David Ryan Klingler is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

 after a record setting quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 career at the University of Houston

University of Houston

The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...

. Klingler attended Stratford High School

Stratford High School (Houston)

Stratford High School is a secondary school in Houston, Texas, United States. The school is one of four high schools in the Spring Branch Independent School District , the district's westernmost secondary school...

 in Houston.

College career

A 6'2" quarterback, Klingler rewrote numerous college passing records for the Houston Cougars

University of Houston

The University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...

 from 1988-1991. On November 17, 1990, Klingler threw 11 touchdown passes against Eastern Washington University

Eastern Washington University

Eastern Washington University is an American public, coeducational university located in Cheney, Washington.Founded in 1882, the university is academically divided into four colleges: Arts and Letters; Business and Public Administration; Science, Health and Engineering; and Social & Behavioral...

 at the Astrodome, and on December 2 set the NCAA (division I) record for most yards gained in a single game, 716. In his four seasons at Houston, he completed 726 of 1,262 passes for 9,430 yards and 91 touchdowns, all of which were school records at the time. Klingler set the NCAA record for touchdown passes in a season with 54 in 1990. His single season touchdown pass record stood for 16 years until it was broken in the 2006 Hawaii Bowl

Hawaii Bowl

The Hawaii Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played annually at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii since 2002. Typically played on either Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, the game matches teams from either...

 by University of Hawaii

University of Hawaii

The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...

 quarterback Colt Brennan

Colt Brennan

Colton "Colt" James Brennan is an American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hawaii....

 with 58, though Brennan needed three more games than Klingler to break the record. Klingler made a valiant push to win the Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

 but was eventually beaten by Ty Detmer

Ty Detmer

Ty Hubert Detmer is a former National Football League and NCAA quarterback. He starred at Brigham Young University, where he set many records and won the Heisman Trophy in 1990...

 (winner) of Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...

 and Raghib Ismail

Raghib Ismail

Raghib Ramadian Ismail is a retired professional American and Canadian football player, who played Wide receiver in both the Canadian Football League and National Football League. He played college football at Notre Dame...

 (runner-up) of Notre Dame

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Notre Dame's nickname is inherited from Irish immigrant soldiers who fought in the Civil War with the Union's Irish Brigade, , recollected among other places in the poetry of Joyce Kilmer who served with one of the Irish Brigade regiments during World War I...

. Klingler remained a stand-out for the University of Houston and still ranks in the top ten for career touchdown passes and yards in a career.

NFL career

Klingler was taken in the 1st round of the 1992 NFL Draft

1992 NFL Draft

The 1992 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 26–27, 1992. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft...

 by the Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

. From 1992 to 1995 he played for the Bengals - starting

Starting lineup

A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...

 for the Bengals in 1993 and 1994 before losing his job to Jeff Blake

Jeff Blake

Jeff Bertrand Coleman Blake is a retired American football quarterback who played in the National Football League. Although he finished his career with the Chicago Bears, he was formerly a quarterback for the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Arizona...

. He then played two seasons as a backup for the Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. In 1998, he signed with the Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 to back up Brett Favre

Brett Favre

Brett Lorenzo Favre is a former American football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League . He was a 20-year veteran of the NFL, having played quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons , Green Bay Packers , New York Jets and Minnesota...

, but he was cut and didn't play. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0804/nfl.draft.busts/content.11.html

After the NFL

Klingler entered school at Dallas Theological Seminary

Dallas Theological Seminary

Dallas Theological Seminary is an evangelical theological seminary located in Dallas, Texas. It is known for popularizing the theological system known as Dispensationalism...

, earning both a master's degree

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 in Theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 and a Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 in Old Testament

Old Testament

The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

studies. In June 2010, he became the director of DTS's Houston extension, a position he continues to hold as of September 2011. Klingler was also an analyst for the University of Houston's football radio network from 2006 to 2008.