Tacoma native Jon Kitna, 41 and out of the NFL for two seasons, is returning to the Dallas Cowboys, the final team in his 15-year NFL career, for emergency duty following a back injury to starting quarterback Tony Romo. If Kitna passes a physical exam, he will join the team on Christmas Day, the team confirmed on its website Tuesday.
Kitna spent the past two seasons coaching his alma mater’s team, the Lincoln High School Abes. He had a 13-7 record, including 8-2 this season.
The Cowboys have not ruled out Romo from playing Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles despite a back injury. However, ESPN has reported that Romo will not play this season and needs back surgery.
Sources said Romo had an epidural injection on Monday, and the hope is it quells the back troubles. Kyle Orton is expected to start. The Cowboys worked out David Carr, John Skelton, Tyler Thigpen, Caleb Hanie and Richard Bartel Tuesday.
Kitna, who signed as an undrafted free agent with Seattle after starring at Central Washington, started 33 games for the Seahawks from 1997 to 2000. He signed with Cincinnati as a free agent in 2001, where he played five seasons. Then he went on to play three years in Detroit and his final three in Dallas.
He started nine games for the Cowboys in 2010 after Romo suffered a broken collarbone and threw for 2,365 yards with 16 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions.
9 Comments
Well, he knows the offense and is an experienced veteran. But he’s two years out of the league and 41 freakin’ years old. Tebow is available. Vince Young. Matt Leinart. Tyler Thigpen. Byron Leftwich. David Carr. Trent Edwards. I’m surprised Jerry didn’t go after Favre.
Kitna is there mostly to hold the hand of Orton. If he does play, at least he knows the vocab for the huddle.
Kitna is better now than any of those dudes could ever dream of being.
True dat.
I kind of never forgave Holmgren for running-off Kitna and then Dilfer. Not that we would have gone any further with either of them than we did with Hass, I just liked them both more than I ever really liked Hass.
isnt he a hs coach now?
Gee, some teachers use Christmas break to visit family, go to Hawaii, etc. Good luck in Dallas, Jon…to a point. I can’t stand the Cowboys, but I hope Kitna does well. If nothing else, if he assigns his students at Lincoln a “What I Did for Christmas” paper, he’ll have plenty of food for thought for them.
wow i did not recall that Kitna started 33 games for the Hawks. That was a long stretch!
Kinda think this is pretty cool and it speaks volumes about how Kitna is viewed by the NFL even if it is the worst GM in football Jery Jones who loves his boss