Brian Wayne Alford (born June 7, 1975) 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 ...

wide receiver. During his

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 ...

career, he played for the

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. ...

Early life

A 1993 graduate of Oak Park High School in Oak Park, Michigan, Alford was a standout member of the football and track and field teams. He was a three-year starter for football, and named to the

Oakland Press ''The Oakland Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Oakland County, Michigan with headquarters in Troy. It is owned by 21st Century Media, with which its parent company merged in 2013 after filing for bankruptcy. The local historical society tra ...

Dream Team, first-team all-state as well as voted to play in the

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

All-Star game as a senior.

College career

Alford attended

Purdue University 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 ...

on a football scholarship. In 1993, Alford

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. In 1994, he played in the final five games after recovering from a broken

clavicle The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the rig ...

, sustained in preseason Black & Gold Game. As a sophomore, he started first 6 games and played in all 11 games, leading the team in catches and TDs. As a junior in 1996, he was named First-team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and Purdue's MVP. He placed 22nd in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in pass receptions, and 2nd in the conference and 17th in nation in yardage. On November 23, 1996, Alford had the 2nd greatest about of receiving yards in a single

Old Oaken Bucket The Old Oaken Bucket is a traveling trophy awarded in American college football as part of the rivalry between the Indiana Hoosiers football team of Indiana University and Purdue Boilermakers football team of Purdue University. It was first awa ...

game, with 162 yards. He also established a career-high 12 touchdown receptions. With Joe Tiller taking over as Purdue's head coach in 1997, he set career highs in catches (67) and yards (1,228). He was named a team captain, First-team All-American by

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

News, 2nd team by the AP 3rd team by Sporting News. He graduated as the all-time leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He also set single season receiving yards, and at the time of his graduation, ranked 4th on all-time Big Ten single season list 4th in TD, 4th in receiving yards, and 8th in receptions. He also holds the Purdue record for receiving touchdowns in a career, 31, as well as placing in the top 5 in several other Purdue receiving records.

Statistics

Source: *Numbers in Bold are Purdue school records

Professional career

New York Giants

Alford was drafted in the 3rd round, 70th overall, by the

, in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 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 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. He was released August 27, 2000 after appearing in just 6 games over the course of 2 seasons, making just 2 catches.

Miami Dolphins

Alford would sign with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

later in 2000, and was placed on the practice squad. He was released on December 7, 2000, only to be re-signed on December 13, and then was then released again on July 12, 2001.

Indiana Firebirds

For the 2003 season, Alford started as a practice squad member of the Indiana Firebirds of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He was later signed off the practice squad, catching 6 passes for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alford, Brian 1975 births Living people People from Oak Park, Michigan American football wide receivers Purdue Boilermakers football players New York Giants players Indiana Firebirds players