Timmy Chang
Encyclopedia
Timothy Kealii'okaaina Awa Chang (born October 9, 1981) is a retired American football
player. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals
as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football
at Hawai'i
where he set several major college football passing records, some of which he still holds.
Chang has also been a member of the Detroit Lions
, Philadelphia Eagles
, Rhein Fire
, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
and Winnipeg Blue Bombers
.
, Chang attended St. Louis School in Honolulu and was an honors student and a three-year letterman in football and basketball. Chang was selected a prep
All-America
n by eight major organizations and publications. As a member of the St. Louis School football team, Chang completed 491 passes for 7,715 yards and 87 touchdowns in his three-year career. Timmy Chang graduated from Saint Louis High School in 2000.
Warriors
where he started 50 of 53 career games at quarterback
. Chang completed 1,388 of 2,436 passes (57.0 percent) for 17,072 yards and 117 touchdowns, breaking the old NCAA
Division I-A all-time records of 1,231 completions in 1,883 attempts by Kliff Kingsbury
of Texas Tech University
(1999–2002) and 15,031 yards by Ty Detmer
of Brigham Young University
(1989–91). Chang participated in 2,587 plays, breaking the old NCAA career record of 2,156 by Kingsbury. Chang's 16,910 yards in total offense broke the previous NCAA record of 14,465 by Detmer. Chang also had six rushing
touchdowns and was a four-time All-Western Athletic Conference
selection.
Chang currently holds the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision all-time interception record with 80, second most total offensive yards (16,910), second most career passing yards (17,072), most career plays from scrimmage (2,587),and is sixth to Case Keenum
's 139 touchdown passes.
Chang was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 Hawaii Bowl
in a triple-overtime
victory over the University of Houston
, and was named Co-MVP, with Chad Owens
, of the 2004 Hawaii Bowl
in a victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham
. Chang was a Heisman Trophy
candidate for the 2003 season and was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
award for the 2004 season. He made a cameo in NCAA Football 06
in an opening.
after going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft
, but was cut in training camp. That year, Chang also played in the preseason for the Detroit Lions
but did not make the final roster. He then signed with the Philadelphia Eagles
, who allocated him to the NFL Europe
in 2006
. He played for the Rhein Fire
of NFL Europa for the 2006 season, in which he completed 50 of 89 passes for 656 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, while sharing playing time with Drew Henson
. He was in training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles
in 2006, but was cut before the start of the regular season.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats
of the CFL
acquired the negotiating rights to Chang in a February 12, 2007
trade with the Edmonton Eskimos
. Chang signed with Hamilton on March 13, 2007.
During the 2007 season, he started two of 18 games played, completing 42 of 89 pass attempts for 467 yards, one touchdown, and seven interceptions. Chang played in his first regular season game on June 30, 2007 against the Calgary Stampeders
when he replaced the struggling Jason Maas
towards the end of the fourth quarter, completing his first career CFL pass, a 51-yard pass to Jesse Lumsden, overall finishing 4 of 7 for 86 yards. He threw his first career CFL touchdown on July 14 during the Ticats 29-20 loss to Montreal, a 71-yard pass to Brock Ralph.
Chang was released by the Tiger-Cats on August 29, 2008 and signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the following day. He retired in 2009 and returned to the University of Hawaii to complete his bachelor's degree.
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 signed by the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Hawai'i
Hawaii Warriors football
The Hawaii Warriors football team represents the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team, which is currently coached by Greg McMackin, is part of the Western Athletic Conference until 2012, when the team joins the Mountain West Conference.The Hawaii Warriors...
where he set several major college football passing records, some of which he still holds.
Chang has also been a member of the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
, Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Rhein Fire
Rhein Fire
The Rhein Fire was a professional American football team in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former Birmingham Fire team which was active during the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons.-History:The team was...
, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
and Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
.
Early years
Born in Waipahu, HawaiiHawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Chang attended St. Louis School in Honolulu and was an honors student and a three-year letterman in football and basketball. Chang was selected a prep
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n by eight major organizations and publications. As a member of the St. Louis School football team, Chang completed 491 passes for 7,715 yards and 87 touchdowns in his three-year career. Timmy Chang graduated from Saint Louis High School in 2000.
College career
Following high school, Chang played five seasons (2000–2004) for the University of HawaiiUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa
The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public, co-educational university and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaii system...
Warriors
Hawaii Warriors football
The Hawaii Warriors football team represents the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team, which is currently coached by Greg McMackin, is part of the Western Athletic Conference until 2012, when the team joins the Mountain West Conference.The Hawaii Warriors...
where he started 50 of 53 career games at 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...
