View source for Ben Sankey

{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1976)}}
{{for|the baseball player|Ben Sankey (baseball)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL player
|name=Ben Sankey
|image=
|caption=
|number=17, 7
|position=[[Quarterback]]
|birth_date={{birth date and age|1976|12|5}}
|birth_place=[[Chicago, Illinois]], U.S.
|height_ft=6
|height_in=3
|weight_lbs=225
|high_school=[[Whitney Young Magnet High School|Chicago (IL) Whitney Young]]
|college=[[Wake Forest Demon Deacons football|Wake Forest]]
|undraftedyear=2000
|pastteams=
*[[Calgary Stampeders]] ({{CFL Year|2000}}–{{CFL Year|2001}})
*[[Houston Texans]] ({{NFL Year|2002}})*
*[[Calgary Stampeders]] ({{CFL Year|2002}})
*Houston Texans ({{NFL Year|2003}})*
*[[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]] ({{NFL Year|2004}})
*[[Tennessee Valley Raptors]] (2005)
*[[Rock River Raptors]] (2006)
*[[BC Lions]] ({{CFL Year|2007}})*
*[[Calgary Stampeders]] ({{CFL Year|2007}}–{{CFL Year|2008}})
*[[Omaha Beef]] ({{IFL Year|2009}}–{{IFL Year|2010}})
*[[Omaha Nighthawks]] (2010)*
*[[Chicago Slaughter]] ({{IFL Year|2011}})
*[[Wichita Wild]] ({{IFL Year|2011}})
*[[Allen Wranglers]] ({{IFL Year|2012}})
|cflstatus=Import
|highlights=
*[[Aloha Bowl]] MVP ([[1999 Aloha Bowl|1999]])
*2x [[Grey Cup]] Champion ([[89th Grey Cup|2001]], [[96th Grey Cup|2008]])
*[[United Indoor Football|UIF]] MVP ([[2006 United Indoor Football season|2006]])
*First-team All-IFL ({{IFL Year|2010}})
*IFL Offensive Player of the Year ({{IFL Year|2010}})
|cflstatlabel1=Comp. / Att.
|cflstatvalue1=208 / 328
|cflstatlabel2=Passing yards
|cflstatvalue2=2,818
|cflstatlabel3=[[Touchdown|TD]]-[[Interception|INT]]
|cflstatvalue3=22-9
|cflstatlabel4=[[Passer rating|QB Rating]]
|cflstatvalue4=101.7
|cflstatlabel5=Rushing TD
|cflstatvalue5=361
|cfl-archive=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420220349/http://www.cfl.ca/roster/show/id/291
}}

'''Ben Sankey''' (born December 5, 1976) is a former [[gridiron football]] [[quarterback]]. He was signed as a [[street free agent]] by the [[Calgary Stampeders]] in 2000. He played [[college football]] at [[Wake Forest Demon Deacons football|Wake Forest]].

Sankey also played for the [[Houston Texans]], [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]], [[Tennessee Valley Raptors]], [[Rock River Raptors]], [[BC Lions]], [[Omaha Beef]], [[Omaha Nighthawks]], [[Chicago Slaughter]], [[Wichita Wild]] and [[Texas Revolution (indoor football)|Allen Wranglers]].

==Early years==
Sankey attended Chicago's [[Whitney Young Magnet High School]] where he excelled in football,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/09/02/even-without-sankey-young-can-get-offensive/ |title=Even Without Sankey, Young Can Get Offensive |author=Reid Hanley |date=September 2, 1994 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |work=www.chicagotribune.com |access-date=September 10, 2015}}</ref> [[basketball]] and [[baseball]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greensboro.com/sankey-perseveres-despite-background-ben-sankey-raised-in-inner-city/article_a7653077-9d81-5795-b680-4d96ece3f953.html |title=SANKEY PERSEVERES DESPITE BACKGROUND\ BEN SANKEY, RAISED IN INNER-CITY CHICAGO, HAS USED HIS BACKGROUND AS A CATALYST TO PROPEL HIM TO BETTER THINGS. |author=Bill Hass |date=October 18, 1999 |publisher=Greensboro News & Record |work=www.greensboro.com |access-date=September 10, 2015}}</ref> 

==College career==
Sankey also attended [[Wake Forest University]] from 1996 to 1999. He played his first three years as [[Brian Kuklick]]'s back-up, finally becoming the starter in 1999. He led the [[Wake Forest Demon Deacons football, 1990-1999#1999|Demon Deacons]] to the [[Aloha Classic|Aloha Bowl]], winning convincingly over [[Arizona State Sun Devils football|Arizona State]]. He was named most valuable player in the game.

