From 1st-Round NFL Quarterback…to Dallas Theological Seminary

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Brian T

Puritan Board Freshman
So, a disclaimer: I really haven’t been paying much attention to the NFL for almost the last decade. But, in my youth and my college days (early 90s), I used to be into it, and was a pretty diehard Cleveland Browns fan (even though I’ve lived in Cincinnati since I was 8-years old).

Recently, I came across some old DVDs of some Browns-Bengals games I had taped from 1994. Back then, the Cincinnati Bengals had a starting quarterback named David Klingler. This guy was one of the hottest NCAA QBs in college and set numerous passing records. He once passed for an unheard-of 716 yards in a single game, 11 touchdowns in another game, and threw 54 touchdowns in a single season, all of which were NCAA records at the time. He certainly looked the part of an all-pro quarterback, and the Bengals were really high on him when they drafted him in the first round in 1992.

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Being a 1st-round quarterback in the NFL is a pretty big deal, and you are expected to pretty much come in and take over the reins right away and be “that guy” who is supposed to lead your team to great success.

Alas, it was not to be.

Case in point: in the game I watched from October 1994 against Cleveland, he was being chased and sacked mercilessly throughout the game, until he finally got injured in the second half. In fact, his NFL career basically ended that afternoon, as he lost the starting job to the then 3rd-string QB Jeff Blake the following week. Blake, despite being a 3rd-stringer, actually did go on to some pretty good success with the Bengals for the rest of the 00s and it was interesting seeing him take his very first snaps with the Bengals in that game. Funny how things work out…

Klingler was then released the following season and then wandered around the NFL for a couple more years but never started again, instead being consigned to riding the bench and holding the clipboard for the starting quarterback for the Raiders, until he finally retired from the NFL in 1998.

In 2007 Klingler was named one of the top 10 Draft Busts by the NFL Network.

Oof, that’s embarrassing.

After rewatching that game, and while still soaking in the nostalgia of my college days and the old Cleveland Browns that I grew up watching, I just had to find out what David Klingler is up to these days.

I was pleased to discover that, after his rookie season, David attended a summer Bible study and the instructor encouraged him to quit football and attend seminary.

Well, luckily, since the Cincinnati Bengals drafted him and had no offensive line to protect him, his career was cut radically short from all those times he got sacked and he was never able to live up to the hype of a 1st-round pick who was one of the hottest quarterbacks in NCAA history. Because his NFL career was doomed from the start, he would soon be able to abide by that instructor's wish for him to go to seminary. Right after leaving the NFL, David ended up attending Dallas Theological Seminary, earned two degrees (a master’s degree in theology and a Ph.D. in Old Testament studies) and now is a professor of Bible Exposition at DTS.

David R. Klingler (dts.edu)

Nice to see him doing well and having heeded a higher calling!
 
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