Tyler Palko

Tyler Palko (born August 9, 1983) is a former American football quarterback.

Palko graduated from West Allegheny High School in North Fayette, Pennsylvania, where he was named Associated Press 2001 Pennsylvania Big School Player of the Year.

He was also a member of the USA Today All-America Team (Second-team) and three-time Pittsburgh Post-Gazette WPIAL Class AAA Player of the Year.

Palko led his West Allegheny Indians to a PIAA state title in 2001 for AAA in Pennsylvania.

At West Allegheny he played under his father, Bob Palko, earning four letters in football; additionally, he earned three letters in basketball and one in track and field.

In his high school senior year, he was named 2002 YMCA Tribune-Review Scholar-Athlete honoree.

In 2002, Palko was selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, an all-star game for high school athletes.

Palko played at the University of Pittsburgh, where his career began in 2002 as a lettered true freshman.

He completed 2-of-3 passes for 13 yards on the season, and rushed for an eight-yard touchdown late in Pitt's 2002 Insight Bowl victory over Oregon State.

Palko was redshirted the following season in 2003.

Palko was the starting quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh from 2004 to 2006.

As a redshirt-sophomore in 2004, Palko threw for 3,067 yards and 24 touchdowns, with only seven interceptions, earning him second-team All-Big East honors.

He was also named Pitt's MVP and offensive captain as a first-year starter.

Palko's 24 touchdowns led the Big East and were the third-highest single-season total in Pitt history, and his total passing yardage was the most ever for a sophomore and third-best overall in school history as well.

Palko also had four 300-yard passing games and one 400-yard passing game during this season alone.

In a game against the South Florida, Palko threw for a career-high 411 yards, the fifth-highest in school history, and matched a personal best of five touchdowns with no interceptions.

Palko threw another five touchdown passes and totaled 334 yards in the air with no interceptions against Notre Dame, becoming the first quarterback to throw for five touchdowns in a single game as a visiting team player against the Fighting Irish.

Late in the fourth quarter against Notre Dame, the Panthers went on two late scoring drives: one for a touchdown and the second for a game-winning field goal with one second left to play.

Palko also led three consecutive scoring drives against Temple to overcome a 10-point fourth quarter deficit.

They also surprised the West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl after being down 13–9 in the fourth quarter.

Palko led a drive that consisted of four third-down conversions, ending with his two-yard touchdown run.

Pittsburgh earned a bid to play in the Fiesta Bowl against the Utah Utes, where Palko was sacked nine times in a 35–7 loss.

After replacing Walt Harris as head coach in the spring of 2005, Dave Wannstedt chose Palko over Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback during Pitt's spring training.

Flacco was left to run Pitt's second team and eventually transferred to Division I-AA University of Delaware.

As a junior in 2005, Palko earned second-team Big East honors for a second consecutive season and was also named Pitt's captain for the second year in a row.

Palko's passing statistics were not as outstanding as the previous year's, with 2,392 yards and 17 touchdowns with nine interceptions.

However, his six rushing touchdowns were a career-high and a team high for the season, and Palko was Pitt's third leading scorer with 36 points.

Palko in week 2 against Ohio University threw two pick six TDs to Dion Byrum which ended up costing Pitt the game 16–10 to the Ohio University Bobcats.

Palko's 371 yards and four passing touchdowns against Rutgers were season highs in 2005, while his 35 completions out of 58 attempts were both career highs.

Against West Virginia, he threw for 308 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a loss.

Palko also threw for 198 yards and a touchdown against a strong opponent in the Louisville.

In the season-opener against Notre Dame, Palko threw for 220 yards with one touchdown and one interception while rushing for a four-yard score as well.

In his final season as a Panther in 2006, Palko threw for 2,871 yards (less than his 2004 and 2005 totals), but set a new career high with 25 touchdowns; he only rushed for 77 yards and two scores on the season.

Palko and the Panthers opened the season against the Virginia with 283 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Palko followed it up with a 267-yard game against Cincinnati, a 277-yard performance against Michigan State, and exceeded the 300-yard mark against The Citadel with 313 yards for four scores.

Later in the season against West Virginia, Palko threw for a season high 341 yards along with two touchdowns in a 45–27 loss.

In the season finale against Louisville, Palko threw for 307 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off three times as well.

The left-handed thrower was not selected in the 2007 NFL Draft, but was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent.

He also played for the Arizona Cardinals, Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), Pittsburgh Steelers, and Kansas City Chiefs.

Flacco became the starting quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens in 2008, a year after Palko had been signed and subsequently waived by the Saints.