 Klatt in 2024 | |
| No. 14 | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | (1982-02-04)February 4, 1982 (age 43) Arvada, Colorado, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Pomona (Arvada, Colorado) |
| College: |
|
| Undrafted: | 2006 |
| Career history | |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
Joel Klatt (born February 4, 1982) is an Americancollege football color commentator and analyst forFox Sports.[1] Klatt played college football for theColorado Buffaloes. He was the first three-year starter atquarterback for Colorado sinceKordell Stewart. He also played inMinor League Baseball for two seasons.
Klatt was born inArvada, Colorado. He was coached by his father, Gary, the head coach atPomona High School in Arvada, Colorado.[2] As a junior, he had fourinterceptions playing in the secondary, helping the team to a 9–3 record, and winning the Jefferson County league championship. As a senior atquarterback, he led the team to a 6–5 record, earned second-team all-state honors, and finished completing 78 of 125 passes (62.4%) for 1,250 yards and sixteen touchdowns. He played primarily atshortstop inbaseball, earning first-team all-state in his senior year and helping his team finish as runner-ups in the state tournament. He set multiple records at his school in baseball:home runs (40),runs batted in (RBIs) (66), hits (51), and slugging percentage (1.226). He also set three summer school records: home runs (26), RBIs (99), and slugging percentage (1.147). He also playedbasketball as a guard. Klatt lettered in all three sports all four years of high school.
Klatt was drafted in the 11th round of the2000 Major League Baseball draft by theSan Diego Padres as athird baseman. He played for theArizona League Padres inPeoria, Arizona, that summer where he led the team with twelve doubles andbatted .209 with one home run and 15 RBIs in 51 games. In 2001, he played for theIdaho Falls Padres, where he batted .208 with two home runs, ten RBIs, and threestolen bases in 45 games. In 2002, he told himself if he did not move up to theClass A-Advanced level, he would give college football a try. After he reported forspring training with theEugene Emeralds, he realized he would never make it to the major leagues. He then left the team and walked-on at the University of Colorado.[3]
Klatt walked on atColorado as a quarterback in2002. As a true freshman, he played in three games, mostly on the punt return team as a rusher and blocker againstMissouri andIowa State. AgainstBaylor, he went 0–3 passing. He is one of four true freshman walk-ons to see action since 1986 for Colorado and was the Scout Team Offense Award Winner for theColorado State game. The Buffs wereBig 12 North Champions that season and played in theAlamo Bowl.
Thefollowing year, Klatt earned the starting position at quarterback and went on to set 19 school records and tied one. He earned all-Big 12 honors and Colorado's John Mack Award (Colorado's Offensive Player of the Year). He was 233–358 passing for 2,614 yards and 21 touchdowns. Klatt made his first start in Colorado's first game of the season againstColorado State. He went 21–34 for 402 yards and four touchdowns, winning the game with a 6-play, 75-yard drive with forty seconds left in the game. For his performance, he was named National Player of the Week byThe Sporting News,SI.com, andcollegefootballnews.com, and won Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week. He suffered a sprained shoulder injury during theWashington State game causing him to miss two starts againstFlorida State andBaylor. He returned from the injury with a record-setting game againstKansas going 38–54 with 419 yards. His two 400-yard throwing games ranked fourth- and fifth-most passing yards in a game by a walk-on (or former walk-on) in NCAA Division I history prior to the2005–06 season.
For the2004 season, he started twelve games and played in all thirteen, being benched in theIowa State game for lackluster performance. He was 192–334 for 2,065 yards and nine touchdowns but had fifteen interceptions. He was placed on scholarship status for this season, having played the previous two on walk-on status. He continued to set records at Colorado and led the team to the Big 12 Conference North title before losing thechampionship game toOklahoma. He then went on to lead his team to victory in theHouston Bowl againstUTEP. He set eight school records and recorded his first, and only, reception going for eighteen yards on a throwback withBernard Jackson againstTexas A&M. He was on the official watch list for theDavey O'Brien Award (one of 42 candidates), andStreet & Smith’s selected him as an honorable mention preseasonAll-American.
He again led Colorado to the Big 12 North Title during the2005 season, a season in which he set several Colorado quarterback records. However, Klatt's college career ended in theBig 12 Championship Game againstTexas when he was knocked out after being hit by Texas linebacker Drew Kelson during the 70–3 blowout.[4] He suffered a severe concussion that left him hospitalized for weeks after the game.
