Travis Lulay

Travis Lulay (born September 27, 1983 in Aumsville, Oregon) is a professional American and Canadian football quarterback for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. In his first season as a full-time starter, Lulay won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2011 and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2011 Grey Cup. He played college football at Montana State.

College career
Lulay led Montana State in rushing his senior year with 611 yards. He left with school records for career passing yards (10,746-11th in NCAA Division I-AA history), single-season total offense, and total offense in a career, and in his four years led the Bobcats to three victories over their state rivals, the University of Montana Grizzlies. In 2005, while playing at Montana State University – Bozeman he completed 223 passes in 388 attempts for 2,629 Yards. His passing percentage was 57.5%. He threw for 17 passing TD's and 10 INT's. His Quarterback rating was 123.7. He graduated with a GPA of 3.91.

Pre-draft
At the NFL Combine in 2006, Lulay came in first in the short shuttle drill and ranked among the top three quarterbacks in the three cone, broad jump and vertical jump.

First stint with Seahawks
After going undrafted, Lulay signed with the Seattle Seahawks on May 1, 2006, but was released during final cuts in September. He was re-signed by the Seahawks on January 4, 2007 and was assigned to the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europa. He was waived on April 8, 2008.

New Orleans Saints
On May 14, 2008, Lulay signed with the New Orleans Saints. He was waived on July 18.

Second stint with Seahawks
On October 10, 2008, the Seattle Seahawks re-signed Lulay to their practice squad. He was released again on December 3, 2008.

BC Lions
Lulay signed with the BC Lions on May 20, 2009, and impressed the coaching staff enough in training camp to insert him in the second pre-season game for three series, where he completed 8 of 10 passes for 140 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He saw limited action in the regular season as the Lions used a total of five different quarterbacks due to injuries.

In 2010, Lulay made his first professional start in the fourth game of the season against Toronto following injuries to starter Casey Printers and was expected to lead the Lions until Printers was ready to make his return to the lineup. However, Lulay was replaced by Jarious Jackson during the fourth quarter of the August 7th game against Calgary and also started the following game against Saskatchewan. Printers returned for the next game and won three out of the five games he started, but due to his turnover-filled back-to-back performances, he was replaced with Lulay as the starter in Game 13 against Winnipeg, which the Lions won. After Lulay had a minor injury in the following game, again against Winnipeg, Printers came into the game to protect a 21-point lead. The Blue Bombers stormed back to tie the game and force overtime, which was decided by Printers' game-clinching interception. It was Casey's last game with the Lions as Buono released him soon after the game. Consequently, Lulay became the undisputed starting quarterback, finishing the season 4-5 as a starter.

To say that Lulay's 2011 season was a breakout year would be an understatement. However, the Lions got off to a slow start, losing their first five games of the season and falling into last place in the league. The Lions stopped their five game losing skid in week 6 defeating the Saskatchewan Roughriders 24-11. In the following game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Travis Lulay struggled and was replaced in the third quarter by Jarious Jackson. Following the loss to the Bombers, the Lions then went on to win eight games in a row, as not only Lulay but the team as a whole played much better football. Lulay earned CFL Offensive Player of the Week Honours during weeks 10 and 18 and earned CFL Offensive Player of the Month for the month of October. The Lions would win the final two games of the regular season to finish with a record of 11-7, but more importantly they earned 1st place in the Western Conference. Travis Lulay was named the 2011 CFL's Most Outstanding Player. In the Western Conference Finals game, Lulay threw for almost 300 yards as the Lions disposed of the Edmonton Eskimos and advanced to the Grey Cup Final which was held in BC Place. On November 28, 2011, Lulay and the BC Lions defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in front of over 50,000 fans. Lulay threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns and was named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Player.

In 2012, Lulay had another strong season, leading the Lions to another first place finish and a berth in the West Final. Despite playing in just 16 games, he set career highs for completions, completion percentage and passer rating. Lulay also spent much of the season chasing history, as he was approaching the record for most consecutive games played with at least one touchdown pass. In the 15th game of the season, he extended the streak to 26 games, but injured his shoulder and did not play in the next game. Because he dressed in the game, by CFL rules, the streak ended. However, the CFL amended the rules and declared the streak intact since he did not play in the next two games. Lulay played in the last game of the season, but only for 18 minutes, and did not throw for a touchdown, ending his streak at 26 games, second only to Sam Etcheverry's 34. Lulay was named the CFL's offensive player of the week for week 12 and the offensive player of the month for September. For the second consecutive season, he was the Lions' nominee for the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award. The Lions' hopes of repeated as Grey Cup champions ended in the West Final where they lost to the Calgary Stampeders. Lulay completed 33 of 46 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown, but it was not enough as the Lions lost 34-29.