Brandon Keith James (born December 21, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver and kick returner. James played

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 ...

for the University of Florida, was a two-time All-American, and was a member of two

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

teams. Thereafter, he played professionally for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the National Football League (NFL) and for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Early years

James was born in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabit ...

in 1987.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Brandon James
Retrieved March 28, 2011. He attended St. Augustine High School, where he was a standout running back for the St. Augustine Yellow Jackets

high school football team High may refer to: Science and technology * Height * High (atmospheric), a high-pressure area * High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory * High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift to ...

.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2009 Roster
Brandon James
. Retrieved August 25, 2010. As a senior team captain in 2005, James ran for 900 yards and eight touchdowns while leading the Yellow Jackets to a Florida Class 3A state championship.

College career

James received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Urban Meyer's Florida Gators football team from

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 85, 89, 95, 97, 98, 102, 125, 139, 147–150, 158, 182 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. As a freshman in 2006, James saw immediate playing time as a kick return specialist, returning 33 punts for 363 yards and one touchdown in 2006, and earning Freshman All- Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Freshman All-American honors. His 33-yard kickoff return against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the

2007 BCS National Championship Game The 2007 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, 2007, and featured the top-ranked Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes against the 2nd-r ...

gave the Gators the ball in Buckeye territory after Ohio State's

Ted Ginn Jr. Theodore Ginn Jr. (born April 12, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans S ...

opened the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown. James's dramatic return and the Gators' resulting touchdown changed the early momentum of the game, with the Gators ultimately defeating the top-ranked Buckeyes 41–14 to win the BCS National Championship. James led the Gators in kickoff and punt return yardage for four consecutive seasons, and finished his college career with 4,770 total yards gained, including 112 kickoff returns for 2,718 yards and a touchdown, 117 punt returns for 1,371 yards and four touchdowns, 379 receiving yards and 302 rushing yards. His career kickoff return yardage and combined kick return yardage remain SEC records. He was a first-team All-American in 2007, a consensus first-team All-American in 2008, a first-team All-SEC selection in 2008, the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in 2008, and a senior team captain in 2009. During his time as a Gator, the team won two

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

s (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) and two BCS National Championship Games (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

). James graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2010.

Track and field

James was also a member of the Florida Gators track and field team, competing at the SEC Outdoor Championships. His personal bests are 10.43 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 21.00 seconds in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Personal bests

Professional career

The

signed James as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2010. On November 10, James was activated from the practice squad to the main roster. On November 28, 2010, James posted 150 kick return yards and 29 punt return yards.National Football League, Current Players
Brandon James
Retrieved March 28, 2011. He was released the following week from the Colts active roster. In , the

signed James as a free agent, but he was later released during the regular season, bringing his playing career to an end.

Coaching career

In 2012, James was hired to coach the football team at St. Joseph Academy in St. Augustine. He was fired after one season in which the team went 2-8.Klein, Danny
"St. Joseph parts ways with Brandon James as football coach"
staugustine.com. January 8, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .

External links

Brandon James
– Florida Gators player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Brandon 1987 births Living people People from St. Augustine, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football return specialists American football running backs American football wide receivers Florida Gators football players All-American college football players Indianapolis Colts players American players of Canadian football Edmonton Elks players Track and field athletes from Florida Florida Gators men's track and field athletes