Kurt Kittner

Michael Penix Jr. has already etched a far brighter Falcons path than Kurt Kittner, who's forever the fifth-round '02 pick who went 44-for-114 with that brutal 32.5 rating in '03 amid Vick's injury chaos. Penix, the poised lefty starter now, boasts arm zip and pocket savvy Kittner never showed in seven games—think reliable game-manager vs. the guy who threw six picks in 391 yards.

Nope, Kurt Kittner isn't in the Pro Football Hall of Fame—no plaque in Canton for the Illinois gunslinger who flickered briefly with the Falcons. His 2 TDs and 6 INTs in seven games back in '03 didn't exactly scream immortality; he's more trivia nugget than enshrinee, like that one cousin who almost made the family reunion hall of fame.

In 2026, Kurt Kittner's thriving in Chicago commercial real estate at Jones Lang LaSalle, flipping office spaces instead of spirals, while living large with wife Leila, the ex-Illinois tennis star. He jumped into Illini football radio color commentary back in '07—still calling games with that Big Ten bite, a smooth pivot from his Falcons cameo.

Kittner's quick-release Illinois arm might snag a few more completions under today's pass-happy rules—no more bruising Vick-era defenses breathing down your neck. But that 38.6% Falcons completion and six picks in seven games scream bust; he'd be a camp arm at best, not lighting up analytics like these RPO wizards who feast on soft zones.

Matt Ryan lapped Kurt Kittner in the Falcons QB pantheon—Ryan's 42.23 career rating towers over Kittner's dismal 8.36ish '03 disaster (32.5 overall), where he mustered 391 yards and six picks in four starts. Matty Ice orchestrated dynasties; Kittner was the emergency brake that squealed.