Jeff Loots (born May 19, 1970) is an American former 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 ...

who played eight seasons in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) with the Milwaukee Mustangs, Minnesota Fighting Pike,

Albany Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

Oklahoma Wranglers The Oklahoma Wranglers were a professional arena football team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They were members of the Central (1996–1997) and Western (1998–2001) Division of the American Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). Th ...

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team was founded in 2001 and played in the Arena Football League's Central Division. The Rush qualified for the playoffs in 11 of 12 AFL seasons, during w ...

, Buffalo Destroyers and

Grand Rapids Rampage The Grand Rapids Rampage was an arena football team based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The team began play in 1998 in the Arena Football League as an expansion team. They were last coached by Steve Thonn. Their home arena was the Van Andel Arena ...

. He played

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at Southwest Minnesota State.

Early life and college

Loots attended Central High School in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. He first played college football at

Inver Hills Community College Inver Hills Community College is a Public university, public community college in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. Founded in 1970, the college is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. The campus consists of nine buildin ...

in 1989. He then played for the

Western Illinois Leathernecks The Western Illinois Leathernecks are the teams and athletes that represent Western Illinois University, located in Macomb, Illinois, in NCAA Division I sports. The school is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Its football team is a member ...

Western Illinois University Western Illinois University (WIU) is a public university in Macomb, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. As the normal school grew, it became Western Illinois State Teachers College. Once West ...

in 1990. He transferred to play college football for the

Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs The Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs (also SMSU Mustangs and formerly Southwest State Mustangs) are the athletic teams that represent Southwest Minnesota State University, located in Marshall, Minnesota, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate spo ...

Southwest Minnesota State University Southwest Minnesota State University (SMSU) is a public university in Marshall, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. The university has an enrollment of approximately 8,700 students and e ...

. Loots finished his career with 703 pass competitions on 1,224 attempts for 10,116 and 102 touchdowns, all of which were school records. He was named first team NAIA

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

in 1992, second team NAIA All-America 1991, honorable mention NAIA All-America in 1990 and second team AP Little All-America in 1992. He recorded 22 wins and five losses as a starter for the Mustangs before he suffered a season ending shoulder injury in week eight of his senior year in 1992. Loots was ranked as the seventh best quarterback in the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

by Mel Kiper, Jr. He was inducted into the

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Upper Midwest of the United States. Nine of ...

Hall of Fame in 2009. He was also inducted into the Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs Hall of Honor in 2007. Loots number 11 is retired by the Mustangs.

Professional career

Loots signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

in 1993 after going undrafted in the

. He injured his shoulder and sat out the season. He was traded to the expansion

Las Vegas Posse The Las Vegas Posse were a Canadian Football League (CFL) team, that played at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, in the league's 1994 CFL season, 1994 season as part of the Canadian Football League in the United States ...

and was the first player to sign with the team. Loots later requested his release. He signed with the expansion Milwaukee Mustangs of the AFL in 1994. The Mustangs finished the season with no wins and twelve losses, with Loots recording eleven touchdown passes. He was drafted by the expansion

Iowa Barnstormers The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well". Sever ...

of the AFL in 1995. He competed for the starting quarterback job with

Kurt Warner Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals. His career, whi ...

before breaking his foot in the Barnstormers' second preseason game. Loots was then traded to the

Florida Bobcats The Florida Bobcats were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Sunrise, Florida. They were previously known as the Sacramento Attack and the Miami Hooters, and played in the AFL for a total of ten seasons, the last seven in West Palm Beac ...

. He was traded to the expansion Minnesota Fighting Pike in February 1996. The Fighting Pike finished their only season with four wins and ten losses, with Loots recording seven touchdown passes. He then signed with the AFL's

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

. He was a backup quarterback on the Rattlers from 1997 to 1998. The Rattlers won

ArenaBowl XI ArenaBowl XI was the Arena Football League's eleventh ArenaBowl. The game featured two American Conference teams, the #2 Iowa Barnstormers (11–3) against the #1 Arizona Rattlers (12–2). Iowa was coming from losing ArenaBowl X to the Tampa Bay ...

against the Iowa Barnstormers on August 25, 1997. Loots spent the 2000 season with the

of the AFL, recording seven touchdown passes. The Firebirds won ArenaBowl XIII against the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played it ...

on August 21, 1999. He was traded to the

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followin ...

in April 2000 but refused to report. He was traded to the

in May 2000. Loots recorded 14 passing touchdowns as the Wranglers finished the regular season with seven wins and seven losses, losing in the second round of the playoffs to the

San Jose Sabercats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

. He was signed by the expansion

of the AFL to be their starting quarterback in 2001. He recorded 13 passing touchdowns with the Rush. Loots was traded to the Oklahoma Wranglers during the 2001 season. He recorded 18 passing touchdowns with the Wranglers in 2001. He played from 2002 to 2003 with the AFL's Buffalo Destroyers. Loots recorded 29 passing touchdown during his tenure with the Destroyers. Loots played his final season in 2004 for the

of the AFL, recording one touchdown pass.

Statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loots, Jeff Living people 1970 births American football quarterbacks Canadian football quarterbacks Western Illinois Leathernecks football players Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs football players Toronto Argonauts players Las Vegas Posse players Milwaukee Mustangs (1994–2001) players Iowa Barnstormers players Florida Bobcats players Minnesota Fighting Pike players Arizona Rattlers players Albany Firebirds players Carolina Cobras players Oklahoma Wranglers players Chicago Rush players Buffalo Destroyers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Players of American football from Saint Paul, Minnesota Inver Hills Blue Knights football players Players of Canadian football from Minnesota Saint Paul Central High School alumni