Jalen Kitna (born March 22, 2003) 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

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of the American Athletic Conference and participates in Divisi ...

. He previously played for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

Early life and high school

Kitna is from

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

and attended Waxahachie High School in

Waxahachie, Texas Waxahachie ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Texas, United States. Its population was 41,140 in 2020. The city was founded in 1850, and incorporated in 1871. Much of the employment is provided by a number of industries and by ...

before transferring to Brophy College Preparatory in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

after his freshman year. He then transferred to

Frisco High School Frisco High School is a public high school located in Frisco, Texas and is a part of the Frisco Independent School District. For the 2021-2022 school year, the school received a rating of "A" from the Texas Education Agency. History Frisco Hi ...

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

before finally transferring to

Burleson High School Burleson High School is a four-year public high school consisting of grades 9–12 located in Burleson, in the U.S. state of Texas, and is part of the Burleson Independent School District. History In 1901, Burleson's first school, the Red Oa ...

in Burleson, Texas for his senior season and after his father was hired as the head football coach there. Kitna originally committed to

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

before decommitting and switching his commitment to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

College career

Kitna began his

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 ...

career at

in 2021, using a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

in 2021, then playing four games in 2022. He was dismissed from Florida's roster in December 2022 following his arrest. In December 2023, he committed to play for UAB. On November 2, 2024, he threw for 404 yards and six touchdowns against

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, being named

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

Offensive Player of the Week.

Personal life

Kitna's father is former NFL quarterback

Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played colleg ...

. On November 30, 2022, Kitna was arrested on child pornography charges. In July 2023, the charges were dropped; Kitna pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of breach of the peace.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio

UAB Blazers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitna, Jalen 2003 births Living people Players of American football from Tacoma, Washington American football quarterbacks Florida Gators football players UAB Blazers football players