Jon Kitna to donate his Cowboys game check to high school
Jon Kitna became a high school math teacher once his 15-year NFL career ended.
Here’s an equation he will soon laying on Lincoln High in Tacoma, Wash.: Take whatever amount you have in your treasury and add about $55,000 or so.
Kitna, who has also served as the Abes’ head football coach for the past two seasons, re-signed with the Dallas Cowboys this week to serve as an emergency backup quarterback since starter Tony Romo’s status is in doubt due to a herniated disc.
The Lincoln High graduate told Cowboys radio play-by-play announcer Brad Sham on Wednesday that he plans to donate his entire check from this week’s winner-take-all NFC East showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles to his alma mater, according to the Dallas Morning News.
The newspaper reports that Coach Jason Garrett worked out three other quarterbacks but signed Kitna without a tryout after a 30-minute phone conversation Tuesday, initiated by the 41-year-old veteran, who hasn’t played in the NFL since leaving the Cowboys after the 2011 season.
“I told Jason if he wants me or somebody to come in and call a play and be able to pull a play off if a bad situation happened, I would be willing to do that,” said Kitna, who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals and Detroit Lions before spending what appeared to be the final three seasons of his career in Dallas.
“He said he would run scout team for the high school team and give them a really good look like he gave us great looks when he was here,” Garrett said Wednesday. “So he’s a very active guy. He’s a mentally tough guy. ... And he’s certainly very young at heart. So it was good to have him back, good to have him back in the meetings, and [I’m] excited to see him practice today.”
Kitna ran the Cowboys’ scout team during Wednesday’s practice while regular backup Kyle Orton worked with the first team and Romo was nowhere to be seen.
The Abes have gone 13-7 in two years under Kitna, whose son, Jordan, was the starting quarterback as a sophomore this season.
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