Bombers, Als Swap Back-Up Pivots

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers acquired highly-touted quarterback Kliff Kingsbury today in a trade with the Montreal Alouettes in exchange for veteran quarterback Brad Banks.

“With this trade we were able to acquire a skilled quarterback that we have evaluated and liked for some time,” said Bombers G.M. Brendan Taman. “We like the abilities that he can bring to our offence. “It's tough to see a guy like Brad go, but he is now able to go to a team that will continue his development in this league and will have an opportunity to contribute there.”

Kingsbury (6-3, 220, Texas Tech ’02, DOB: Aug. 9, 1979 in San Antonio, Texas) was a sixth round selection of the New England Patriots in the 2003 NFL Draft. He spent the entire 2003 season on injured reserve following an arm injury.

The New Orleans Saints signed Kingsbury the following season and he spent the entire 2004 season on the Saints’ practice roster. He joined the New York Jets midway through the 2005 NFL season, appearing in one game (Dec. 11 versus the Denver Broncos) and spent the final 13 weeks of the season on the Jets’ reserve list.

The Jets assigned Kingsbury to the Cologne Centurions of NFL Europe in 2006. He posted the top quarterback rating of any Cologne quarterback (73.7) while completing 58 of 102 passes for 633 yards and two touchdowns. He also led Cologne with a 56.9 completion percentage.

Kingsbury was subsequently signed by the Buffalo Bills and attended training camp with the Bills, but did not see any regular season action with the team in 2006.

Kingsbury was one of the most decorated players in Texas Tech history. He held 39 school, 13 Big 12 and seven NCAA records at the time of his graduation. He was just the third NCAA player to ever throw for over 10,000 yards, gain over 10,000 yards of offence and complete 1,000 passes and was just the fourth NCAA quarterback to ever throw for over 3,000 yards in a season three times. He finished his collegiate career completing 1,231 of 1,883 passes for 12,429 yards and 95 touchdowns in 43 games.