Colin Leander Branch (born August 30, 1980) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

who played 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 was selected in the fourth round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

. 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 ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Early life

Branch graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1998.

College career

Branch played

. As a senior in 2002, he was named Honorable Mention All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

after compiling 69 tackles.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Branch was selected in the fourth round with the 119th pick of the

by the

. In 2004, Branch had 55 tackles and three interceptions for the Panthers, while starting 15 games. During the 2005 season, he suffered a knee injury, missing the season. Branch made 19 tackles and one interception in 2006, with four starts.

Oakland Raiders

Branch signed with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

on June 8, 2007. He was released by them on August 27, 2007.

Personal life

Branch is currently married to the former April Sage of

North Charleston, South Carolina North Charleston is the third-largest city in the U.S. state, state of South Carolina.City Planning Department (2008-07)City of North Charleston boundary map. City of North Charleston. Retrieved January 21, 2011. On June 12, 1972, the city of No ...

and they have four children together, sons Kendrick, Aaron and Salem Calvin (named after Colin's father, Calvin Stanley Branch, and brother Calvin Stanley Branch, Jr.), and daughter Sage.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Branch, Colin Living people 1980 births American football safeties Carolina Panthers players Stanford Cardinal football players Players of American football from Cincinnati Oakland Raiders players