Brian Scott Kozlowski (born October 4, 1970) 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 ...

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. Lik ...

. He was originally signed by the New York Giants 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 1993. He played college football at

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

Early life

As a high schooler, Kozlowski was team

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and an All-County pick on offense for his high school, Webster High School. He also got second-team honors for defense plus he played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

College career

In college, Kozlowski was known for being consistent as he started at tight end for 43 straight games. In the second game of his career as a freshman, he won the starting job. He caught 43 passes for 526 yards with a touchdown in 1992, his final college season. He was part of the group of receivers that set a school record for most receptions by three different receivers in 1991 with 207. He is one of only four true freshmen at the University of Connecticut to earn a varsity letter. Kozlowski's best game as a college player came against Villanova as the sophomore caught ten passes. The Brian Kozlowski Award is given annually in honor of Kozlowski for his hard work, effort and dedication to the game. In college, Brian achieved notoriety in college by dating Rebecca Lobo. The couple were awarded the "Husky" couple award in 1991.

Professional career

Kozlowski 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 New York Giants in May 1993. He played three years with the Giants. After becoming a free agent, Kozlowski signed with the Atlanta Falcons. Most of his career productivity came playing for the Falcons. Playing for the Falcons, he went to

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

, caught one pass for five yards but ended up losing 34–19 to the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. At the end of the 2000 season, Kozlowski re-signed with the Falcons. He did the same thing at the end of the 2001 and 2002 seasons. He declared free agency after the 2003 season and signed with the

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 ...

only to be cut in October 2004. Kozlowski appeared in all 16 games for the Washington Redskins in 2005 with two receptions for 26 yards. After

Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafted ...

broke his hand in a Week 10 loss to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and was placed on the injured reserve for the remainder of the 2006 season, the Redskins re-signed Kozlowski to use him mostly as a blocker and on special teams. During the 2006 season, Kozlowski had one catch for one yard. And as of December 4, 2006, Brian had 84 career receptions for 973 yards and eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

Personal life

Kozlowski has a wife, Ellen and two daughters, Paris and Shea. They currently reside in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozlowski, Brian 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Rochester, New York American football tight ends UConn Huskies football players New York Giants players Atlanta Falcons players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from New York (state) American people of Polish descent