Brandon Patrick Noble (born April 10, 1974) 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 wi ...

defensive tackle in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. He played college football at Penn State University.

Early years

Noble attended

First Colonial High School First Colonial High School is a high school in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is a part of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Demographics The demographic breakdown of the 2,039 students enrolled in 2013-14 was: *Male - 48.7% *Female - 51.3% ...

, where he played as an offensive and defensive lineman. As a senior, he was named the Class AAA State Player of the Year.

College career

Noble accepted a football scholarship from Penn State University. He had to endure adversity early in his career, breaking his leg and missing the 1993 season. In the spring of 1994, he lost 40 pounds because of a bout with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adult ...

. As a sophomore, he collected 22 tackles and 2 sacks during Penn State's undefeated 1994 season, and subsequent Rose Bowl victory over the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. In his first full season starting as a junior, he posted 53 tackles and 4 sacks. As a senior in 1996, he led the team with 8 sacks and had a career-high 72 tackles. He was named second-team All-Big Ten, and was awarded the Hall Foundation Athletic Award, given to the team's most outstanding senior player. He was also named the Nittany Lions' most outstanding senior player and the defensive Most Valuable Player of the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area. From its beginning in 1971 until 2006, the game was hosted at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has been pla ...

. He earned a degree in Criminal Justice in 1998.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Noble was signed 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 ...

by the

after the

1997 NFL Draft The 1997 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 19–20, 1997, at the Paramount T ...

. He was waived on August 19. On November 12, he was signed to the practice squad for a week and then cut again on November 18. On January 13,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, he signed with the 49ers, who then allocated him to the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe. Noble returned to training camp and was released on August 25. On December 3, he was signed to the practice squad, this time for the final four weeks of the season before being waived.

Dallas Cowboys

In February

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, Noble signed as a

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 ...

with the

, and was again assigned to the Barcelona Dragons of NFL Europe. He had a strong showing, tallying 27 tackles (fourth on the tem), 5 sacks (fifth in the league) and one blocked

extra point The conversion, try (American football, also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, or (depending on the number of points) extra point/2-point conversion), or convert (Canadian football) occurs immediately after a touchdown during which the sc ...

. He received All-NFL Europe honors and helping lead Barcelona to victory in World Bowl '97. The experience and the salary cap problems the team was having during that period of time, helped him make the team as backup defensive tackle, where he was second on the squad in tackles by non-starters (36), while making 3 sacks (tied for fourth on the team), 2 tackles for loss, 5 quarterback pressures, one pass defensed and one fumble recovery. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, Noble took over the starting role at left defensive tackle for the last 8 games, after a neck nerve irritation forced Chad Hennings to miss the rest of the season and eventually retire. He registered 69 tackles, 10 quarterback pressures, He had his best season in 2001 after starting all 16 games and playing a key role in the Cowboy's significant improvement on defense, helping a mostly blue-collar cast finish fourth overall by allowing only 287.4 yards per game. Noble contributed with 56 tackles (ninth on the team), 4 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks (tied for second on the team), 6 quarterback pressures (fourth on the tem) and 3 passes defensed. In 2002, he delivered another solid season playing next to

Laroi Glover La'Roi Damon Glover (; born July 4, 1974) is an American former football defensive tackle who is the defensive line coach for the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. He played college football at San Diego State University. Glover enjoyed a 13-yea ...

, finishing his Cowboy career with 57 tackles (tenth on the team), 4 tackles for loss, 11 quarterback pressures (fifth on the team) and 32 consecutive starts.

Washington Redskins

On March 1, 2003, he signed with the

as a

. He suffered a season-ending left knee injury in the preseason and was placed on the injured reserve on August 18. In 2004, he returned from his injury to play in all 16 games, starting seven. He recorded 38 tackles (19 solo) with one sack. He was also awarded the team's

Ed Block Courage Award The Ed Block Courage Award is an annual award presented to a player from each team in the National Football League (NFL) who are voted for by their teammates as role models of inspiration, sportsmanship, and courage. Named in memory of Ed Block, a ...

