Stephen Panasuk ( ; born January 19, 1989) 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 ...

Early life

Panasuk attended Grafton High School in Virginia for his first three years and played wide receiver. In 2006, he moved back to New Jersey and played his senior season as a quarterback for the

New Egypt High School New Egypt High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Plumsted Township in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the ...

Warriors in the New Egypt section of Plumsted Township.

College career

Panasuk attended

La Salle University La Salle University () is a private university, private, Catholic university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The university was founded in 1863 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and named for St. Jean-Bapt ...

upon graduation from high school. He played in eight games as a true freshman in 2007, completing 38 of 96 passes for 373 yards, 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Following the 2007 season, La Salle ended its football program and allowed all their players to transfer to other schools to continue playing football. Panasuk chose

Wagner College Wagner College is a private university in Staten Island, New York. It was established in 1883 and, as of the 2023–2024 academic year, it enrolled approximately 1,932 students, including 1,592 undergraduates and 340 graduates. Its theatre prog ...

to continue his football career, however Panasuk never appeared in a game for the Seahawks.

Professional career

Kentucky Drillers

Panasuk began his professional career with the

Kentucky Drillers The Kentucky Drillers were a professional indoor football team based in Pikeville, Kentucky. The franchise started as the Eastern Kentucky Drillers and joined the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) in 2013 after playing their first two se ...

of the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

(CIFL). He started 5 games before leaving for the Wyoming Cavalry.

Wyoming Cavalry

Panasuk quickly left the Drillers to join the

Wyoming Cavalry The Wyoming Cavalry are an American professional indoor football team based in Gillette, Wyoming. The Cavalry began play in 2000 as an expansion member of the original Indoor Football League as the Casper Cavalry. The Cavalry became a charter ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL). Panasuk played in nine games, starting seven, during his rookie year with the Cavalry.

Trenton Freedom

Panasuk returned to New Jersey in 2014 when he joined the

Trenton Freedom The Trenton Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The Freedom were a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The Freedom began play in 2014 as an expansion member of the PIFL. The Freedo ...

of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor F ...

(PIFL). During the 2014 season, Panasuk served as the backup to Warren Smith, who would go on to win the PIFL MVP. In 2015, Panasuk played in 10 games for the Freedom, completing 63% of his passes for over 1,800 yards and 38 total touchdowns.

Wichita Force

Panasuk joined the

Wichita Force The Wichita Force were a professional indoor football team based in Wichita, Kansas, with home games in Wichita Ice Center. The team was founded in 2014 as an expansion franchise in the Champions Indoor Football league for the 2015 season. The ...

Champions Indoor Football Champions Indoor Football (CIF) was a professional indoor American football minor league created in 2014 out of the merger between the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) and Lone Star Football League (LSFL), plus one team fr ...

(CIF) in 2016. He led the Force to a 5–2 record, completing 61% of his passes for 1,084 yards and 32 total touchdowns before signing with Cleveland.

Cleveland Gladiators

On April 26, 2016, Panasuk was assigned to the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...

of 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), where he finished the 2016 season.

High Country Grizzlies

Panasuk signed with the

High Country Grizzlies The High Country Grizzlies were a professional indoor football team that began play in the 2017 season. Based in Boone, North Carolina, the Grizzlies played their home games at the George M. Holmes Convocation Center on the campus of Appalachi ...

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. As of the end of the 2024 season, the league consisted of five teams. A team's typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, but as of the 2022 ...

(NAL) for the 2017 season. He played in 8 games for the Grizzlies, completing 131 of 239 passes for 1,318 yards, 31 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He also scored four rushing touchdowns.

Jersey Flight

On October 25, 2017, Panasuk signed with the

Jersey Flight The Jersey Flight was a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The team played its first two seasons in the American Arena League (AAL) and then as a member of the National Arena League (NAL) from 2020 to 2021. They were ...

of the NAL. However, the team failed to meet the league's minimum obligations prior to the release of the 2018 schedule and was subsequently removed from the league without playing a game. A few days later, the Flight announced they had joined the

American Arena League The American Arena League (AAL) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football minor league that began playing in 2018. The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Ca ...

(AAL). Panasuk was voted 2018 AAL QB of the year after leading the team to a 7–3 record. He amassed 2,000 passing yards and accounted for 68 total touchdowns to only 7 interceptions on the year.

West Virginia Roughriders

In May 2019, Panasuk came out of his brief retirement and signed with the West Virginia Roughriders of the AAL prior to the last regular season game. The team went on to win the 2019 AAL Championship. It is his second professional championship. Panasuk saw limited action in relief of former West Virginia University quarterback Jarret Brown. In 1 regular season game and 3 post season games, Panasuk accounted for 362 yards and 7 total touchdowns.

Personal life

Panasuk has been a resident of

Jackson Township, New Jersey Jackson Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. A portion of the township is located within the Pinelands National Reserve. As of the 2020 United States census, 2 ...

."Force finish 2016 signings with QB Panasuk, OL McGuire"

, February 17, 2016. Accessed August 3, 2016. "A Jackson, N.J. native, Panasuk attended La Salle University before transferring to Wagner University."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Panasuk, Stephen 1989 births Living people American football quarterbacks La Salle Explorers football players Wagner Seahawks football players Wyoming Cavalry players Trenton Freedom players Wichita Force players Cleveland Gladiators players People from Jackson Township, New Jersey People from Plumsted Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Ocean County, New Jersey Kentucky Drillers players High Country Grizzlies players Jersey Flight players West Virginia Roughriders players