Brandon Renkart (born December 29, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

Rutgers Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

. He was also a practice squad player for the

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 ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Early years

Renkart grew up in

Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway () is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of the New York metropolitan area, in the Raritan Valley. At the 2010 United States Census, the population was 56,044, an increase of 5,562 (+11.0%) fr ...

and played at

Piscataway Township High School Piscataway High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Piscataway in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of the P ...

, where he quarterbacked the football team to a 12–0 record and the Group IV State title as a senior.

College football

Renkart played college football as a walk-on at Rutgers from 2005 to 2007. He tallied 54 tackles in 2006 and 67 in 2007. As a senior, he was selected as a team captain. He was also a semifinalist for the

Draddy Award The William V. Campbell, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. It is ...

in 2007.

Professional career

New York Jets

Renkart was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent after the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. He spent most of the season on their Practice Squad before being cut during final roster cuts before the season.

Arizona Cardinals

After being released by the Jets, Renkart signed for the

. He spent most of the 2009 season on their Practice Squad before being signed off the Cardinals' Practice Squad by the Indianapolis Colts.

Indianapolis Colts

Renkart signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

on 30 December 2009; he was waived on 17 June 2010 to make room for kicker Garrett Lindholm, whom they signed off waivers from the

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 ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

signed Renkart on August 12, 2010, after

Andre Frazier Andre Frazier (born June 29, 1982) is a former American football linebacker who played five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Cincinnati. ...

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 ...

.Brandon Renkart Signs for Pittsburgh Steelers
. Accessed August 12, 2010.

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bioIndianapolis Colts bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renkart, Brandon 1984 births Living people People from Piscataway, New Jersey Piscataway High School alumni Players of American football from Middlesex County, New Jersey American football linebackers Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players New York Jets players Arizona Cardinals players Indianapolis Colts players Pittsburgh Steelers players