Kyle Orton

About Kyle Orton

Kyle Orton (born November 14, 1982 in Altoona, Iowa) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played college football at Purdue.

Orton played for Purdue. While there, Orton wore uniform No. 18 in honor of former Nebraska Cornhuskers' quarterback Brook Berringer, who died in a plane crash in 1996. Orton grew up a Husker fan, but chose to attend a program with a stronger passing attack. Orton tied former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees' record for the number of passing yards in a game (522 vs. Indiana Hoosiers) and is one of only three Purdue quarterbacks to start at least three consecutive bowl games (Brees and Mark Herrmann being the other two). Orton started in the 2001 Sun Bowl, the 2002 Sun Bowl, the 2003 Capital One Bowl, and the 2004 Sun Bowl. During his time at Purdue, Orton joined the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.[citation needed]

In 2004, Orton was the preseason third-team "All-American" quarterback, behind USC's Matt Leinart and Oklahoma's Jason White. Orton had a nice start to the season, having led Purdue to a 5-0 start with 18 touchdowns and no interceptions. Orton was touted as the front runner for the Heisman Trophy, until he received multiple injuries in consecutive games against Michigan and Northwestern that forced him out of his starting position for a month.