Ken Mastrole Ken Mastrole ( born February 25 , 1977 ) is an American former football player . He played as a quarterback in the National Football League ( NFL ) , NFL Europe , and intercollegiate football at the University of Maryland and University of Rhode Island . Early years . Mastrole was born on February 25 , 1977 and raised in Fort Lauderdale , Florida . He attended Cardinal Gibbons High School where he played football . He was highly - recruited out of high school , with interest from Duke , Miami , Clemson , and Virginia Tech . He ultimately chose to attend Maryland . His high school coach said that " he liked everything about Maryland — the atmosphere , the school , the curriculum , the football program . " College career . Mastrole sat out his true freshman year in 1995 on redshirt status . During the following two seasons , he served as the back - up behind starting quarterback Brian Cummings . In 1996 , he saw action in eight games , including three starts . Mastrole was the first redshirt freshman to ever start as a quarterback at Maryland . He recorded a total of 36 completions in 89 attempts for 354 yards and one touchdown . Against Virginia , starting quarterback Brian Cummings separated his right shoulder , and Mastrole relieved him . He recorded nine completions on 15 attempts for 66 yards and two interceptions . Mastrole started against West Virginia in place of an injured Brian Cummings , and became the first quarterback in Maryland history to start as a freshman . The following week , he started against NC State , where he completed 15 of 28 pass attempts for 140 yards and one interception . In that game , he completed a career - best 52 - yard pass to Geroy Simon in the fourth quarter and then connected with tight end Tim Brown for a two - point conversion . He started against Duke in place of Cummings who had suffered a concussion the previous week . Mastrole completed five of 17 passes for 106 yards including his career first touchdown pass , but suffered a fractured right clavicle which ended his season . In 1997 , he saw action in seven games as a backup and threw 19 passes . Against Florida State , he saw action in the Terrapins ' last two series , where he completed one pass for nine yards and made two rushing attempts . Against Virginia , he completed three of 11 pass attempts for 47 yards . In 1998 , Mastrole shared playing time with Randall Jones . Mastrole started against West Virginia , but was held to three completions on nine passes for 27 yards , before being replaced by Jones in the third quarter . In the fourth game of the season , against , Mastrole completed a 39 - yard pass for his first touchdown since the 1996 season . After Maryland head coach Ron Vanderlinden changed the offensive scheme to the option , Mastrole , a drop - back passer , decided to transfer . For his senior season in 1999 , he transferred to the University of Rhode Island , which employed a three - receiver offense . There , he completed 202 passes on 374 attempts for 2 , 113 yards , ten interceptions , and seven touchdowns . He also rushed for a net gain of 90 yards . Rhode Island compiled a 1 – 10 record that season . Professional career . In 2001 , Mastrole auditioned for the Carolina Panthers , who needed a quarterback to replace injured Chris Weinke . He played for the Orlando Predators in the Arena Football League . Mastrole was allocated by the Chicago Bears to the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe . He was cut on March 31 , 2002 . On May 3 , he was signed by the Scottish Claymores as a reserve behind starter Scott Dreisbach and backup James Brown . On May 16 , he was activated from the Amsterdam practice squad to serve as the second - string quarterback , and saw action against Barcelona . With Amsterdam , Mastrole completed 12 of 28 passes for 147 yards , two interceptions , and one touchdown . In 2002 , he competed for the Chicago Bears third - string quarterback position . In the preseason game against St . Louis Rams , Mastrole led an 81 - yard drive for the game - winning touchdown . He lost out to Henry Burris . In 2003 , with the Florida Firecats in the af2 , he threw for 2 , 284 yards and 55 touchdowns in 11 games . He then rejoined the AFL , where he served as a back - up for the Dallas Desperadoes before requesting his release to return to the Firecats . During the 2004 season , he recorded 59 completions on 94 attempts for 733 yards , four interceptions , and 15 touchdowns . He led Florida to the ArenaCup , where they defeated the Peoria Pirates , 39 – 26 . Coaching career . In 2005 , Mastrole became the Florida Firecats offensive coordinator and served in that role through the 2008 season . Over those four years , he directed the league ' s number - one scoring offense , the number - one rated quarterback , and three 1 , 000 - yard wide receivers . Personal life . He lives in Florida with his wife , Kim , and stepson , Dylan . Mastrole now runs his own football training camp in Florida , the Mastrole Passing Academy .