Jon Kitna is using his surprising return to the NFL to help out his day job.
The 41-year-old quarterback, who signed with the Dallas Cowboys this week, will earn $53,000 for backing up Tony Romo and Kyle Orton on Sunday.
Kitna won’t keep the money, though. Instead, he plans to donate his check to Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Wash., where he teaches math and coaches football, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Kitna also shared the story of how his return to the gridiron came to be. Upon hearing of Romo’s back injury — which could sideline the starter for Sunday’s de facto NFC East title game against the Philadelphia Eagles — Kitna called Cowboys coach Jason Garrett and volunteered his services. Despite working out three quarterbacks with more recent NFL experience, Garrett opted to bring in Kitna, who appeared in 13 games for the Cowboys in 2010 and 2011.
“[Kitna] said he would run scout team for the high school team and give them a really good look like he gave us great looks when he was here,” Garrett said. “So he’s a very active guy. He’s a mentally tough guy. … And he’s certainly very young at heart. So it was good to have him back, good to have him back in the meetings, and [I’m] excited to see him practice [Wednesday].”
Kitna played 15 seasons with the Cowboys, Detroit Lions, Cincinnati Bengals and Seattle Seahawks before retiring in 2011. He boasts a career 60.3 completion percentage, and he threw for 2,178 yards and 14 touchdowns in nine starts in place of an injured Romo in 2010.