, given to the player who best persevered through injury. However, Noble injured his right knee in the 2005 preseason and was again placed on injured reserve on September 22. During his rehabilitation, Noble developed a serious type of

staph infection A staphylococcal infection or staph infection is an infection caused by members of the ''Staphylococcus'' genus of bacteria. These bacteria commonly inhabit the skin and nose where they are innocuous, but may enter the body through cuts or abrasio ...

MRSA Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of Gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of ''Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans. ...

, which nearly required amputation of his leg. After a long series of setbacks to his recovery, he was released by the Redskins on March 10, 2006, in a salary cap saving move and retired prior to the start of the season.

Coaching career

In 2006, Noble was hired as the

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, ...

s coach at

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

. After a one-year hiatus from coaching, he returned as the Golden Rams' defensive line coach in 2010. On February 17, 2011, Noble was introduced as the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

coach for the UFL's

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

. On January 5, 2012, Noble was brought in as an assistant coach for the

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (, ) are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in Division I of the NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in most sports, having joined that conference as a full ...

when the Nighthawks' head coach

Joe Moglia Joseph Hugh Moglia (born April 1, 1949) is an American businessman and former football coach. He served as head football coach at Coastal Carolina University from 2012 to 2016 and again in 2018 after spending the 2017 season on medical leave. D ...

took the head coaching position at CCU. Noble joined fellow Penn Stater,

Matt Rhule Matthew Kenneth Rhule (born January 31, 1975) is an American football coach and former player, who is the head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was previously the head coach at Temple University, Baylor University, and for the Carolina Pant ...

's staff at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

as an assistant coach in December 2012. Temple Head Coach Matt Rhule announced on December 2, 2013 that Noble is leaving the Owl's coaching staff due to personal reasons.

Broadcasting career

Noble is a regular guest on the ESPN Radio show ''

AllNight with Jason Smith ''AllNight with Jason Smith'' was a syndicated sports talk radio show on ESPN Radio, hosted by Jason Smith. The show was heard Sunday through Thursday from 10pm PT to 1am PT live from the studios of KSPN in Los Angeles, California, rather tha ...

'' during the NFL season in which Smith would dial up Noble's phone number only to get the "caller ID" message and that Smith would get through by identifying himself as an NFL player or coach making news that week. Noble appears via the

OnStar OnStar Corporation is a subsidiary of General Motors that provides subscription-based communications, in-vehicle security, emergency services, turn-by-turn navigation, and remote diagnostics systems throughout the United States, Canada, China, ...

hotline when either Amy Lawrence or Bob Valvano is filling in for Smith on AllNight. He is a frequent guest on DC101's "

Elliot in the Morning ''Elliot in the Morning'' is a syndicated morning radio talk show hosted by DJ Elliot Segal and airing weekdays from "5:48 until 10 something." It is based at WWDC-FM Washington, D.C. and is heard on an affiliated station in Richmond. The for ...

" in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, providing NFL news and analysis. He is also now the co-host of 215 Live, a two-hour podcast that airs every Monday night 7–9pm on Wildfireradio.com, and is a part of the Wildfire Sports network of shows.

Personal life

Noble and his wife Mary Kate were married

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

weekend during the 2000 season. They have three children: Conner, Grace, and Jackson. In June 2017, Noble was named spokesperson for the MRSA Survivors Network, an organization formed to raise awareness and educate the public about

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-resistant ''Staphylococcus aureus'' (MRSA) is a group of Gram-positive bacteria that are genetically distinct from other strains of '' Staphylococcus aureus''. MRSA is responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in human ...

References

External links

"Redskins' Noble Battles Infection That Is a Growing Concern for the NFL"
''The Washington Post'', January 27, 2006
"Athletes Vulnerable to Dangerous Staph Infection"
''ABC World News Tonight,'' February 4, 2006

''The Washington Post,'' August 10, 2014 {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Brandon 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Virginia Beach, Virginia American football defensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players San Francisco 49ers players Barcelona Dragons (NFL Europe) players Dallas Cowboys players Washington Redskins players West Chester Golden Rams football coaches Omaha Nighthawks coaches Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football coaches Temple Owls football coaches American sports radio personalities National Football League announcers