Jake Haener (born March 10, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

and

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

. Haener was selected by the Saints in the fourth round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

Early life

Haener attended Monte Vista High School in

Danville, California The Town of DanvillePronounced is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is one of the List of municipalities in California, incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their nam ...

. During his high school career, he threw for 8,464 yards and a school-record 90

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. He committed to the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

to play

College career

Washington

After redshirting his first year at Washington in 2017, Haener appeared in four games as a backup to

Jake Browning Jacob Christopher Browning (born April 11, 1996) is an American professional football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies and signed with the Minneso ...

in 2018, completing 9 of 13 passes for 107 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Fresno State

In 2019, Haener transferred to

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

. After sitting out his first year at Fresno State due to transfer rules, Haener became the starter in 2020. In six games, he completed 150 of 232 passes for 2,021 yards, 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. He remained the starter in 2021. On November 30, 2021, Haener entered the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

transfer portal. On December 8, Haener withdrew from the transfer portal and returned to Fresno State.

Statistics

Professional career

Haener was selected by the

in the fourth round (127th overall) of the

. Haener made the initial opening roster for the Saints to start the 2023 season. However, in early September, it was revealed he failed a drug test earlier that summer, testing positive for a banned performance enhancing substance. Haener was suspended the first six weeks of the season. He released a statement: "I still do not know how the substance got into my body, as none of my supplements or prescribed medications contain the banned ingredient", nonetheless subsequently stating "I must take full responsibility for the failed test". Haener began the 2024 campaign as the backup quarterback behind

Derek Carr Derek Dallas Carr (born March 28, 1991) is an American former professional football quarterback who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Fresno State Bulldogs, receiving first-team All-Mou ...

. In Week 7 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, he relieved Spencer Rattler on the final drive of the game, and recorded his first career touchdown on a 12–yard pass to

Cedrick Wilson Jr. Cedrick Wilson Jr. (born November 20, 1995) is an American professional football wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boise State Broncos. Early life Wilson attended ...

After Carr suffered a hand fracture in Week 14, the Saints named Haener their starting quarterback.

Statistics

Personal life

His mother, Julie Haener was a long-time anchor at

KTVU-TV KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose–licensed ...

in Oakland from 1997 to 2024 and was an anchor in Fresno in the early 1990s. On July 26, 2024, Haener announced that he had been diagnosed with

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bioFresno State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haener, Jake 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Danville, California American football quarterbacks Washington Huskies football players Fresno State Bulldogs football players New Orleans Saints players Monte Vista High School (Danville, California) alumni