Jake Christensen

Jake Christensen, born August 15, 1986 in Lockport, Illinois, is a quarterback for the Dresden Monarchs football team, in the German Football League. His father is former nine-year NFL veteran Jeff Christensen, who played for the Cincinnati Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Cleveland Browns during his career. Before his playing days at Iowa, Jake played his high school football at Lockport Township High School. Christensen started as the Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback for the 2008 season, but eventually lost the job to sophomore Ricky 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, Christensen earned first-team all-state and all-conference honors and garnered all-American support from USA Today, SuperPrep, Rivals.com, 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.

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 and an injury to starting quarterback Drew Tate, Christensen got his first start of his career against Northern Illinois. 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 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. Jake would leave Iowa with a legacy as one of the least effective passers in Big Ten history.