For many, an undrafted quarterback who started his college career at Minnesota and finished it at South Dakota is far from top of mind. But Chris Streveler has a lot of interesting things going for him, from his 2018-19 stint in the Canadian Football League (capped with a Grey Cup celebration party where he wore an incredible fur coat) through his 2020-21 stint with the Arizona Cardinals.
Following that CFL stint, Streveler spent time with the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins. He then went on to time with the New York Jets after signing with them this July. And with them, he put up legendary preseason numbers but was still released, unclaimed on waivers, and wound up on their practice squad. And the Jets announced Saturday that they’re activating him for Sunday’s home game against the New England Patriots:
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Streveler will get to play Sunday. The Jets already have three quarterbacks on the active roster: Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Mike White. But Streveler does present an intriguing possibility. Through three preseason games with the Jets this year, he completed 24 of 33 passes for 277 yards, five touchdowns and one interception, and added 71 yards on nine rushes.
And Steverler’s rushing ability shouldn’t be overlooked. He hasn’t had a huge chance to show that off in the NFL yet, only receiving seven carries across two seasons with the Cardinals (and only picking up 21 total rushing yards). But in the CFL, he was regularly subbed in for Winnipeg Blue Bombers‘ starting QB Zach Collaros in rushing-focused packages, and that led to him picking up 1,167 total rushing yards and 22 touchdowns in the 2018 and 2019 regular seasons (5.7 yards per carry).
Streveler also completed 242 of 374 (64.7 percent) regular-season passing attempts in the CFL for 2,698 yards with 19 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. And he helped the Bombers to a 2019 victory in the 109th Grey Cup, completing three of three passes (for 39 yards and a touchdown) and rushing nine times for 30 yards in that game. And he was an iconic figure in the championship parade, as seen at top and at left here:
Streveler’s CFL efforts certainly don’t necessarily mean he’ll find long-term NFL success. And some NFL analysts have gone far out of their way to blast him for having that background. But he’s flashed a lot of potential in the CFL, and some in limited time in the NFL regular season (with Arizona) and preseason (with the Jets). And it will be interesting to see if he gets any snaps after this activation, and if so, what he does with them.
[Top photo is a screengrab from CBC’s 2019 Grey Cup parade coverage]