He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and LSU Tigers, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Etling has also been a member of the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, BC Lions, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Michigan Panthers.

He was poised for a big senior season after a disappointing junior year where the Braves started 3–0 before losing their final seven games.

[7] Sources: In the preseason of 2013, Etling was in a three-way quarterback battle with Rob Henry and Austin Appleby.

[8][9] When Henry was named the starter for the season, Purdue released its depth chart with Appleby listed as the number two quarterback.

[13] Overall, Etling appeared in eight games, passing for 1690 yards, ten touchdowns, and seven interceptions, with a 116.1 quarterback rating.

In 2016, the Tigers were 7–4 during the regular season and defeated the Louisville Cardinals in the 2016 Citrus Bowl played on December 31.

In 2017, the Tigers had a 9–3 regular season record, and lost to Notre Dame in the 2018 Citrus Bowl played on January 1.

Etling passed for a total of 4,586 yards, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and had a quarterback rating of 144.4 in his two seasons with LSU.

[25][26] Etling won Super Bowl LIII with the Patriots when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13–3.

[31] He no longer was making the transition to wide receiver and switched back to full time quarterback.

[32][33] On October 26, after an injury to starter Matt Ryan, Etling was promoted to the active roster as the team's backup quarterback ahead of their Week 8 matchup.

[48] On November 13, 2021, Etling was signed to the Denver Broncos practice squad due to backup Drew Lock testing positive for COVID-19.

[57] On December 24, 2023, Etling signed with the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL).