Brevyn Spann-Ford (born December 27, 1999) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

Early life

Spann-Ford grew up in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stear ...

and attended Technical Senior High School. He played football as well as basketball and averaged 13.7 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 3.8 assists per game. Spann-Ford committed to play

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 Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

over other schools such as

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

, and North Dokata State.

College career

In Spann-Ford's first season in 2018, he redshirted and only played in four games not recording any statistics. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

in a game against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, Spann-Ford recorded his first catch, a 12-yard touchdown reception, as he helped the Golden Gophers beat Illinois 24–17. Spann-Ford finished the 2019 season with four receptions for 25 yards and a touchdown. In the 2020 season, Spann-Ford caught a four-yard touchdown pass to help Minnesota beat

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

24–17. Spann-Ford finished the 2020 season playing in only one game, catching one pass for four yards and a touchdown. Spann-Ford began the 2021 season strong, hauling in three receptions for 44 yards, but the Golden Gophers lost to #4 Ohio State 45–31. In week seven, Spann-Ford brought in three passes for 23 yards and a touchdown to help Minnesota survive

30–23. He caught four receptions for 49 yards in week 10 as Minnesota lost 14–6 to

. In week twelve, Spann-Ford made three receptions for 67 yards, as he helped the Golden Gophers dominate

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

35–14. Spann-Ford closed the season strong, as in week thirteen he brought in three receptions for 62 yards, helping Minnesota beat rival #18 Wisconsin 23–13. Spann-Ford would finish his 2021 season with 23 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown, in ten games. Spann-Ford started the 2022 season off to a strong start, as in week two, he caught three passes for 64 yards and a touchdown, as he helped Minnesota beat

Western Illinois Forgottonia (), also spelled Forgotonia, is the name given to a 16-County (United States), county region in Western Illinois in the late 1960s and early 1970s. This geographic region forms the distinctive western bulge of Illinois (area west of ...

. Later in week five, Spann-Ford brought in three receptions for 53 yards, but the Golden Gophers fell to

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

20–10. In week eight, Spann-Ford hauled in five receptions for 68 yards and the first career touchdown pass from quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, but Minnesota was dismantled by

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

45–17. In the team's season finale, Spann-Ford had one of the best performances of his career, catching seven passes for 95 yards, helping Minnesota beat rival

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

23–16. Spann-Ford finished the season with 47 receptions for 497 yards and two touchdowns. For his performance on the season, Spann-Ford was named an honorable all Big-Ten mention. After the conclusion of the 2022 season, Spann-Ford announced that he would return to Minnesota for the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. Spann-Ford was named to the first team all Big-Ten preseason team. Spann-Ford was also named a preseason second-team All-American by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

College statistics

Professional career

References

External links

Minnesota Golden Gophers bio
1999 births Living people Players of American football from Minnesota American football tight ends Minnesota Golden Gophers football players {{tightend-stub