Bailey Michael Zappe (, ) (born April 26, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played his first three seasons of college football at Houston Baptist and used his last year of eligibility at

Western Kentucky Western Kentucky is the western portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It generally includes part or all of several more widely recognized regions of the state. ;Always included * The Jackson Purchase, the state's westernmost generally recogn ...

, where he set the

FBS FBS may refer to: People * Frederik Batti Sorring, known as FBS, Indonesian politician Schools * Faith Baptist School (disambiguation) * France Business School, in France * Friern Barnet School, in London * Friends Boys' School, one of two ...

season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns. Zappe was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

Early life and high school

Zappe grew up in

Victoria, Texas Victoria is a small city in South Texas and county seat of Victoria County, Texas. The population was 65,534 as of the 2020 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 as of the 2000 cens ...

and attended Victoria East High School. As a senior, he passed for 3,770 yards and 37 touchdowns, while rushing for 633 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns. Zappe was not heavily recruited and committed to play college football at

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center h ...

, which was his only scholarship offer.

College career

Houston Baptist

Zappe started nine games in his first year for the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

at Houston Baptist, passing for 1,548 yards with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions while rushing for two more touchdowns. As a redshirt sophomore, he completed 357-of-560 passes for 3,811 yards with 35 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. As a redshirt junior, he passed for 1,833 yards and 15 touchdowns against one interception in four games in a shortened season after the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

fall football season was canceled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. Zappe entered the transfer portal after the season.

Western Kentucky

Zappe committed to transfer to

Western Kentucky University Western Kentucky University is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It was founded by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1906, though its roots reach back a quarter-century earlier. It operates regional campuses in Glasgow, Elizabet ...

, following former Houston Baptist offensive coordinator Zach Kittley. Zappe's top wide receiver at Houston Baptist, Jerreth Sterns, also transferred to Western Kentucky. Zappe was named the Hilltoppers' starting quarterback going into the 2021 season. In his first start for Western Kentucky, he passed for 424 yards and seven touchdowns in a 59–21 win over Tennessee-Martin. During the 2021 regular season, Zappe led the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

(FBS) passing for 5,545 yards and throwing for 56 touchdowns. Before the

2021 Boca Raton Bowl The 2021 Boca Raton Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18, 2021, with kickoff at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, EST on ESPN College Football, ESPN. It was the 8th edition of the Boca Raton Bowl, and was one of the 2021– ...

, he had thrown for nearly 1,100 yards more than the second-ranked FBS quarterback (

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklaho ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

), and was within striking distance of the FBS records for passing yardage and touchdowns, set by B. J. Symons of

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas ...

in 2003 and

Joe Burrow Joseph Lee Burrow (born December 10, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Ohio State, Burrow played college football at LSU, where he won the Heis ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

in 2019, respectively. In the

against the

Appalachian State Mountaineers The Appalachian State Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. The Mountaineers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and wer ...

, he broke both records, finishing the season with 5,967 passing yards and 62 touchdowns.

Statistics

Professional career

The

selected Zappe in the fourth round of the

with the 137th overall pick. He was named the third-string quarterback for the 2022 season behind starter

Mac Jones Michael McCorkle "Mac" Jones (born September 5, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he set the NCAA season records for passer ...

and second-string backup

Brian Hoyer Axel Edward Brian Hoyer (born October 13, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Since joining the NFL in 2009 as an undrafted free agent, he has started for seven different ...

. When an injury rendered Jones inactive for Week 4 against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. It is the th ...

, Zappe was promoted to the second option behind Hoyer, but made his NFL debut the same game after Hoyer was injured during the first quarter. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in the 27–24 loss. Zappe was also the first rookie to throw a touchdown pass during the season. He made his starting debut the following week against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

, completing 17 of 21 passes for 188 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the 29–0 shutout victory. After a Week 6 victory over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, during which he threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, Zappe became the Super Bowl era's first rookie quarterback to win his first two starts and have a passer rating of at least 100 in each. Zappe was named the backup in the Week 7 ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' matchup with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

due to Jones' return, but relieved a struggling Jones during the second quarter. He threw a touchdown pass on his first drive and led the Patriots to a touchdown on his second, but did not score again and threw two interceptions in the 33–14 defeat. For the following week's game against the New York Jets, Zappe was retained as the team's backup behind Jones for the remainder the season.

NFL career statistics

Notes

References

External links

*
New England Patriots bio

Western Kentucky Hilltoppers bio

Houston Baptist Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappe, Bailey 1999 births Living people American football quarterbacks Houston Christian Huskies football players Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football players People from Victoria, Texas Players of American football from Texas New England Patriots players