Luke Palko begins his fourth season with Arizona and sixth in the NFL after being hired by the team’s scouting department in June, 2009. Brother of former Cardinals and Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko, Luke joined the Cardinals after interning with the Pittsburgh Steelers player personnel department for two seasons (2007-08). After scouting the central and southeast regions of the country for his first three seasons with the Cardinals, Palko will now focus just on the southeast region beginning this year.
Luke Palko begins his fourth season with Arizona and sixth in the NFL after being hired by the team’s scouting department in June, 2009. Brother of former Cardinals and Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko, Luke joined the Cardinals after interning with the Pittsburgh Steelers player personnel department for two seasons (2007-08). After scouting the central and southeast regions of the country for his first three seasons with the Cardinals, Palko will now focus just on the southeast region beginning this year.
An Imperial, PA native, Palko was a wide receiver for Saint Francis (Pa.) where he finished his collegiate career as the second leading receiver in school and conference history with 225 receptions for 2,020 yards and 18 touchdowns. He set the school’s single-season record with 85 receptions for 812 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior in 2005. He also served as the team’s punter as a junior and senior.
The West Allegheny High School graduate became only the third-student athlete in school history to earn ESPN the Magazine First-Team Academic All-American honors in 2005. He was also named the Northeast Conference’s Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2006 and earned a spot on the Division I-AA Athletics Director’s Association Academic All-Star Team and the conference academic honor roll twice. In addition, Palko was one of 17 collegiate football players selected as a 2006 National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame National Scholar-Athlete. As part of the honor, Palko was awarded an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship and was also a finalist for the William V. Campbell trophy.
Palko’s father, Bob, has coached high school and college for the past 29 years. Now at West Allegheny, he has complied over 150 wins, five W.P.I.A.L championships and a class AAA state title in 2001.
Palko graduated from Saint Francis with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 2007 and resides in New York.
