Brandon Matthew Copeland (born July 2, 1991) is an

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 ...

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 ...

who is a free agent. He was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

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 2013 and has also played for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

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

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Early life

Copeland is from Sykesville, Maryland. He is the grandson of former Baltimore Colts player

Roy Hilton Roy Lee Hilton (March 23, 1943 – January 6, 2019) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1965 through 1975. Early life During that span he appeared in Super Bowl III and Super Bowl V for the Baltim ...

. Copeland graduated from the

Gilman School Gilman School is an all-boys independent school located in the Roland Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. There are three school divisions: Lower School, grades pre-kindergarten through five; Middle School, grades six through eight; and Up ...

where he played 3 sports: football, basketball and track. During his senior year of high school, Copeland was awarded the position of team captain. He was on the championship squad at the 2006

Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (M.I.A.A.) is a boys' sports conference for private high schools generally located in the Baltimore metropolitan area but extending to various other regions, including the state's mostly rural Easter ...

. He received the National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete of the Year Award in 2008 and was an Academic All-State team honoree the same year.

College career

Copeland attended the

where he was the captain of the 2012 Ivy League championship winning team. He graduated from the

Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in economics.

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

On April 27, 2013, he signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. He was waived on August 31, 2013.

Tennessee Titans

He signed with the

to their practice squad on October 8, 2013. He was released from the Titans’ practice squad on November 5, 2013, but re-signed to the team's practice squad on November 12, 2013. He signed with the Titans to a future contract on December 31, 2013.

Detroit Lions

On April 7, 2015, Copeland signed a one-year contract with the

. It came after he participated in the NFL Veterans Combine, where he, along with

Ifeanyi Momah Ifeanyi Joenathan Momah ronounced e-FAH-nee MOE-ma(born October 23, 1989) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Boston College. College career Momah saw limited action as a true freshman. As a sophomore, he cau ...

, were the only participants to be offered contracts. Copeland suffered a torn pectoral in the Lions' first preseason game of 2017 and was ruled out for the season.

New York Jets

On March 19, 2018, Copeland signed with the

. He played in 16 games with 10 starts, recording 35 combined tackles, and five sacks. On March 25, 2019, Copeland re-signed with the Jets. He was suspended the first four games of the 2019 season for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was reinstated from suspension on October 7, 2019, and was activated prior to Week 6. In week 9 against the

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

, Copeland recorded a team high 9 tackles and sacked

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

once in the 26–18 loss.

New England Patriots

On March 25, 2020, Copeland signed a $1.1 million contract with the

. He was placed on injured reserve on October 28, 2020, after suffering a torn pectoral in Week 7.

Atlanta Falcons

On March 19, 2021, Copeland signed a one-year contract with the

. On September 11, he was waived by the Falcons, but was re-signed two days later.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On September 21, 2022, Copeland signed with the

practice squad. He was released on October 18, 2022.

Personal life

Copeland interned at the investment bank

UBS UBS Group AG is a multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland. Co-headquartered in the cities of Zürich and Basel, it maintains a presence in all major financial centres ...

over two summers during college and has since returned to Penn to teach a financial literacy seminar with Dr. Brian Peterson, the director of Penn's Makuu Black Cultural Center.

References

External links

Penn Quakers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, Brandon 1991 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers Atlanta Falcons players Baltimore Ravens players Detroit Lions players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Orlando Predators players Penn Quakers football players People from Sykesville, Maryland Players of American football from Maryland Sportspeople from the Baltimore metropolitan area Tennessee Titans players Ed Block Courage Award recipients