The New York Jets don’t exactly have a rosy history with highly touted college quarterbacks. This season, both 2013 Jets second-round pick Geno Smith and 2018 first-round choice Sam Darnold find themselves in playoff positions….for other franchises.
At least both Smith and Darnold played NFL snaps for New York – 2016 second-round choice Christian Hackenberg never even saw the field. Why? The team quote had “no plan” for him.
“New York was probably the last place I should’ve gone, in terms of the market, the expectations, the way it was,” the 29-year-old said during a 2024 appearance on ‘The Ross Tucker Podcast.’
“You know, my rookie year, we ended up keeping four quarterbacks, so there was just not a lot of opportunity for me to develop and grow. No plan, kind of an up-and-down organization,” Hackenberg continued.
The Leighton, Pennsylvania native declared for Penn State ahead of the 2013 NCAA season as a consensus five-star recruit and the second-ranked quarterback in the country.
He immediately showed promise, earning the Big Ten Freshman of the Year award with 3,955 passing yards and a 20-10 touchdown-interception ratio. Unfortunately, this would serve as Hackenberg’s high-water mark.
His numbers cratered the next season, throwing 12 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. 2015 wasn’t much better as Hackenburg tumbled from a consensus first-rounder to the second round. The Jets took him anyway.
Hackenberg never played a snap in New York – he was stuck behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, and Bryce Petty in 2016, and he lost a QB battle between an ancient Josh McCown and Petty the following year. He was traded to the Oakland Raiders for a conditional seventh-round pick, toiled on a handful of practice squads, and elected to quit football in 2020 to try and play baseball.
You start thinking about: Are you really happy, and is it really as fulfilling as it was? Hackenberg admitted. It just got to the point where [football] wasnt, and all the other BS that came with it wasnt worth it.
Hackenerg’s short-lived baseball career flamed out and he took a volunteer job as the quarterback coach at Winslow Township High School.
I can still be successful, he told NJ Media in 2021. Its not like thats life or death. At the end of the day, say what you want, but I accomplished more than 99% of people in that sport. To the level that I wanted? Absolutely not. But now, move on. Its a game.”
Hackenberg also took a part-time job at a cybersecurity services company to help pay the bills. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Tatum Coffee, a former Penn State Lacrosse player.
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