. Chang completed 1,388 of 2,436 passes (57.0 percent) for 17,072 yards and 117 touchdowns, breaking the old NCAA
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
Division I-A all-time records of 1,231 completions in 1,883 attempts by Kliff Kingsbury
Kliff Kingsbury
Klifford "Kliff" Kingsbury is an American Football Coach, serving as the current co-offensive coordinator for the University of Houston Cougar football team. Prior to his current role, Kingsbury was a Quarterback in the NFL and NFL Europe, winning a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots in a...
of Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University
Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...
(1999–2002) and 15,031 yards 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...
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...
(1989–91). Chang participated in 2,587 plays, breaking the old NCAA career record of 2,156 by Kingsbury. Chang's 16,910 yards in total offense broke the previous NCAA record of 14,465 by Detmer. Chang also had six rushing
Rush (American football)
Rushing has two different meanings in gridiron football .-Offense:The first is an action taken by the offensive team that means to advance the ball by running, as opposed to passing. A run is technically any play that does not involve a forward pass...
touchdowns and was a four-time All-Western Athletic Conference
Western Athletic Conference
The Western Athletic Conference is an American collegiate athletic conference, which was formed on July 27, 1962, making it the sixth oldest of the 11 college athletic conferences currently participating in the NCAA's Division I FBS...
selection.
Chang currently holds the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision all-time interception record with 80, second most total offensive yards (16,910), second most career passing yards (17,072), most career plays from scrimmage (2,587),and is sixth to Case Keenum
Case Keenum
Casey Austin "Case" Keenum is a redshirt senior quarterback for the Houston Cougars football team. Keenum has already set several school records at the University of Houston and has positioned himself to become the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing yards in 2011...
's 139 touchdown passes.
Chang was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2003 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...
in a triple-overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
victory over 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...
, and was named Co-MVP, with Chad Owens
Chad Owens
Chad Owens is a professional American, Canadian and Arena football wide receiver and kick returner for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft...
, of the 2004 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...
in a victory over the University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System...
. Chang was a 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...
candidate for the 2003 season and was a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award
The Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award is given annually in the United States to the nation's outstanding senior quarterback in college football. It was established in 1987 by a foundation named for Johnny Unitas , the Hall of Fame quarterback who played his college career at the University of...
award for the 2004 season. He made a cameo in NCAA Football 06
NCAA Football 06
NCAA Football '06, known colloquially as College Football 2006 is a collegiate American football video game which was released on July 11, 2005. The product features former Michigan Wolverines standout and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard on the cover...
in an opening.
Professional career
Chang was signed by the Arizona CardinalsArizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
after going undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft
2005 NFL Draft
The 2005 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 23–24, 2005. The league also held an supplemental draft that year, which was held after...
, but was cut in training camp. That year, Chang also played in the preseason for the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
but did not make the final roster. He then signed with the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, who allocated him to the NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...
in 2006
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...
. He played for the Rhein Fire
Rhein Fire
The Rhein Fire was a professional American football team in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former Birmingham Fire team which was active during the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons.-History:The team was...
of NFL Europa for the 2006 season, in which he completed 50 of 89 passes for 656 yards, 4 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, while sharing playing time with Drew Henson
Drew Henson
Drew Daniel Henson is a retired Major League Baseball third baseman and National Football League quarterback. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan....
. He was in training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 2006, but was cut before the start of the regular season.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
of the CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
acquired the negotiating rights to Chang in a February 12, 2007
2007 CFL season
The 2007 CFL season was the 54th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it was the 50th season of the league, and many special events were held to commemorate the event. Regular-season play began on June 28, 2007 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario and concluded on...
trade with the Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
. Chang signed with Hamilton on March 13, 2007.
During the 2007 season, he started two of 18 games played, completing 42 of 89 pass attempts for 467 yards, one touchdown, and seven interceptions. Chang played in his first regular season game on June 30, 2007 against the Calgary Stampeders
Calgary Stampeders
The Calgary Stampeders are a Canadian Football League team based in Calgary, Alberta and named in reference to the Calgary Stampede. The Stampeders play their home games at McMahon Stadium...
when he replaced the struggling Jason Maas
Jason Maas
Jason Maas is a former Canadian football quarterback. He is best known for his career in the Canadian Football League, which was largely spent with the Edmonton Eskimos...
towards the end of the fourth quarter, completing his first career CFL pass, a 51-yard pass to Jesse Lumsden, overall finishing 4 of 7 for 86 yards. He threw his first career CFL touchdown on July 14 during the Ticats 29-20 loss to Montreal, a 71-yard pass to Brock Ralph.
Chang was released by the Tiger-Cats on August 29, 2008 and signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers the following day. He retired in 2009 and returned to the University of Hawaii to complete his bachelor's degree.