Anthony Morelli

Anthony Morelli

Anthony Morelli (left) hands off to Austin Scott at Penn State.
No. 12, 9
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1985-06-21) June 21, 1985 (age 31)
Place of birth:	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Height:	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight:	231 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school:	Penn Hills (PA)
College:	Penn State
Undrafted:	2008
Career history
Arizona Cardinals (2008)* Milwaukee Iron (2010)* Omaha Nighthawks (2010)* Pittsburgh Power (2011)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com
Career Arena statistics
TD-INT: 14-4 Passing yards: 824 QB Rating: 92.01
Player stats at ArenaFan.com

Anthony Michael Morelli (born June 21, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Penn State.

Morelli has also been a member of the Milwaukee Iron and Omaha Nighthawks.

As a 10-year-old, Morelli won the National Football League's 1995 Punt, Pass, and Kick competition, throwing a 50-yard pass in front of his hometown crowd at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium.

In his high school years, Morelli was selected to the ESPN RISE Elite 11.

Morelli originally committed to the University of Pittsburgh in August 2003, but de-committed due to Pitt's existing situation with Tyler Palko, along with the recent move of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College out of the Big East, and chose Penn State instead.

Morelli's junior year at Penn State got off to a good start: He threw a 42-yard touchdown on his first pass as the Nittany Lion's starting quarterback in a 34-16 win over the University of Akron. However, he has struggled since, particularly in a 28-6 loss to rival Ohio State. With the Lions down 14-6, Morelli threw two late interceptions that Ohio State returned for touchdowns, effectively ending any hopes of a comeback and making the game look a lot more lopsided than it was. Morelli finished the game with only 106 yards passing. As a result of this performance, Morelli's play had become a polarizing issue amongst Nittany Lion fans. Some fans wanted to bring in backup Daryll Clark, a redshirt freshman whose style of play resembles that of Morelli's predecessor and former Heisman hopeful, Michael Robinson. Other fans have come to Morelli's defense, pointing out the amount of playing time typically required to develop good quarterbacks. By season's end, Morelli had thrown for 2,424 yards, 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He took over third place on Penn State's season passing yardage list, trailing only Kerry Collins (1994) and Tony Sacca (1991). Despite his relatively decent statistics, Morelli expressed frustration over the conservative nature of Penn State's play calling in a November 2006 interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. After struggling all season, Morelli was able to redeem himself during the 2007 Outback Bowl against Tennessee, leading the Nittany Lions to an upset victory.