Jake Christensen, born August 15, 1986 in Lockport

Lockport, Illinois

Lockport is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, that incorporated in 1853. Lockport is located in northeastern Illinois, 30 miles southwest of Chicago, and north of Joliet, at locks connecting Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal with the Des Plaines River via the Lockport...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, is a quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 for the Dresden Monarchs

Dresden Monarchs

The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany.As its greatest success, the club has finished in third place in the northern division of the German Football League on five occasions, and reached the semi finals of the national championship in 2004 and 2010.-History:The...

 football team, in the German Football League

German Football League

The German Football League is the elite league for American football in Germany. Playing rules are based on those of the American NCAA....

. His father is former nine-year NFL veteran Jeff Christensen, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

, Philadelphia Eagles

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, and Cleveland Browns

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 during his career. Before his playing days at Iowa, Jake played his high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

 football at Lockport Township High School

Lockport Township High School

Lockport Township High School is a public high school in Lockport, Illinois, United States. It also serves the communities of Homer Glen, Fairmont, parts of Crest Hill, and parts of Joliet. More than 3,800 students are enrolled in grades 9 through 12....

. Christensen started as the Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback for the 2008 season, but eventually lost the job to sophomore Ricki Stanzi. After the 2008 season concluded, Christensen's father told ESPN.com that Jake was transferring from Iowa.

High school

As a junior  at Lockport Township, Christensen gathered first-team all-area, all-conference, and all-state en route to leading his prep team to their second straight Class 8A state title. As a senior

Twelfth grade

Twelfth grade or Senior year, or Grade Twelve, are the North American names for the final year of secondary school. In most countries students then graduate at age 17 or 18. In some countries, there is a thirteenth grade, while other countries do not have a 12th grade/year at all...

, Christensen earned first-team all-state and all-conference honors and garnered all-American support from USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, SuperPrep, Rivals.com

Rivals.com

Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...

, and Parade Magazine. He was also named Illinois Player of the Year by the Champaign News-Gazette. Christensen played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl

U.S. Army All-American Bowl

The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game held in early January in San Antonio, Texas. Currently played in the Alamodome, the game brings 90 of the nation's top high school football players in an East versus West matchup. In addition to the Bowl game, there is the U.S...

.

Throughout his entire high school career, Christensen threw for over six thousand yards and 69 touchdowns.

2006

Following a redshirt year in 2005, Christensen got his first playing time against Montana. He completed three passes for 19 yards, and it would be
Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

 and an injury to starting quarterback Drew Tate

Drew Tate

Drew Tate is a professional American and Canadian football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Iowa....

, Christensen got his first start of his career against Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois University

Northern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...

. Throwing for 56 yards and one touchdowns, he led the Hawkeyes to a 10 point victory. Christensen would also see playing time in losses to Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 and Texas.

2007

As a redshirt sophomore, Christensen started all twelve games in the 2007 season following the graduation of Tate. He completed 198 out of 370 pass attempts, throwing for 2,269 yards, seventeen touchdowns, and six interceptions. He completed 53.5% of his passes for an average of six yards per completion. The Hawkeyes finished with six wins and six losses.

2008

Jake had started the 2008 season as the starter, completing 17 out of 27 passes for 221 yards, two touchdowns with one interception in his first two starts. He eventually lost the job to sophomore Ricky Stanzi. Jake finished the year completing 36 out of 63 passes, for 369 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. The Hawkeyes finished the year with nine wins and four losses, defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 31-10 in the Outback bowl.

Statistics

Iowa			Passing
Season	Games		Comp-Att	Yds	Avg	TD	INT
2006	4		23-35	285	8.1	2	2
2007	12		198-370	2,269	6.0	17	6
2008	7		36-63	396	6.3	2	1
Total	23		257-468	2,950	6.8	21	9