passing yardage , trailing Dan Marino by 254 yards . Palko ' s career totals of 8 , 343 passing yards with 66 touchdown passes rank him as one of the top three passers in Panther football history . Statistics . Notes : Uses NCAA ( rather than NFL ) passer rating model . The NCAA indicates he played one game ( bringing his total Pittsburgh career games played to 44 ) in 2003 , but was redshirted that year without any record of passes or rushes . His official Panther biography says he did not play at all in 2003 . Professional career . New Orleans Saints . Palko went undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft before signing with the New Orleans Saints on April 28 , 2007 . After the Saints released Palko during their final preseason cuts , he was back signed to the Saints ' practice squad . He was then elevated to the 53 - man roster for the team ' s first regular season game , where he was the team ' s third - string quarterback . After the game , he was released and re - signed to the team ' s practice squad . Palko was also promoted to the 53 - man roster for the team ' s second contest , and was once again waived after the game . On October 9 , 2007 , Palko was signed back onto the Saints ' practice squad . On December 30 , 2007 , Palko was signed onto the active roster for the final game of the season , but was declared inactive for the game . Palko was waived for good by the Saints during final cuts on August 30 , 2008 . Arizona Cardinals . After spending the 2008 NFL season out of football , Palko was signed to a future contract by the Arizona Cardinals on December 30 , 2008 . He was waived on September 4 , 2009 . California Redwoods . On September 20 , 2009 , Palko was signed by the California Redwoods of the United Football League . He was cut during the preseason . Montreal Alouettes . In October 2009 he signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League and was placed on their practice roster . He was signed to the active roster on November 2 , only to be released on November 25 , allowing him to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers . Pittsburgh Steelers . Palko was signed to the Pittsburgh Steelers ' practice squad on November 25 , 2009 , after quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch were injured . He was promoted to the active roster on November 28 when both quarterbacks were declared inactive for the team ' s November 29 game against the Baltimore Ravens . Palko was named the back - up quarterback behind Dennis Dixon . He was released by the Steelers on December 9 , 2009 . Kansas City Chiefs . 2010 . Palko was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs to a future contract on March 3 , 2010 . On September 4 , 2010 , the Chiefs released Palko from the active roster , but signed him to the practice squad on the following day . He was elevated to the 53 - man roster on December 8 , 2010 . Palko played in the closing minutes of the ( the Chiefs lost 31 - 0 ) . He also played in the final minutes of the ( the Chiefs lost 31 - 10 ) . He passed for a total of 4 for 6 and 35 yards with no interceptions and was sacked twice . 2011 . The Chiefs announced that Palko would take over starting quarterback duties against the New England Patriots in week 11 of the 2011 season , following a season ending index finger injury to starting quarterback Matt Cassel . Palko ' s first starting opportunity with the Chiefs resulted in a 34 - 3 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium , where he completed 25 of 38 passes for a total of 236 yards and three interceptions . The following week , the Chiefs claimed Kyle Orton off waivers from the Denver Broncos . Palko started the next game against the Pittsburgh Steelers , which received considerable interest in Pittsburgh given his collegiate roots . Palko went 18 of 28 for 167 yards and had three interceptions , including one in the closing seconds as Kansas City was driving into Steeler territory . The game ended in a 13 - 9 loss for the Chiefs that was surprisingly close ( the Steelers were 10 - point favorites ) . Palko threw his first NFL touchdown pass the following week against the Chicago Bears : a 38 - yard Hail Mary pass to Dexter McCluster as time expired at the end of the first half . This pass turned out to be the game winning play . Orton , who was the starting quarterback for Chicago in 2008 , had replaced Palko in the second quarter , but hurt a finger on his throwing hand . Palko returned and finished the Chiefs ' upset of the Bears , 10 - 3 , completing 17 of 30 passes for 157 yards and the McCluster touchdown pass . In the December 11 game against the New York Jets , Palko only had 4 yards of total offense and one first down in the first half , completing 3 of 8 passes for 11 yards and one interception as the Jets jumped to a 28 - 3 lead . In the second half Palko threw for his second career NFL touchdown , a 24 - yard toss to Jerheme Urban . Palko was also sacked five times in the game , which the Chiefs lost 37 - 10 . Following the Jets game , the Chiefs fired head coach Todd Haley . Interim head coach Romeo Crennel benched Palko and said that either Orton or Ricky Stanzi would start the December 18 game against the Green Bay Packers . Orton was selected and played a complete game against the previously unbeaten Packers , who the Chiefs upset 19 - 14 . At the close of the 2011 season , Palko was released by the Chiefs . Statistics . Through the December 11 , 2011 , game against the Jets , Tyler Palko ' s professional statistics are :