Brandon Torrey (born May 18, 1983) 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 ...

offensive lineman 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 numbe ...

. He was signed by 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 ...

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 2006. Torrey accepted an athletic scholarship to attend

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

in Washington, DC where he played for

Howard Bison football team The Howard Bison football team represents Howard University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). History ;First FBS Victory On Septe ...

from 2001 to 2005 and is remembered as a notable alumnus. While at Howard, Torrey set the record for most consecutive starts, and was voted top 10 Guard in the nation for Division 1AA in 2003. In 2004 Torrey won the "Metropolitan Player of the Year" and the Pig Skin Award. He received these awards alongside,

Larry Fitzgerald Larry Darnell Fitzgerald Jr. (born August 31, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver. Fitzgerald played in the National Football League for 17 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at University of Pittsb ...

who won college offensive player of the year and

Kenechi Udeze Kenechi Nduka Udeze (; born March 5, 1983) is an American football coach and former player who is the assistant defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the linebackers coach a ...

who won college defensive player of the year. Other notable names that year were

Jeremiah Trotter Jeremiah Trotter (born January 20, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons. He played college football for the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and was ...

Nick Novak Nicholas Ryan Novak (born August 21, 1981) is a former American football placekicker. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Maryland. Novak has played for the Washington Redskins, A ...

. During his time as a Bison, Torrey earned the nickname "Franchise", and received First-team All

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

(2002-2004), Second-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n (2004) and was selected and started in the 2004 HBCU All Star Classic Game. Torrey has also been a member of 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 ...

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 ...

where he was coached by Ken Whisenhunt with the team finishing 8-8 and 2nd in the

NFC West The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinal ...

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

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 ...

, and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. Torrey earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

while on the roster of the Giants in

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, although he was not eligible to play. His last NFL appearance was for the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

in 2009. In 2011, Torrey joined the

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

as an Offensive Tackle and Guard and served as team Captain. This was the 3rd consecutive year this UFL team made it to the championship game. Torrey served as a volunteer assistant at Howard in 2015 as he finished his degree. He was named the offensive line coach in 2016. In 2019, Torrey was hired as the offensive line coach at

Norfolk State Norfolk State University (NSU) is a public historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnership. History The institution was founded on September 18, 1935 ...

References

External links

Just Sports StatsNorfolk State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrey, Brandon 1983 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Arizona Cardinals players Baltimore Ravens players Cologne Centurions (NFL Europe) players Houston Texans players Howard Bison football players New York Giants players Norfolk State Spartans football coaches Oakland Raiders players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from North Carolina Sportspeople from Durham, North Carolina Tennessee Titans players