Brandon Dennard Pettigrew (born February 23, 1985) 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 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...

. He was drafted in the first round (20th overall) of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

, and spent his entire 8-year career with the team.

High school career

Brandon Pettigrew played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

at Robert E. Lee High School in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the 33rd most populous city in Texas and 2 ...

, where he was teammates with

Matt Flynn Matthew Clayton Flynn (born June 20, 1985) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He was a member of the Packers when they won Super Bowl XLV over the Pitts ...

, Justin Warren, and

Ciron Black The Ciron (; oc, Siron) is a left tributary of the Garonne, in Gironde, Southwest France. It is long. Geography The Ciron rises in the eastern end of the Moors of Gascony, in Landes. It flows north-west, mainly through the moors of Gironde, c ...

. While at Robert E. Lee, Pettigrew played as a tight end and on

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named All-District and All-East Texas. He was also one of three players to be named to the All-State team. He chose to attend

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Discipl ...

(TCU),

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

(SMU) and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

College career

Pettigrew played college football at

where he

majored An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conce ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics anal ...

. As a freshman in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

, he appeared in 11 games (nine starts). He recorded 11 receptions for 128 yards and one

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 ...

. In

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 votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, as a sophomore, he started all 13 games. He recorded 24 receptions for 310 yards and four touchdowns and was an All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

honorable mention An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An awa ...

. As a junior in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

, he started all 13 games. He recorded 35 receptions for 540 yards and four touchdowns. He was named First-team All-Big 12 Football at Tight End in 2007. As a senior in

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; ...

, he recorded 42 receptions for 472 yards. During his career he recorded 112 receptions for 1,450 yards and nine touchdowns.

Career statistics

Professional career

Pettigrew was selected in the first round (20th overall) of the

by the

. The pick used to select Pettigrew was originally acquired by the Lions in a trade that sent Roy Williams to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. On July 31, 2009, the Detroit Lions signed him to a five-year, $14.60 million contract with $9.4 million guaranteed and a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $5.09 million. The best game of his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season came on November 22 against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

: he caught six passes for 72 yards, including the game-winning touchdown. Pettigrew suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the ...

injury during the opening drive of the Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit. The next day, an

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

revealed he would require season-ending surgery. On December 1, 2009, Pettigrew was officially placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

and missed the rest of the 2009 season. He finished the season with 30 receptions for 346 yards and two touchdowns. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, he recorded 71 receptions for 722 yards and four touchdowns. His 71 receptions and 722 receiving yards were both third best among

s. For the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

season, he recorded 83 receptions for 777 yards and five touchdowns -- the most yards by a Lions Tight End in any season. He also holds the Detroit Lions franchise record for a TIght End, with 83 receptions in 2011. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, he recorded 59 receptions for 567 yards and three touchdowns. For the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

season, he recorded 41 receptions for 416 yards and two touchdowns. On March 14, 2014, the Lions signed Pettigrew to a four-year, $12 million free-agent contract with $8 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4 million. For the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

season, he recorded 10 receptions for 70 yards. In a December 13, 2015, game against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, Pettigrew suffered a torn ACL. He was placed on injured reserve on December 15. For the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

season, he recorded seven receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown. Pettigrew started out the 2016 on the PUP list to recover from his torn ACL the previous season. He was moved to the reserve/non-football injury list on December 6, 2016. Days later the Lions cleared out his locker, indicating that the team could be moving on without him. He was officially released by the Lions on December 9, 2016.

Career statistics

Personal life

Pettigrew was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness on February 5, 2017, after a

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

bar fight. Pettigrew was arrested on July 9, 2018, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, accused of aggravated assault after an argument arose regarding an unpaid limo fee. In November 2018, charges of aggravated assault and diversion of services were withdrawn.

References

https://big12sports.com/news/2007/11/27/1522092.aspx

External links

Detroit Lions bio

Oklahoma State Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettigrew, Brandon 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Tyler, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football tight ends Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Detroit Lions players