Bronson Kaufusi (born July 6, 1991) 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 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 ...
who is a free agent. He played
college football at
BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...
.
Early years
Kaufusi attended
Timpview High School
Timpview High School (THS) is a public secondary school located in Provo, Utah, Provo, Utah, United States. Timpview is a 6A school and is one of the three high schools in the Provo City School District. The current principal (school), princip ...
in
Provo, Utah. He had 70 tackles and 9.5
sacks as junior and 19 tackles and two sacks his senior year before suffering an injury. Kaufusi was rated by
Rivals.com
Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel.
History
Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...
as a four-star recruit and was committed to the
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...
(BYU) to play college football.
At high school football camps, Kaufusi primarily played tight end. However, his high school team did not use tight ends.
College career
After spending two years on a
mission
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
*Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
for the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The c ...
in
Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
, Kaufusi played for the first time at BYU in 2012. He played in all 13 games and had 23 tackles and 4.5 sacks. After the season, he played in 20 games for
BYU's basketball team. As a sophomore in 2013, he had 41 tackles, four sacks and an
interception
In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...
returned for a
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 ...
. After spending his first two years as a defensive lineman, Kaufusi moved to
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, ...
his junior year. He finished the season 48 tackles and seven sacks. He moved back to defensive end his senior year and recorded 64 tackles and 11 sacks.
Professional career
On January 8, 2016, Bronson announced that he had received and accepted an invitation to the
2016 Senior Bowl
The 2016 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2016 Draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game concluded th ...
. On January 30, 2016, he attended the Reese's Senior Bowl and was a part of the South's defensive line that dominated and led them to a 27–16 victory. He attended the NFL Combine and completed all of the required combine drills. Kaufusi performed well and finished 17th among defensive linemen in the 40-yard dash, fifth in the three-cone drill, tied
Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun for fourth in the short shuttle, and finished 20th among defensive linemen in the bench press. On March 25, 2016, Kaufusi participated at
BYU's pro day, along with
Mitch Mathews
Mitch Mathews (born April 15, 1991) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent following the 2016 NFL Draft. He played college football at Brigham Young ...
,
Ryker Mathews, Manoa Pikula, Graham Rowley, and six other prospects. Team representatives and scouts from 18 NFL teams attended to scout Kaufusi, who was the main attraction, as he opted to only run positional and stand on his combine numbers. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Kaufusi was projected as a second or third round prospect by the majority of NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the ninth best defensive end prospect by NFLDraftScout.com and the tenth best by NFL analyst
Mike Mayock.
Baltimore Ravens
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 it ...
selected Kaufusi in the third round (70th overall) of the
2016 NFL Draft
The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...
. He was the only BYU player drafted in 2016 and the second of three edge rushers selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2016 NFL Draft. The Ravens drafted
Boise State's Kamalei Correa in the second round (42nd overall) and
Grand Valley State's Matthew Judon in the fifth round (146th overall).
2016
On June 14, 2016, the Baltimore Ravens signed Kaufusi to a four-year, $3.45 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $845,016.
He competed with
Lawrence Guy,
Kapron Lewis-Moore and Mario Ojemudia throughout training camp for the backup defensive end position. On August 30, 2016, he was placed on injured/reserve after breaking his ankle in training camp. He missed the entire season.
2017
Kaufusi competed with
Brandon Williams,
Carl Davis
Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961.
He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...
,
Willie Henry throughout training camp for the vacant starting defensive end position left by the departure of
Timmy Jernigan via trade. Head coach
John Harbaugh
John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...
named Kaufusi the backup left defensive end to
Brent Urban to begin the regular season.
2018
On September 1, 2018, Kaufusi was waived by the Ravens.
New York Jets
On September 3, 2018, Kaufusi was signed to the
New York Jets' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 1, 2018. He was waived on October 5, 2018 and was re-signed back to the practice squad. He was promoted back to the active roster on December 8, 2018.
On October 4, 2019, Kaufusi was released by the Jets and re-signed to the practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Jets on December 30, 2019. At the end of the 2019 season, Jets head coach
Adam Gase
Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for ...
moved him from defense to the tight end position.
On September 5, 2020, Kaufusi was released by the Jets and signed to the practice squad the next day. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 11, 2021.
Green Bay Packers
On January 15, 2021, Kaufusi signed a reserve/future contract with the
Green Bay Packers.
On August 31, 2021, Packers released Kaufusi as part of their final roster cuts. Kaufusi was resigned to the
practice squad the next day.
Career statistics
Personal life
His father,
Steve Kaufusi
Sitiveni P. Kaufusi (born October 17, 1963 in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga) is a former American football defensive lineman in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1988-1990.
College career
Kaufusi also played college football at ...
, was the defensive line coach for BYU and his brother,
Corbin Kaufusi, is an offensive tackle for the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
.
His wife, Hilary, also attended BYU and played on their soccer team. His mother,
Michelle Kaufusi, is the current Mayor of
Provo.
References
External links
BYU Cougars football bioBYU Cougars basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufusi, Bronson
1991 births
Living people
American football defensive tackles
American football defensive ends
American football linebackers
American men's basketball players
American Mormon missionaries in New Zealand
Baltimore Ravens players
Basketball players from Utah
BYU Cougars football players
BYU Cougars men's basketball players
Green Bay Packers players
Latter Day Saints from Utah
New York Jets players
Players of American football from Utah
Sportspeople from Provo, Utah