Ben Sankey Ben Sankey ( born December 5 , 1976 in Chicago , Illinois ) is a professional gridiron football quarterback who is currently a free agent . He was signed as a street free agent by the Calgary Stampeders in 2000 . He played college football at Wake Forest . Sankey has also played for the Houston Texans , Hamilton Tiger - Cats , Tennessee Valley Raptors , Rock River Raptors , and BC Lions . Early years . Sankey attended Chicago ' s Whitney Young Magnet High School where he excelled in football and basketball . Sankey also attended Wake Forest University from 1996 to 1999 . He played his first three years as Brian Kuklick ' s back - up , finally becoming the starter in 1999 . He led the Demon Deacons to the Aloha Bowl , winning convincingly over Arizona State . He was named most valuable player in the game . Professional career . Sankey went undrafted in the 2000 NFL Draft , and signed a contract with the CFL ' s Calgary Stampeders in 2000 . He dressed for 16 games and did not see any playing time until the final game of the season against the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . He completed all four of his pass attempts . In 2001 he was named the Stampeders ' starting quarterback , however a sprained thumb caused him to miss several games . Marcus Crandell took over and led the Stampeders to their fifth Grey Cup championship . His play was promising enough for the Houston Texans of the National Football League to take interest in him : he was signed to a contract before the 2002 season . He did not receive any playing time with the Texans , so he returned to the Stampeders later that season , playing in seven games . He returned to the Texans in 2003 , however he was relegated to the practice squad and saw no playing time . In 2004 he returned to the CFL , this time with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats , however , again , he saw no playing time . Discontent , he signed a contract with the Tennessee Valley Raptors of United Indoor Football in 2005 . He returned to the franchise in 2006 after it had relocated to Rockford , Illinois , finishing the season with 47 touchdown passes . He was named the league ' s most valuable player . He returned to the CFL with the British Columbia Lions under coach Wally Buono , who originally brought him to the CFL with the Stampeders seven years before . Again he saw no playing time , placed on the practice roster . Fortunately for him the Stampeders were in need of a quarterback after Henry Burris fell to injury and Akili Smith and Barrick Nealy proved ineffective . He returned to the Stampeders in relief of Smith on October 8 , in a game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders . He completed 19 of 25 passes for 262 yards and 2 touchdown s . In three appearances he threw for 818 yards and five touchdowns for a quarterback rating of 106 . 6 . He began the 2008 CFL season with the Stampeders but was sidelined with an injury . Upon recovering from his injury Sankey appeared to be the fourth quarterback on the Stampeders ' depth chart and was released in July 2008 . This did not last as Dave Dickenson was injured for the remainder of the season and Sankey was brought back to the Stampeders . On May 4 , 2009 , Sankey was released by the Stampeders . He later signed with the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League in July 2010 .