Klatt became embittered by the nonchalance of the NCAA over the effects of his career-ending hit.[5] His comments included him saying the NCAA is "terribly run," that "exploits athletes," and that "has its priorities out of whack."[6] Further:
"If they want to exploit us, as athletes, and sell our jerseys and put us on video games, then perhaps they should protect us on the field better, so that we can, in the future, get that compensation and possibly go to the NFL. It seems like they’re more concerned with what guys do after the play and after they score, which is completely irrelevant to safety, or anything like that. But if a player who goes into the end zone and gets a little too excited, is that as important as someone who gets a head injury? I just think their priorities are a little out of whack."[7]
Note: Bolded statistics denote career high
| Colorado Buffaloes | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | G | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||
| Comp | Att | Comp% | Yards | Y/A | TD | Int | Rating | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| 2002 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 |
| 2003 | 11 | 233 | 358 | 65.1% | 2,614 | 7.3 | 21 | 10 | 140.2 | 68 | −91 | −1.3 | 1 |
| 2004 | 13 | 216 | 367 | 58.9% | 2,398 | 6.5 | 11 | 15 | 115.5 | 46 | −58 | −1.3 | 2 |
| 2005 | 12 | 241 | 400 | 60.3% | 2,696 | 6.7 | 14 | 8 | 124.4 | 54 | 3 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Total | 39 | 690 | 1,128 | 61.2% | 7,708 | 6.8 | 46 | 33 | 126.2 | 168 | −146 | −0.9 | 3 |
| Stats sourced bySports Reference.[8] | |||||||||||||
Klatt was not selected in the2006 NFL draft but did attend theDetroit Lions' andNew Orleans Saints'rookie mini-camps after the draft.[9] New Orleans signed him to a free agent contract after their mini-camp but released him.[10] The Lions claimed him off waivers less than a week later but Klatt was released before the start of the regular season.[11][12]
Klatt's first opportunity in broadcasting came when he filled in as an analyst on Friday night high school football games in the Denver area in the fall of 2006 forFSN Rocky Mountain.[13] He became a studio host forFox Sports Southwest's Saturday college football coverage from 2007 to 2008. His role expanded as he became acolor analyst forFox Sports Net in 2009. He also served as a host for theColorado Rockies' pre and post–game shows onRoot Sports Rocky Mountain. He hosted a series of sports radio shows in the Denver area from 2007 to 2012, including a popular program on the FM station104.3 The Fan from 2011 to 2012.
He joinedFox Sports 1 (FS1) for its launch in August 2013.[14] Klatt spent his first two seasons with FS1 and Fox broadcast network as a full-time studio analyst for the network's college football coverage, host ofFox NFL Kickoff, a part-time game analyst, primarily workingThursday night contests on FS1 and called the2014 Pac-12 Football Championship Game on Fox. Prior to the 2015 season, Klatt was elevated to Fox Sports' lead college football game analyst, where he teams with play-by-play announcerGus Johnson as part of Fox'sBig Noon Saturday window. Klatt served as a digital host during the 2015 and 2016 U.S. Open Championships and the on air interviewer during the 2019 U.S. Open Championship.[15] Klatt serves asCurt Menefee's color analyst on telecasts of theXFL andUSFL.[16] Klatt also fills-in forKevin Burkhardt hostingMLB Whiparound.
Klatt is a guest commentator weekly on The Next Round, a live and on-demand streaming broadcast based inBirmingham, Alabama, hosted by Jim Dunaway, Ryan Brown, and Lance Taylor. He is also a weekly guest commentator on The Hardline, aired on KTCK'sThe Ticket 1310-AM and96.7-FM stations, and based inDallas. The show opens with the official Joel Klatt Theme Song, performed by TC Fleming, formerly of KTCK. Klatt has had a long-running weekly guest spot on KKFN [104.3-FM] The Fan in Denver, Colorado predominately commenting on the Denver Broncos and Colorado Buffaloes.
Klatt hosts a weekly podcast,Breaking the Huddle with Joel Klatt, which began in 2017. It is produced byCadence13.[17] The podcast is sponsored byDr. Pepper.[17] Klatt also hostsThe Joel Klatt Show podcast onFox Sports. This podcast follows the storylines and big moments of each college football season and offseason.[18]
Klatt has appeared as an interview guest onThe Hardline,ThePetros and Money Show, andThe Herd with Colin Cowherd.
