Brandon Jerome Mebane (born January 15, 1985) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. He attended

Crenshaw High School Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...

in Los Angeles. 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 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He was drafted by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He also played for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

College career

Mebane played four seasons at California, recording 109 tackles, 25.5 tackles for a loss, 14.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Mebane was selected by the

in the 3rd round, 85th overall of the 2007 NFL Draft, and on July 24, he signed a four-year contract. In his rookie season, he played all 16 games and recorded 29 tackles including two sacks. 2008 was a promising year for Mebane as he again played all 16 games and recorded 39 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. With the departure of

Rocky Bernard Robert "Rocky" Eugene Bernard, Jr. (born April 19, 1979) is a former American football defensive tackle who was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&M. Professional c ...

, Mebane was expected to make a big impact for the Seahawks in 2009 in which he started 15 games and recorded 49 tackles and 1.5 sacks. For the 2010 season Mebane started the first four games but suffered a calf injury and was forced to sit out the next four games. In the first four games, he had 8 tackles and 1 sack. Mebane has been a constant in the middle and helped the 2013-2014 Seahawks defense reach dominant heights, as they had one of the best seasons in NFL history. The Seahawks eventually won Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos, 43–8. Mebane, along with defensive linemen Red Bryant, center Max Unger and punter Jon Ryan, were the only 4 holdovers on this Super Bowl team from pre-Carroll/Schneider era. Brandon Mebane vs Ravens 2015

Fellow Seahawks teammate Richard Sherman was quoted as saying of Mebane: "He's an incredibly technical player in his movements and everything he does. He's rarely out of position and he's rarely out of the play. You rarely see a defensive tackle running making tackles on the sideline, or akingtackles on screen plays. He does all that. But once again, he's overlooked because I guess he's not a big sack-total guy. He's just a guy that does his job incredibly well week in and week out." With the Seahawks Mebane anchored the middle of the defensive line for the all-time great Legion of Boom defense.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

On March 9, 2016, Mebane signed a three-year contract with the San Diego Chargers. On September 5, 2016, Mebane was named one of the San Diego Chargers team captains for the 2016 season. He was placed on injured reserve on November 14, 2016, with a torn bicep. On March 13, 2019, Mebane re-signed with the Chargers on a two-year contract. Mebane was released on March 13, 2020. On November 20, 2020, Mebane announced his retirement from professional football.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bioCalifornia Golden Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mebane, Brandon 1985 births African-American players of American football American football defensive tackles California Golden Bears football players Living people Los Angeles Chargers players San Diego Chargers players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Los Angeles Crenshaw High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people Ed Block Courage Award recipients