===Statistics===
Sankey's career statistics are as follows:<ref>{{cite web |title=Ben Sankey |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/gary-nova-1.html |publisher=USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties |work=www.sports-reference.com |access-date=December 1, 2014}}</ref>

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;"
|-
|! colspan="12" style="background: #000000; border: 2px solid #9E7E38; color:#FFFFFF;" |{{center|'''Wake Forest Demon Deacons'''}}
|-
! rowspan=2|Season
! colspan=7|Passing
! colspan=4|Rushing
|-
! Comp !! Att !! Yards !! Pct. !! TD !! Int !! QB Rating !! Att !! Yards !! Avg !! TD
|-
| '''1996'''
| 13 || 30 || 180 || 43.3 || 1 || 0 || 104.7 || 9 || -4 || -0.4 || 0
|-
| '''1997'''
| 54 || 93 || 606 || 58.1 || 1 || 5 || 105.6 || 46 || -34 || -0.7 || 2
|-
| '''1998'''
| 38 || 58 || 468 || 65.5 || 4 || 2 || 149.2 || 14 || 65 || 4.6 || 0
|-
| '''1999'''
| 133 || 224 || 1,496 || 59.4 || 9 || 9 || 120.7 || 150 || 405 || 2.7 || 5
|-
! NCAA career totals
! 238 !! 405 !! 2,750 !! 58.8 !! 15 !! 16 !! 120.1 !! 219 !! 432 !! 2.0 !! 7
|}

==Professional career==
Sankey went undrafted in the [[2000 NFL draft]], and signed a contract with the [[Canadian Football League|CFL]]'s [[Calgary Stampeders]] in 2000. He dressed for 16 games and did not see any playing time until the final game of the season against the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]]. He completed all four of his pass attempts.

In 2001, he was named the Stampeders' starting quarterback, however a sprained thumb caused him to miss several games. [[Marcus Crandell]] took over and led the Stampeders to their fifth [[Grey Cup]] championship. His play was promising enough for the [[Houston Texans]] of the [[National Football League]] to take interest in him: he was signed to a contract before the 2002 season.

He did not receive any playing time with the Texans, so he returned to the Stampeders later that season, playing in seven games.

He returned to the Texans in 2003, however he was relegated to the [[practice squad]] and saw no playing time. In 2004 he returned to the CFL, this time with the [[Hamilton Tiger-Cats]], however, again, he saw no playing time. Discontent, he signed a contract with the [[Tennessee Valley Raptors]] of [[United Indoor Football]] in 2005. He returned to the franchise in 2006 after it had relocated to [[Rockford, Illinois]], finishing the season with 47 touchdown passes. He was named the league's most valuable player.

He returned to the CFL with the [[British Columbia Lions]] under coach [[Wally Buono]], who originally brought him to the CFL with the [[Calgary Stampeders|Stampeders]] seven years before. Again he saw no playing time, placed on the practice roster. The Stampeders were in need of a quarterback after [[Henry Burris]] fell to injury and [[Akili Smith]] and [[Barrick Nealy]] proved ineffective. He returned to the Stampeders in relief of Smith on October 8, in a game against the [[Saskatchewan Roughriders]]. He completed 19 of 25 passes for 262 yards and 2 [[touchdown]]s. In three appearances he threw for 818 yards and five touchdowns for a [[quarterback rating]] of 106.6.

He began the 2008 CFL season with the Stampeders but was sidelined with an injury. Upon recovering from his injury Sankey appeared to be the fourth quarterback on the Stampeders' depth chart and was released in July 2008. This did not last as [[Dave Dickenson]] was injured for the remainder of the season and Sankey was brought back to the Stampeders.

On May 4, 2009, Sankey was released by the Stampeders.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=277508|title=Stampeders release Sankey, three others|date=May 4, 2009|publisher=TSN|access-date=2009-05-04| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090509075041/http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=277508| archive-date= 9 May 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref> He later signed with the [[Omaha Nighthawks]] of the [[United Football League (2009)|United Football League]] in July 2010.

From August 2015 through May 2016 he was at [[Saint Ignatius College Prep]]  in Chicago, Illinois working as Resident Physical Education Teacher. He then became the athletic director and history teacher at [[St. Thomas More High School (Champaign, Illinois)|St. Thomas More High School]] in [[Champaign, Illinois]] during the summer of 2016. He vacated this position at the end of the school year.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.news-gazette.com/sports/prep-sports/baseball/2016-08-23/stms-new-ad-makes-himself-home.html | title=STM's new AD makes himself at home | publisher=news-gazette.com | date=August 23, 2016 | access-date=June 29, 2017 | author=Zilis, Anthony}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback navbox}}
{{StampedersQuarterback}}
{{89th Grey Cup}}
{{96th Grey Cup}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sankey, Ben}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Players of Canadian football from Chicago]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Chicago]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Whitney M. Young Magnet High School alumni]]
[[Category:Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players]]
[[Category:Canadian football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Calgary Stampeders players]]
[[Category:BC Lions players]]
[[Category:Omaha Beef players]]
[[Category:Allen Wranglers players]]
[[Category:Wichita Wild players]]
[[Category:Chicago Slaughter players]]
[[Category:Hamilton Tiger-Cats players]]
[[Category:Houston Texans players]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:Rock River Raptors players]]