B. J. Symons

Brian Jeffrey Symons (born November 19, 1980) is an American former football quarterback. He played college football for Texas Tech, where he was a record setting passer. He was selected by the Houston Texans in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL draft. Symons later played in NFL Europe for the Frankfurt Galaxy and Berlin Thunder.

Early life Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Symons was a standout quarterback for the Cypress Creek High School football team. Symons completed 126 passes in 228 attempts for 1,597 and 11 touchdowns during senior season and rushed for 411 yards and seven touchdowns and was named first-team all-District 16-5A as a junior and senior. Symons completed 259 passes in 478 attempts for 3,704 yards and 27 touchdowns in two years as a starter during high school career. He was a member of SuperPrep Magazine's southwest top 100 and was listed as one of the top 100 players in the state by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Houston Chronicle. He was also a three-year starting pitcher in baseball for CCHS. Symons was offered scholarships by the Texas Tech Red Raiders and Oklahoma Sooners. Symons chose Texas Tech over Oklahoma, then coached by Spike Dykes. Symons was recruited by Mike Leach while he was the Sooners' offensive coordinator. Leach would later become his head coach in 2000 when he was hired as the head coach of the Red Raiders.

College career Symons played for the Red Raiders from 1999 to 2003. Symons was the second-string quarterback for part of his redshirt freshman season in 1999, and backed up Kliff Kingsbury from 2000 to 2002. From 2000 to 2002 Symons saw action in 17 games completing 56 passes out of 80 attempts for a 70% completion rate and 7 touchdown passes in back-up duty.

2003 season Symons started for one season as quarterback for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. During his only season as a starter (his senior year), Texas Tech finished the season 8–5, and Symons broke the FBS record for single-season passing yards at 5,833 yards (since surpassed by Bailey Zappe of Western Kentucky in 2021 ). Symons set the NCAA 12-Game Passing Record with 5,336 yards in 2003. He broke Ty Detmer’s record of 5,188, set in 1990 at BYU. Symons also established a new NCAA 12-Game Total Offense Record with 5,476 yards this season. At the time of his graduation Symons held the Big 12 and Tech record with 48 touchdown passes in one season. Symons broke Kliff Kingsbury’s school and Big 12 single-season record of 45 touchdown passes. During the season, B. J. Symons tore his ACL while celebrating a touchdown pass against Iowa State. Although his statistics suffered slightly, he was still able to complete the most prolific season of passing in NCAA history. After finishing his career by extending his single-season passing record to 5,833 yards, he told reporters he will undergo reconstructive surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament. Symons ended his senior year with 52 TD passes, second only to the 54 thrown by Houston's David Klingler in 1990. His favorite target, Wes Welker, tied an NCAA record by catching a pass in his 47th consecutive game.

2003 Houston Bowl Tech was selected to play in the EV1.net Houston Bowl against the Navy Midshipmen at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, giving Symons the opportunity to play his final collegiate game in his hometown. Symons threw touchdown passes to Nehimiah Glover, Jarrett Hicks, and 2 touchdown passes to Mickey Peters en route to a 38–14 win over Navy. Symons was selected as offensive MVP for the game, capping off his season with 5,833 passing yards and 52 touchdown passes.

Statistics

Legend FBS record Led FBS Bold Career high

Accolades 2003 Houston Bowl Most Valuable Player Big 12 Conference Coaches' Second-team The Dallas Morning News All-Big 12 Second-team Sammy Baugh Trophy recipient (nation's top collegiate quarterback) Associated Press All-Big 12 Second-team Chevrolet National Offensive Player of the Year Fort Worth Star-Telegram All-Big 12 Second-team Big 12 Conference Academic Second-team San Antonio Express-News All-Big 12 Second-team CollegeFootballNews.com All-America Honorable Mention 10th in 2003 Heisman Trophy voting

NCAA records When his college career ended, Symons was the holder of 11 individual NCAA FBS records.

Symons was selected in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL draft by the Houston Texans with the 248th overall pick. He officially signed with the team on July 21. Symons was released by the Texans with an injury settlement on September 9, 2005, before the start of the 2005 NFL season. He was placed on injured reserve on February 26, 2007, before the start of the season and never played for the Storm. He retired from Football at the end of 2009. He currently resides in the Houston, TX area where he works in Commercial banking, is married and has three children.