Boise Will Be Boise

05/06/2009 05:47

Fiesta Bowl miracle worker Zabransky aims to revitalize football career with Eskimos

Jared Zabransky has told the story thousands of times.

Yes, that was him who pulled the old Statue of Liberty play -- on a two-point conversion, no less -- that eventually won the 2007 Fiesta Bowl for Boise State in dramatic fashion, 43-42 in overtime over Oklahoma. And, indeed, it was he who started the old hook-and-lateral (some say hook-and-ladder) trick play that tied the game to force the extra session.

Not that the quarterback ever gets tired of telling the tale, which instantly became Boise State folklore. It's just that he's eager to write a new chapter in his career -- his pro career, specifically. That began on Wednesday as the Edmonton Eskimos pivot launched his Canadian Football League adventures, battling with Tulane product Lester Ricard for the third-string job behind veterans Ricky Ray and Jason Maas.

"You know, I don't get tired of talking about it because it's a good memory, and if my name is synonymous with that performance and that game, then that's great. It would have been a little different if it (the score) had been the other way around," said Zabransky, in between scarfing down four hard-boiled eggs -- just the whites, mind you -- before going through medical testing at Commonwealth Stadium.

"It's become a trademark of Boise State. When you think Boise State, you think Fiesta Bowl and the win over Oklahoma." But you also think of just what a talent the six-foot-two, 212-pounder was through his college days. Zabransky finished with 612 completions on 983 attempts for 8,256 yards and 58 touchdowns in 48 games (39 starts) at Boise. His collegiate experience -- he started as a backup to Ryan Dinwiddie, who is now competing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers starting job -- included the Fiesta Bowl heroics and earned him the honour of being on the cover of EA Sports' NCAA Football '08 video game.

But that's all in the past, as are two short stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans of the National Football League.

"I have come here to compete to get a job, but I'm not done there. I'm going to push myself to the nth degree and try and be a starter in this league," said Zabransky, who majored in communications and graduated on the dean's list.

More from the Edmonton Journal.

SWIVEL HIPS SAYS:

I’m really excited about the type of CFL quarterback I think Jared Zabransky can be for the Eskimos.