UCF Knights Great QB Blake Bortles Retired from NFL
The UCF Knights history may not be long in college football lore, but the quarterback talent sure is something to talk about.
Of course there's Daunte Culpepper (1995-1998), Jeffrey Godfrey (2010-2013) and McKenzie Milton (2016-2020) that all donned a Knights jersey and deserve mention, among others.
Another worthy of being highlighted with those talented signal callers that thrilled UCF fans would be Blake Bortles (2010-2013).
The now UCF Athletics Hall of Fame inductee helped the Knights ascend upwards towards the ability to become a Power 5 program and join the Big XII; he’s one of the true trailblazers.
During his time in Orlando, Bortles passed for 7,598 yards, completed 66.2% of his passes, and threw 56 touchdowns to just 19 interceptions. He also ran for 561 yards and 15 more scores.
Related: Former UCF RB Latavius Murray Signs with Denver Broncos
That’s quite a three-year span. It led him to turning pro a year early and being the No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. During his time with the Jags, Bortles went through struggles before getting his team to the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 21, 2018 against the New England Patriots. Alas, Tom Brady got him, like so many others, before the Pats moved on to the Super Bowl.
During his NFL career, Bortles amassed 17,649 yards, 103 touchdowns and 75 interceptions.
A good find by Sports Illustrated was how he began to let it be known he had left the NFL. Here's the podcast mentioned inside the article: My Take podcast, which can be listened to here:
UCF fans were blessed to have watched such a great college player be a part of the incredible path that the program is still headed in. Hopefully he’s around FBC Mortgage Stadium quite often moving forward.
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