Joel Klatt

Joel Klatt (born February 4, 1982) is an American football hopeful. He was not drafted in the 2006 NFL Draft but he did attend the Detroit Lions' and New Orleans Saints' rookie mini-camps after the draft. New Orleans signed him to a free-agent contract after their mini-camp, but then released him 11 days later on June 2, 2006. The Lions then claimed him off waivers less than a week later, but Klatt was released on August 27, 2006, before the start of the regular season.

Previously he played college football for the University of Colorado (CU) Buffaloes before turning professional. He was the first 3-year starter at QB since Kordell Stewart ('92–'94). He also played minor-league baseball for two seasons.

High school career

Klatt was born in Arvada, Colorado. He was coached by his father, Gary Klatt, the head coach at Pomona High School in Arvada, Colorado. As a junior on defense he had 4 interceptions playing in the secondary, helping the team to a 10–3 record, winning the Jefferson County league championship. As a senior at QB, he was 78–125 passes (62.4%) for 1,250 yards and 16 touchdowns leading the team to a 5–5 record and earning second-team all-state honors at QB. He also played basketball (3 time letterman) at guard and baseball primarily at shortstop earning first-team all-state his senior year and helped his team to runner-up in the state tournament. He earned the following records at his school at baseball: home runs (10), runs batted in (46), slugging percentage (1.126) and hits (52). He also set three summer school records, in homers (26), RBIs (99) and in slugging (1.147).

Professional Baseball

Klatt was drafted in 2000 by the San Diego Padres as a 3rd baseman with their 11th round pick. He played for Class A Peoria that summer where he led the team in doubles (12) and batted .209 with 1 HR and had 15 RBIs. In 2001, he was with Idaho Falls (2 HR, 10 RBI, 3 SB). In 2002 he told himself if he didn't move up to high-A ball, he would give college football a try. After he reported for spring training with Eugene, he realized he would never make it in the Big Leagues. He then left the team and baseball and walked-on to Colorado.

College career

Klatt walked-on to Colorado as a quarterback in 2002. As a true freshman, he played in 3 games, mostly on the punt return team as a rusher/blocker against Missouri and Iowa State. Against Baylor, he performed mop-up duty throwing 3 passes, all falling incomplete. He is one of 4 true freshmen walk-ons to see action since 1986 for Colorado and was the Scout Team Offense Award Winner for the Colorado State game. The Buffs were Big 12 North Champions this season and played in Alamo Bowl.

The following year, Klatt earned the starting position at QB and went on to set 19 school records and tie one at QB. He earned all-Big 12 honors and Colorado's John Mack Award (CU's Offensive Player of the Year). He was 233–358 for 2,614 yards and 21 touchdowns. The first game of the season and Klatt's first game ever as starting QB for Colorado he was National Player of the Week by The Sporting News, SI.com and collegefootballnews.com and Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week. He went 34–21 for 402 yards and 4 TDs winning the game with a 6-play, 75-yard drive with the winning touchdown with 40 seconds left in the game. He suffered a sprained shoulder injury during the Washington State game causing him to miss two starts against Florida State and Baylor. He returned from the injury with a record setting game against Kansas going 38–54 with 419 yards. His two 400-yard throwing games ranked 4th and 5th most passing yards in a game by a walk-on (or former walk-on) in NCAA Division I history prior to the 2005–06 season.

For the 2004 season, he started 12 games and played in all 13, being benched in the Iowa State game for lackluster performance. He was 192–334 for 2,065 yards and 9 TDs but had 15 interceptions. He was placed on scholarship status for this season, having played the previous two in walk-on status. He continued to set records at Colorado and led the team to the Big 12 Conference North title, losing the championship game to Oklahoma. He then went on to lead his team to victory in the Houston Bowl against UTEP. He set 8 school records and recorded his first and only reception going for 18 yards on a throwback with Bernard Jackson against Texas A&M. He was on the official watch list for the Davey O'Brien Award (one of 42 candidates), and Street & Smith’s selected him as an honorable mention pre-season All-American.

He again led the Buffs to the Big 12 North Title for the 2005 season and Colorado played in the Champs Sports Bowl. However, Klatt's college career was ended in the Big 12 Championship Game against Texas when he suffered a concussion during the 70–3 blowout, the last game before the Bowl. He assisted the coaches during the bowl game. During the season, he set many Colorado quarterback records.

Klatt was outspoken about the vicious hit that caused the season ending concussion in remarks about the NCAA. Typically, players and coaches are not allowed to criticize the NCAA, especially officials, but Klatt was no longer under NCAA control with his college career over when he made the comments, and thus the NCAA was powerless to do anything about it. His comments included him saying the NCAA is "terribly run," that "exploits athletes," and that "has its priorities out of whack." Further:

"If they want to exploit us as athletes and sell our jerseys and put us on video games, then perhaps they should protect us on the field better, so that we can, in the future, get that compensation and possibly go to the NFL. … It seems like they’re more concerned with what guys do after the play and after they score, which is completely irrelevant to safety, or anything like that. But is a player who goes into the end zone and gets a little too excited, is that as important as someone who gets a head injury? I just think their priorities are a little out of whack."

Career football statistics

		Passing							Rushing
Season	G	Att	Com	Int	Pct.	Yds	TD	Long	Att	Yds	Avg.	TD	Long
2002	3	3	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0
2003	11	358	233	10	65.1	2614	21	82	68	-91	-1.3	1	13
2004	13	367	216	15	58.9	2398	11	78	46	-58	-1.3	2	13
2005	12	399	241	8	60.4	2696	14	64	54	3	0.1	0	16
Totals	26	695	425	25	61.2	4679	30	82	107	133	1.2	3	13

Personal

Klatt grew up in Arvada, Colorado. He married Sara Ordway in May, 2005. His hobbies include golf, learning the guitar and being a Boston Red Sox fan. Joel now spends much of his free time providing training advice for a youth sports recruiting website called Advance My Athlete. Through his contributions he is helping enrich the lives of youth football players all across the country.

College honors

• National Player of the Week: August 30, 2003 (vs. Colorado State)
• John Mack Award (2003) (Colorado Award: Outstanding Offensive Player)
• Best Interview (2003) (Selected by Colorado Media)
• Eddie Crowder Award (2004) (Colorado Award: Leadership)

Notes

Klatt did some broadcasting as the color commentator of Colorado high school football games in 2006.

References

• Boulder Daily Camera
• 2005 Colorado Buffaloes Football Media Guide
• ESPN Player Profile