Chris Brazzell (born May 22, 1976) 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 in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) 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 ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first season ...

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

and

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

. He also was a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

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 divisi ...

in the

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 ...

(NFL). 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Angelo State University Angelo State University is a public university in San Angelo, Texas. It was founded in 1928 as San Angelo College. It gained university status and awarded its first baccalaureate degrees in 1967 and graduate degrees in 1969, the same year it too ...

Early years

Brazzell attended

Alice High School Alice High School is a senior high school in Alice, Texas. A part of the Alice Independent School District, it serves Alice and surrounding communities in Jim Wells County. Attendance area Areas within Alice ISD, of which Alice High is its on ...

, where he helped start a run by the Coyotes as a playoff powerhouse through the 1990s. As a senior in 1993, he caught 75 passes for 1,971 yards (26-yard average), which at the time, gave him a high school national record for most yards receiving in a single season. He also had a career-high 309 yards receiving game. That season, his team reached the Class 5A Region IV finals, while he received All-state, South Texas MVP and District MVP honors.

College career

Brazzell attended

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. Brenham is Blinn's main campus, with dormitories and apartments. History Blinn was established as Mission Institute in 1 ...

. He transferred to

after his sophomore season. As a junior, he recorded 34 receptions for 474 yards and 5

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 Ameri ...

s. He tied a school record with 11 receptions against

Tarleton State University Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 14,000 students in the fall of 2020. History John Tarleton Agricultural ...

. As a senior, he posted 47 receptions for 1,091 yards (23.3-yard average) and 13

s. He became the second player in school history to register over 1,000 receiving yards in a season and led the conference by averaging 109.1 receiving yards per-game. Against

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

, he had 11 receptions for 216 yards and 3

s. He earned second-team All-American and first-team All-Lone Star Conference honors. Despite playing only two seasons, he finished ninth on the Rams' All-time receiving list (1,565 receiving yards).

Professional career

New York Jets

Brazzell was selected by the

in the sixth round (174th overall) of 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 ...

, because they coveted his track speed. He was waived on August 30 and later signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was released on September 5,

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Dallas Cowboys

On September 6,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

. He made his

NFL 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 major ...

debut on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

in the 41-35 season-opening victory against 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 ...

. He was deactivated for the next 3 games. He was cut on October 14 and signed to the

. Because of injuries to the receiving corps, he was promoted to the active roster in week 14 and registered his first reception in a 20-10 win against 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 plays ...

, a 12-yard catch from quarterback

Troy Aikman Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. After transferring from Oklahoma, he played college football at UCLA, ...

. The next week, he finished with a season-high 62 yards on two receptions against his former team the Jets. He earned his first NFL start in the 27-10 playoff wildcard loss against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. In

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, he played in 9 games, recording only 2 receptions for 12 yards, while playing mainly on

and finishing in a tie for seventh place with 10

tackles. He missed the final two regular season games due to a shoulder injury. On August 28,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he was released to make room for wide receiver Anthony Lucas.

CFL career

2001 season

On October 15, Brazzell was signed to the practice roster of the

in the

. On November 4, he made his debut in a 32-26 win against the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

, a game in which he had three receptions for 76 yards. He also had one reception for nine yards in Edmonton's 34-16 Western Final loss to Calgary.

2002 season

Brazzell played in 11 games in his second season, finishing fourth among Edmonton wide receivers with 30 receptions for 546 yards and three touchdowns. One of his personal highlights was a 101-yard reception for a touchdown from

Jason Maas Jason Maas (born November 19, 1975) is the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and a former Canadian football quarterback in the CFL. He is best known for his playing career with the Edmonton Eskimos where h ...

in a 27-21 season-opening win against the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

. He continued to make big plays in the post-season, registering 4 receptions for 79 yards in a 33-30 Western Final against Winnipeg. In the 25-16

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

loss against Montreal, he had three receptions for 65 yards.

2003 season

Brazzell signed with the

as a free agent on March 25. He played in all 18 games for B.C. that season. He finished second on team, and sixth in the CFL, with 1,111 yards on 68 catches including six receiving touchdowns. He registered five 100-yard receiving games. He had perhaps his best game of the season in the Lions' 26-20 victory on September 20 against the

when seven receptions for 157 yards. He had the first multi-to game of his CFL career when he hauled in a pair of scores in the Lions' August 22 victory against the

. Brazzell had two catches for 11 yards in the Lions' 28-7 Eastern Semifinal loss in Toronto.

2004 season

In 2004 Brazzell finished fourth on the BC Lions in receiving with 49 receptions for 906 yards and eight touchdowns in 16 games. He had three 100-yard games during that span. Brazzell was equally effective in the post-season for the Lions. He had three catches for 40 yards and one touchdown in B.C.'s 27-25 Western Final overtime victory against the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

. He also had a pair of passes in the Leo's 27-19 loss to the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

in that year's Grey Cup championship.

2005 season

In 2005, Brazzell signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. During his brief stay in Hamilton, Brazzell had 22 catches for 252 yards and two touchdowns in six games. Brazzell had signed with the Ti-cats on the promise that he would only play the wide receiver position, but the Ti-cats coaching staff had Brazzell play

slotback Slotback, sometimes referred to as an A-back or slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side. A player who lines up ...

for them. This outraged Brazzell, as he saw himself as a deep threat receiver, something that playing slotback did not let him do. On August 9, 2005, Brazzell was traded to the

in exchange for Canadian receiver

Kamau Peterson Kamau Peterson (born September 16, 1978) is a former professional Canadian football wide receiver and formerly the offensive coordinator for the York Lions football team. He last played for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. He was ...

. The trade quickly showed to be one sided, with Brazzell hauling in 12 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns in his first 3 games as a Bomber, surpassing his yard total and matching his touchdown total that he had posted in 6 games as a Ti-cat. He finished the season with 46 catches for 708 yards and six touchdowns.

2006 season

In 2006, he experienced a season of ups and downs. He started the season strong with a multiple touchdown game against the

on July 1 and a couple more touchdowns in other games. By mid season his play started to flounder, with him being totally neutral during many games. At the end of the season he picked his play up to finish the season with 43 catches for 604 yards and 7 touchdowns. Although Brazzell was scheduled to become a free agent on February 16, 2007, he chose to re-sign with the Blue Bombers.

2007 season

Brazzell played 7 games for the Blue Bombers until he injured his ankle in September. In those games he had 17 receptions for 182 yards and one touchdown. He was released on February 5, 2008.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brazzell, Chris 1976 births Living people People from Alice, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Blinn Buccaneers football players Angelo State Rams football players New York Jets players Dallas Cowboys players Edmonton Elks players BC Lions players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players American players of Canadian football