Jacob Raske
 Raske at the World Wide Technology Grand Prix | |
| No. 87 – Berlin Fire Salamanders | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | August 23, 2020 (aged 40) Juneau, Alaska, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Username: | CLG Rampage |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Juneau-Douglas High School |
| College: | Louisiana State University |
| ISFL Draft: | (2043 (S28)) / Round: 3 / Pick: 37 |
| DSFL Draft: | (2042 (S27)) / Round: 6 / Pick: 46 |
| Career history | |
| Roster status: | Retired |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Jacob Raske (born August 23, 2020) was an American football safety. He played college football for Louisiana State University (LSU).
Contents
Early years
Raske was born to Brandon and Virginia Raske in Juneau, Alaska. Early on, Jacob would have an affinity for sports as he would play soccer all the way through preschool and grade. At the young age of 10, Jacob would start racing in various US karting series, mostly running local dirt tracks around Juneau and some races in British Columbia, Canada. He would eventually transfer over to football at the age of 14 and join the United States Formula 4 Championship at the age of 16. Though he only ran at a handful of races, he would win 1 race at Laguna Seca and finish 3rd at Sonoma Raceway. He would continue his football career, eventually moving from tight end to quarterback in his junior season. Raske was considered a 3-star prospect, with fantastic vision and an accurate arm. The biggest concern most college scouts had was a lack of arm strength as well as low weight for his height, though some knew that was due to his racing career at the time.
College career
Freshman and Sophmore Seasons
Raske would not get an opportunity to start in either his freshman or sophomore seasons. He would play in a handful of games, most notably against Georgia and Notre Dame. He would impress in both showings, throwing for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns in his game against Georgia and 354 yards and 2 touchdowns versus Notre Dame. While his time at quarterback would be limited, Raske would continue competing part time in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship. He would start 4 races that season at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit, Lucas Oil Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park and Circuit of the Americas. He would take pole position at COTA and win the race at Indy, notching 2 podium finishes and finishing top 5 in every race except at Lucas Oil, where late race overheating issues meant he finished a distant 12th. In his sophomore season, foot injuries would prevent him from playing at QB, though he would start 2 races at World Wide Technology Raceway and Barber Motorsports Park.
Junior Season
Raske would be named the starter after training camp during his junior season. Due to several key departures from the team, including senior wideout Brandon Petty and senior running back Mario Atlas, Raske would struggle to keep pace with the rest of the high powered SEC. Notably, he would struggle against Alabama and Texas A&M, throwing for 199 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions in those games combined. Outside of those two poor games, Raske would be a decent, if unexceptional quarterback. He would continue racing part time, this time as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the GT Le Mans class. In 5 races, Raske would take pole at Watkins Glen and finish on the podium 2 times. At Road America, Raske would suffer a gruesome looking crash after his front brakes failed and his car slammed into the barrier right after the Moraine Sweep. He would walk away from the crash under his own power, suffering moderate bruising but nothing permanent.
Senior Season
Raske, in a press conference after his crash at Road America, said he would step away from racing for at least a year to focus on football and education. He did say he would eventually return to the WeatherTech SCC, though he wished to finish his time at LSU first. The extra focus would pay off, however, as Raske would absolutely light up the college football world. Several newly acquired players, along with some transfers to LSU, gave Raske the supporting cast he needed to make a huge impact. after a 2-2 start, Raske would go on an absolute tear for his final 10 games, winning every single one of them in a row. He would earn LSU a trip to the Rose Bowl, where they would defeat #3 Alabama to advance to the College Football championship. There, LSU would lose in an absolute barn burner versus #1 USC, 48-56. After this game, Raske declared for the DSFL draft.
