Danny Kanell

Daniel Paul Kanell (born November 21, 1973 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a former professional American football quarterback in the National Football League, and Arena Football League.

College career
He attended Florida State University, where he played quarterback for four years. During his career at the university he played in 45 games and completed 62.2% of his 851 pass attempts. He threw for 6,372 yards, 57 touchdowns (a school record) and 26 interceptions over his four years as a Seminole. He also ran for one touchdown and managed to catch one pass for a loss of three yards. In his freshman, sophomore and senior years he played in the Orange Bowl and in his junior year he played in the Sugar Bowl. He was given an "honorable mention" in the All-American list of his senior year.

Kanell also played baseball during his freshman and sophomore years, playing in 28 games over the two seasons.

Professional career
Kanell was drafted by the New York Giants in the fourth round (130th overall) in the 1996 NFL Draft. He made his debut later that season that year for the team. The next season in New York, Kanell became the starter and played the last ten games of the 1997 season, leading the Giants to the NFC Eastern Division title. In those ten games he threw for 1,740 yards with eleven touchdowns and nine interceptions. The Giants played in the playoffs against the Minnesota Vikings but lost 23-22. Kanell went 16/32 with 199 yards and one touchdown in that game. The following year, Kanell started all ten games he played in while throwing for 1,603 yards, eleven touchdowns and ten interceptions. With a record of 3-7 at that point, the Giants benched Kanell in favor of Kent Graham, who led the Giants to a 5-1 record down the stretch and an 8-8 finish. At the end of the season the Giants signed Kerry Collins from the New Orleans Saints and cut Kanell to make enough salary cap room to pay Collins' salary.

In the off season Kanell found a home with the Atlanta Falcons as a backup to their oft injured starting quarterback Chris Chandler. He played in Atlanta for two years, starting two games and playing in eight. As a Falcon he completed 99 of 200 attempted passes for a total of 1,117 yards, six touchdowns and nine interceptions. At the end of the 2000 season he was cut by the Falcons and didn't manage to sign with another team.

A year later, Kanell signed with the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League for the 2002 season. After an impressive stint there, he was signed during training camp by the Denver Broncos. He made the roster as the third-string quarterback in Denver but was let go shortly through the season. Seven games into the season, starting quarterback Jake Plummer and backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein suffered with foot and hand injuries, respectively. Kanell was recalled to the Broncos and started two games until Beuerlein and Plummer returned. He threw two touchdowns and five interceptions on 103 pass attempts. Kanell remained with the Broncos for one more year as the backup to Plummer. He never played, as Plummer became the first Broncos quarterback in franchise history to take every offensive snap. After the 2004 season, he was cut by the Broncos and was not picked up by another NFL team.

Baseball career
Kanell was drafted out of high school by the Milwaukee Brewers, and after his junior year at Florida State by the New York Yankees in the 24th round. However, he saw football as more important and signed with the Giants.

During a layoff from football in 2001, Kanell returned to baseball, playing in the minor leagues for the Atlantic League's Newark Bears. He played at first base, third base and designated hitter. Kanell said he wanted to eventually play for the Yankees, as he grew up idolizing Don Mattingly.

Broadcasting career
Kanell is currently employed by ESPN, teaming with Pam Ward to call college football telecasts for the network and serving as an occasional studio analyst.