Kellen Clemens Kellen Vincent Clemens ( born June 6 , 1983 ) is an American football quarterback for the St . Louis Rams of the National Football League . He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round ( 49th overall ) of the 2006 NFL Draft . He played collegiately at Oregon . He has also been a member of the Washington Redskins , Houston Texans , and St . Louis Rams . Early years . Clemens played high school football for the Burns Hilanders and led them to the Oregon state 3A championship game in 1999 . In his high school career he threw for a state - record 8 , 646 yards ( 610 - of - 1 , 112 ) and 102 TD . He also received USA Today All - American honors and Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year while in high school , where he completed 218 of 395 passes for and 37 TD with 325 rushing yards and 15 TD in his senior season . He was coached by Terry Graham using the run and shoot offense . College career . Clemens played college football at the University of Oregon . He assumed the role of starting QB in all 13 games in 2003 and responded by throwing for more TD passes and yards than any sophomore in school history , surpassing Dan Fouts — who had 16 TDs and 2390 yards , in 1970 . He posted three rushing TD , three passing TD and a career - best 437 passing yards in a road victory over Washington State as a junior . As a senior during the 2005 season he broke his ankle while playing against Arizona . Despite missing remaining three games of the season , he finished 2005 with 2 , 406 passing yards , 19 TDs , 4 interceptions , and a 152 . 87 passer efficiency rating . He finished his Oregon career with 7 , 555 passing yards . Professional career . New York Jets . Clemens was selected by the New York Jets 49th overall in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft to serve as the secondary quarterback to Chad Pennington . A healthy Pennington resulted in little playing time for Clemens in 2006 . He entered in a Game 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills , rushed once for 8 yards but did not attempt a pass . He then made NFL debut in relief appearance against the Jacksonville Jaguars , recording his first career pass attempt and rushing once for 2 yards . He recorded only two attempts and 0 completions in his rookie season . Due to an injury to Chad Pennington in the Jets ' s 2007 - 2008 season opener against the New England Patriots , Clemens recorded his first completed pass in the NFL with a final record for the day of five complete passes on ten attempts . Clemens made his first career start in Week 2 of the 2007 season . Clemens ' s effectiveness was minimized by the Ravens ' s defense for the first three quarters , with the Jets trailing 20 - 3 at one point . However , in the fourth quarter , Clemens led the Jets on a scoring drive that cut Baltimore ' s lead to 20 - 13 . On the last drive , Clemens attempted what would have been a game - tying touchdown pass to Jets wide receiver Justin McCareins , but the pass was dropped by McCareins instead of caught , and was then intercepted by the Ravens ' s Ray Lewis . His next appearance would come in the Jets ' s Week 8 match - up against the Buffalo Bills . A struggling Pennington was pulled by head coach Eric Mangini in the middle of the fourth quarter and replaced by Clemens . Clemens led two drives against the Buffalo defense . Down 13 - 3 and pressed for time , Clemens attempted to quickly move the Jets offense down the field but was intercepted twice . The following day , on October 29 , 2007 , Clemens was named the starting quarterback for the next game against the Washington Redskins . In 2008 , Clemens was only on the field to attempt five passes as the backup to Brett Favre . When Mike Nugent , the Jets ' s kicker , injured his thigh in the September 7th game against the Miami Dolphins , Clemens filled in as the team ' s placekicker , but was not called upon to kick . On August 26 , 2009 , Jet ' s head coach Rex Ryan announced that Mark Sanchez would be the starting quarterback for the 2009 season , a position left vacant after Brett Favre was released from the Jets in February . On December 3 , 2009 , Clemens was forced to come in against the Buffalo Bills after Mark Sanchez sprained his PCL . Clemens started the Jets ' s next game against the 1 - 11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Despite an unexceptional personal performance by Clemens , the Jets were still able to pick up an important 26 - 3 victory . Clemens threw for 125 yards with no touchdowns in 2009 . He played mostly when Mark Sanchez was injured . Clemens was re - signed to a one - year contract on April 13 , 2010 . The only action he saw was in the week 17 game against the Buffalo Bills . Washington Redskins . On July 27 , 2011 , Clemens signed a one - year contract with the Washington Redskins where he competed for a backup role during the 2011 preseason . The Redskins released Clemens on September 3 , 2011 . Houston Texans . Clemens was signed by the Texans on November 23 , 2011 after starting quarterback Matt Schaub was placed on injured reserve . He was waived on December 6 , in order for the Texans to sign Jeff Garcia . St . Louis Rams . The St . Louis Rams claimed Clemens off of waivers on December 7 . After an ankle sprain sidelined starting quarterback Sam Bradford and with backup A . J . Feeley out with a thumb injury , Clemens started on December 18 , 2011 , against the Cincinnati Bengals . With only 11 days to get familiar with the team and the offense Clemens passed for 229 yards completing 25 of 36 passes . In that game he completed a 25 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Danario Alexander , his first NFL touchdown pass since 2007 with the Jets . The Rams would end up losing to the Bengals with the final score of 20 - 13 . Clemens started the final two games for the Rams , both losses to the Steelers and rival 49ers . Clemens finished the season with 2 touchdown passes and 1 rushing touchdown . He was re - signed by the Rams following the 2011 season . Personal life . Kellen Clemens is a sixth generation cattle rancher . He grew up herding cattle on his family ' s ranch in Burns , Oregon , where they own over 100 head of cattle . In his spare time , Kellen enjoys horseback riding . Clemens is an active and practicing Roman Catholic , and is married with two children with a strong religious devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth . In a February 2012 interview with the National Catholic Register , he noted that his patron saint is Saint Sebastian and has special religious devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel . He also noted that he wears the Brown Scapular in connection to this religious faith . Furthermore , Clemens noted that he is very supportive of the Pro - Life cause , and publicly credits Mitt Romney for his 2012 vote . Clemens has four sisters and majored in Business Administration at the University of Oregon . Clemens is an active member of Catholic Athletes for Christ . He and his wife Nicole reside in Whippany , New Jersey . Clemens also expressed a feeling of deep honour when Pope Benedict XVI blessed and kissed their four - week - old baby girl at the final procession of the Papal Mass on April 17 , 2008 at Nationals Park in Washington D . C . As a show of appreciation for the Pope ' s blessing , Kellen Clemens signed the Pope ' s mitre .