Racing career
| Season | Series | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Lap | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2038 (S23) | Indy Pro 2000 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 83 | 14th |
| 2039 (S24) | Indy Pro 2000 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 22nd |
| 2040 (S25) | WeatherTech SCC | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 108 | 10th |
| 2041 (S26) | WeatherTech SCC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A |
| 2046 (S31) | FIA WEC Le Mans Hypercar | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 163 | 1st |
| 2047 (S32) | FIA WEC Le Mans Hypercar | 6 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 201 | 1st |
| 2048 (S33) | BTCC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 52 | 19th |
College career
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Comp | Att | Yds | Pct | Yds/G | TD | INT | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2038 (S23) | LSU | Did Not Play | ||||||||||
| 2039 (S24) | LSU | Did Not Play | ||||||||||
| 2040 (S25) | LSU | 244 | 433 | 3722 | 56.3 | 265.8 | 29 | 13 | 32 | 305 | 9.5 | 3 |
| 2041 (S26) | LSU | 359 | 532 | 5341 | 67.5 | 333.8 | 47 | 12 | 44 | 379 | 8.6 | 5 |
Professional career
| Ht | Wt | 40‑yd dash | 20‑ss | 3‑cone | Vert jump | Broad | BP | Wonderlic | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
220 lb | 4.88 s | 4.10 s | 6.74 s | 29 in | 9 ft 8 in | 11 reps | 29 | ||||
| All values from the DSFL S27 Combine | ||||||||||||
Season 27
Raske would join the Grey Ducks as a part of the S27 DSFL rookie class, being selected deep in the sixth round. Many were not shocked by this decision, saying that Raske was the quarterback who needed the most work to be made into a viable starter. When questioned about the draft in interviews later on in his career, Raske laughs it off and says the draft wasn't very relevant to him since the DSFL and ISFL both had fixed contract structures. So draft position was only about prestige, and as long as he worked as hard as he could, prestige would come to him in the form of awards and other accolades. Raske would serve as a backup in his first DSFL season behind the entrenched starter Ryan Negs, only starting two games and barely attempting over 100 passes on the year. Still Raske did well with his playing time, posting a 2:1 touchdown to interception ratio, almost a 60% completion percentage and a QBR of 82.6.
Season 28
Raske would immediately be thrown into a battle for the starting QB spot with S28 draftee Kazimir Oles Jr. Both would start 7 games, and Raske would very clearly outplay Oles during his games, posting 14 touchdowns to 7 interceptions with 2500 yards passing compared to 9 touchdowns and 5 interceptions with 1100 passing. Many would wonder why Minnesota felt the need to bring in a second quarterback over more offensive line help, and Raske's play amplified those questions. However, ISFL teams as well would pass over his services at QB, and Raske would be drafted in the 3rd round by the Fire Salamanders, behind two other QB's. When questioned about this strategy, the GM's in Berlin said all the quarterbacks were athletes first, and they would fit into their team wherever they could put them. Raske would say he saw this as a challenge, and hoped his play could convince the Berlin GM's to make him the quarterback of the future.
Season 29 - The Switch to Safety
In a reportedly intense series of meetings during the offseason, the Fire Salamanders and Raske came to an agreement on his future with the team: he would switch to free safety so he could be guaranteed a starting spot, especially since his style of play was similar to eventual starter Dexter Zaylren. When asked about this massive decision, Raske said he had an epiphany during one of the last conversations he had with his GM's. There was no real road for him to be a starter in the ISFL as a quarterback, at best he would become a journeyman. If he wanted to continue his dream, something drastic had to be done. Raske would quickly settle into his new role as free safety of the Grey Ducks, recording 2 sacks, 4 interceptions, 2 INT return touchdowns and 8 pass deflections. This was enough to win DSFL Safety of the Year and get a nomination to the pro bowl, all while leading the Ducks to a 40-0 stomp of Tijuana in the Ultimini that season.
