Bradley Ryan Cieslak (; born July 1, 1982) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

. He was signed by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2005. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

Early years

Cieslak played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and punter at

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

's Stevenson High School. He also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. Bradley did not have the chance to start his Jr year at Stevenson as he was back up to All Conference Branko Vajda class of 99. Vajda quit football after high school to pursue his career in civil engineering while Cieslak continued living out his dream of playing in the NFL.

College career

Cieslak played

. During his time at college, he made 47 receptions totaling 531 yards and five touchdowns.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Cieslak joined the

as an undrafted free agent. He spent most of his rookie season on the practice squad but was signed to the active roster on December 22. He made his NFL debut at the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

on December 24. Like in 2005, he was signed initially to the practice squad where he spent the majority of the season. He was elevated to the active roster on November 17 and played in seven games with six receptions for 46 yards. He only appeared in two games for the Bills and was waived on December 6.

Cleveland Browns

He was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

to the practice squad on December 12. He was re-signed in the 2008 offseason but was waived during final cuts on August 30. Cieslak was re-signed by the Browns on December 23, 2008, after

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Jason Wright Jason Gomillion Wright (born July 12, 1982) is an American businessman who is the president of the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). Born in the Greater Los Angeles area, he attended Northwestern University in the earl ...

was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. Cieslak was not re-signed after the 2008 season.

External links

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cieslak, Brad People from Long Grove, Illinois Players of American football from Lake County, Illinois American football tight ends Northern Illinois Huskies football players Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players 1982 births Living people