Casey Printers

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Casey Printers bigraphy, stories - American football player

Casey Printers : biography

May 16, 1981 –

Casey J. Printers (born May 16, 1981) is a professional American football, Canadian football and indoor football quarterback who is currently a free agent. Printers has spent most of his professional career with the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League, and has also played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Early years

Born in DeSoto, Texas, Printers played football from a young age, a highlight being a trip to the Pop Warner National Championship in San Francisco, California with his team, the Oak Cliff Jets, when he was twelve years old.

Records

Printers held the CFL record for single-game completion percentage, set with the BC Lions in a 49-11 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at Ivor Wynne Stadium on August 13, 2004. Printers completed 20 of 22 passes (90.9%) for 303 yards, including four touchdowns to slotback Geroy Simon, which has since been broken by Ricky Ray of the Edmonton Eskimos on October 31, 2008. Simon’s four TD catches also tied a team record. As the Lions’ starting quarterback for most of the 2004 season, Printers was also instrumental in Geroy Simon’s league-best 14 touchdown receptions and league-best 1750 receiving yards, which broke the Lions’ club record for receiving yards in a season. The previous record was 1731 yards, set by Darren Flutie in 1994.

Professional career

BC Lions

After going undrafted in the 2002 NFL Draft, Printers joined the BC Lions for the 2003 CFL season on a three-year contract as their third-string quarterback, and saw little playing time, attempting only two passes. During the 2004 season, he unseated Spergon Wynn as backup quarterback and replaced starter Dave Dickenson when Dickenson went down with an injury. After completing 325 of 494 pass attempts for 5,088 yards and 35 touchdowns with 10 interceptions and rushing for 469 yards and 9 touchdowns, he was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2004 season, becoming known as a dynamic quarterback able to improvise and make big plays both passing and rushing. He played a key role in the Lions’ eight-game winning streak, 13-5 record, and first place finish in the West Division standings. His 35 passing touchdowns and 10.3 yards-per-pass average led the league; he tied Edmonton’s Jason Maas for a league-best 65.8 completion percentage, and his rushing stats were best among QBs.

In the West Division Final against the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Printers was forced to leave the game with a shoulder injury in the fourth quarter, with the score tied 14-14. Dickenson, having recovered from knee surgery and shared quarterbacking duties with Printers late in the season, played the rest of the game and threw a touchdown pass in the Lions’ 27-24 overtime victory. Dickenson would start and play the entire Grey Cup game against the Toronto Argonauts, which the Lions lost by a score of 27-19.

Printers had surgery on his right hallux in the offseason, and turned down a three year, $1 million contract extension from the Lions. With Printers recovering, Dickenson won the starting job and led the team to an 11-0 start. Printers took over as starter after Dickenson was injured in the 13th game. After the 11-0 start, the Lions lost six of their last seven regular season games, including the regular season finale against the Roughriders, in which Dickenson returned and replaced Printers in the second half. Dickenson started and played all but the last three minutes of the West Division Final against the Edmonton Eskimos, which the Lions lost 28-23.

Throughout the 2005 season Printers was embroiled in a quarterback controversy with Dickenson over who should start as pivot and was nagged by shoulder and toe injuries. Ultimately, Printers saw relatively little playing time, completing 131 of 216 pass attempts for 1671 yards, 9 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, with 336 yards rushing and 2 rushing TDs. In January 2006, he turned down a three year, $1.2 million (CAD) offer from the Lions, opting to sign a three year, $1.03 million (USD) deal with the Kansas City Chiefs.