James Chadwick "Chad" Pennington (born June 26, 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round, as the eighteenth overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft.

He played college football at Marshall University. Pennington has won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award twice, in 2006 and 2008. In 2008, he finished second in MVP voting to Peyton Manning. Pennington is also currently the NFL's all-time leader in career completion percentage with a 66.1%.

Pennington's father, Elwood, was a physical education teacher and football coach; his mother, Denise, is also a teacher. Pennington's first sport was basketball, which he began playing in the third grade. He began playing football in his freshmen year in high school. His parents decided to have him repeat the eighth grade when he was enrolled at the Webb School of Knoxville due to the school's intense academic program. Pennington played baseball, basketball and football at Webb but knew he had a better chance at getting into college via football.