Season 30 - ISFL Rookie Year
Raske would finally get the call in Season 30, being called in to replace the aging Eldrick Avery at free safety on the main roster. Raske would come in and stun the ISFL world, posting a statline of 48 tackles, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, 1 INT return touchdown and 8 pass deflections. Despite the much higher level of competition, Raske proved to be an incredibly valuable defensive weapon for the Salamanders, winning the defensive rookie of the year award for his efforts.. The Fire Salamanders would sneak into the playoffs with 9 wins on the season and defeat the Wraiths in the wildcard round, 34 to 23. Raske would not be very impactful in the playoffs, recording only three tackles through two playoff games. With two years left on his contract and Raske falling into the group of players able to sign long term, his agent and the Fire Salamanders worked out a 6 year, 24 million dollar deal to keep him with the team long term. When asked about the deal, Raske was proud to be a Fire Salamander and was grateful for the opportunity to stay on the team for a long time.
Season 31 - Racing Career resumes
In a podcast with fellow racing driver Logan Sargeant, Raske said he was open to offers from whoever might want to add his services for the upcoming racing season. Several teams were reportedly vying to add them to their lineups, including several F2 teams and several FIA World Endurance Championship rosters. Eventually, Raske would settle into Toyota Gazoo Racing, driving in the #7 Le Mans Hypercar with Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi. The trio would dominate the LMH category, scoring wins at Spa-Francorchamps, Monza and the coveted 24 Hours of Lemans, as well as second place at both Bahrain races. In terms of football, Raske would improve significantly and be invited to his first ISFL Pro Bowl as a safety. He recorded 61 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 INT return touchdowns. Some were concerned a racing accident would end Raske's career, but he assured the public that he wasn't looking for accidents, much like everyone else, and that sometimes it was the reality of racing that accidents do happen.
Season 32
Raske continued splitting time between racing and football, continuing his time in the Le Mans Hypercar class with Toyota. While the team would improve to 11-5 and second in the conference, Raske's play slipped back to something closer to his rookie year. He recorded 49 tackles, a sack, 3 interceptions, 9 pass deflections and a defensive touchdown, though most of the team's improvement came from the improvement of second year QB Dexter Zaylren. While Raske slipped a little on the football side, Raske and Toyota Gazoo would utterly dominate the LMH category, sweeping the season with 6 wins and 6 pole positions. Raske in particular was incredibly dominant, securing 4 of those poles and setting 4 fastest laps on the year, including setting the LMH lap record at Le Mans. Concerns about Raske splitting time between football and racing continued, and Raske would end up stepping down from the Toyota racing team, saying he had to commit to what he felt he was best at, which was football.
Season 33 - Defensive Player of the Year Campaign
While Raske did indeed step down from full-time racing, he didn't step away entirely, joining the British Touring Car Championship on a part time schedule as an independant with his own racing team. He would compete at three events that year: Donington Park, Snetterton and the Brands Hatch GP layout. He would win at Donington and secure third place finishes at both Snetterton and Brands Hatch in his Honda Civic Type R. In terms of football, Raske had his first truly impressive season, leading the league in interceptions with 8. He also recorded 81 tackles, the most among free safeties, a sack and 16 pass deflections. Raske would be invited to his second pro bowl and would win defensive player of the year, partially thanks to Murder-Moose winning MVP in the same season. However, Raske re-iterated his committment to football and the Salamanders, saying he was willing to finish out his career with the team. Winning a major award was always a goal for himself, Raske said, and to actually reach that goal means the world to him. He still feels like he can play plenty of football, and he's not slowing down any time soon.
Career Statistics - QB
| Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Comp | Att | Yds | Pct | Yds/G | TD | INT | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2042 (S27) | Grey Ducks | 65 | 109 | 687 | 59.6 | 49.1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 |
| 2043 (S28) | Grey Ducks | 209 | 356 | 2582 | 58.7 | 184.4 | 14 | 7 | 12 | -6 | -0.5 | 1 |
Career Statistics - S
| ISFL career statistics | Tackles | Pass Defense | Other | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | Reg | TFL | Sacks | PD | Int | FFum | FRec | DefTD | Sfty |
| 2044 (S29) | Grey Ducks | 35 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2045 (S30) | Salamanders | 49 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2046 (S31) | Salamanders | 61 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2047 (S32) | Salamanders | 49 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2048 (S33) | Salamanders | 81 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
