Branden Ledbetter (born May 2, 1986) 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 ...

. Following his college career at

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, he was invited to the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Rookie Mini Camp 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 2009 but was cut shortly after.

Early years

Ledbetter played high school

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

for

Hollywood Hills High School Hollywood Hills High School is a high school in Hollywood, Florida. Attendance zones The school serves sections of Hollywood and Davie, Florida, Davie. - Compare this map to attendance boundary maps and/or street addresses of particular schoo ...

Hollywood, Florida Hollywood is a city in southern Broward County, Florida, United States, located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami. As of July 1, 2019, Hollywood had a population of 154,817. Founded in 1925, the city grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, and is now ...

, before transferring his junior year to St. Thomas Aquinas High School in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, where he graduated in 2004.

College career

Ledbetter played football at

, and was a standout tight end. During his career at

, he recorded 131 receptions and 1,513 receiving yards with 20 touchdowns in his career. He finished his career ranked second among tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards in school history. He is the Broncos all-time touchdown leader for tight ends with 20 touchdowns. He was also a semi-finalist in voting for the John Mackey Award (nation's best tight end) as a senior. Following Ledbetter's final season at WMU, he was invited to the Texas vs The Nation All-Star game in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

, where he represented WMU on the Texas team.

Professional career

California Redwoods

Ledbetter was drafted on June 18, 2009 in the inaugural 2009 UFL Draft, chosen 1st pick overall by the California Redwoods of the United Football League.

Spokane Shock

Ledbetter signed with the Spokane Shock of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

on December 12, 2011.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsBranden Ledbetter WMU TE #82 highlight videoWestern Michigan University bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledbetter, Branden American football tight ends Western Michigan Broncos football players 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Players of American football from Dallas Sacramento Mountain Lions players Green Bay Packers players Sportspeople from Hollywood, Florida