Jakeb Jon Wayne Sullivan (born July 1, 1994) is an

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

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

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

in the

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football sports league, league based in Europe, continuing some team names and logos of the former NFL Europe. The ELF played its first season in 2 ...

. 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

South Dakota Mines Hardrockers The South Dakota Mines Hardrockers (also referred to as the South Dakota Tech Hardrockers, SDSMT Hardrockers, and SDSM&T Hardrockers) are the athletic teams that represent South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, located in Rapid City, South ...

, a Division II program in

Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...

Early life and college career

Sullivan attended St. Thomas More High School in

, where he played quarterback for the football team. He was team captain and team MVP, and was named to the All-State and Academic All-State teams. Sullivan joined the

program in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

, where he became the starting quarterback. In his four years at SDSM&T he set 17 new school records, 2 All-RMCS best quarterback and Don Hansen All-American Team. With 325.1 yards per game, he led the entire NCAA Division II. In total he completed 293 passes for 3,576 yards, 32 passing touchdowns and 10 rushing touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

German Football League

In December 2018, Sullivan signed with the

Marburg Mercenaries The Marburg Mercenaries are an American football team from Marburg, Germany. Internationally, the club's greatest success came in 2005, when it won the EFAF Cup, followed by a losing appearance in the Eurobowl in 2007. Domestically, the team's ...

ahead of the

2019 German Football League The 2019 German Football League season is the 41st edition of the top-level American football competition in Germany. The regular season starts on 27 April and will be finished on 8 September 2019, followed by the play-offs. The season culminated ...

season. In his first year as an import player he reached several milestones. After nine victories out of 14 games his team qualified for the play-offs, where they lost in the quarterfinals against the

Dresden Monarchs The Dresden Monarchs are an American football team from Dresden, Germany. They have been a member of the first tier German Football League since 2002 and play in its Northern Division. In 2021 they were GFL champions after having won German Bowl ...

. He was nominated in the GFL Allstar Team as the statistical passing leader of this season. He threw for 46 passing touchdowns and ran for 14 rushing touchdowns. In October 2019 he was signed by the

Vienna Vikings The Vienna Vikings is a professional American football club based in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1983, the Vikings are known as one of Europe's most dominant clubs, having won the Eurobowl title five times (2004–2007 and 2013), as well as be ...

in the

Austrian Football League The Austrian Football League (AFL) is a professional American football league in Austria. The league comprises six teams, and operates on a system of promotion and relegation. It plays by rules based on those of the U.S. National Collegiate Athl ...

. He did not start due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

European League of Football

In the inaugural

2021 European League of Football season The 2021 ELF season was the inaugural season of the European League of Football, a newly formed professional American football league based in Europe. It started on June 19, 2021, and ended with the ''ELF Championship Game'' in Düsseldorf's Merk ...

Sullivan was signed by the Frankfurt Galaxy and head coach Thomas Kösling. In the regular season Sullivan had the highest passing completion rate (66,2 %) of the league as well as 2,037 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. With a passer rating of 105.96 he was the second best quarterback in the regular season. In the Divisional Championship playoff-game against the Cologne Centurions he scored five passing touchdowns with four different target and was nominated MVP of this game. In the first ELF Championship game the Frankfurt Galaxy won against the Hamburg Sea Devils with a dramatic 32:30 score. He was nominated ELF Championship game-MVP, voted to the ELF Allstar game and won the Offensive Player of the Year award. The Frankfurt Galaxy announced in mid November the extension for another season. Sullivan was released by the Galaxy on November 7, 2023. On December 14, 2023, Sullivan signed with the

of the

Professional statistics

Private life

Sullivan has four younger siblings and is

Native American Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

, a member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux. His father was football coach at St. Thomas More High School. He majored in

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

and was nominated for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

References

External links

South Dakota Mines Hardrockers bio

ELF bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Jakeb 1994 births Living people American football quarterbacks Players of American football from South Dakota Frankfurt Galaxy (ELF) players German Football League players Sportspeople from Rapid City, South Dakota American expatriate players of American football American expatriate sportspeople in Germany South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football Austrian Football League players Native American players of American football