Jasper Jerrell Brinkley (born July 12, 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 with ...

middle 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, ...

. 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 ...

for the University of South Carolina. He was drafted by 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 the fifth round of

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. T ...

. He has also played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

and

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

Early years

Brinkley attended

Thomson High School Thomson High School is a public high school located in Thomson, Georgia, Thomson, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is the only high school in the McDuffie County School District. Demographics *White, 44.93% *Black, 51.68% *Hispan ...

where he started at

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, p ...

, while receiving first-team All-area and All-state honors. He accepted a football scholarship from the University of South Carolina, where he played for the

South Carolina Gamecocks football The South Carolina Gamecocks football program represents the University of South Carolina. The Gamecocks compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern ...

team as junior college transfer from

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

alongside his

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

. He started 29 of 30 games. He finished his career with 298 total tackles, 27.5 sacks, 30.5 tackles for a loss and 10 interceptions. As a senior, Brinkley captured All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) first-team honors as he started all but 1 game for the Gamecocks and ranked 2nd on the squad with 73 tackles.

Professional career

After the end of the 2008 season, Brinkley was selected to play in the

East-West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

and was a participant at the 2009 NFL Combine in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Minnesota Vikings (first stint)

The

selected Brinkley in the fifth round (150th overall) of

. On June 30 Brinkley signed a 4-year contract with Minnesota. Brinkley projected to serve as the backup to

E. J. Henderson Eric N. "E. J." Henderson (born August 3, 1980) is a former American football linebacker who played nine seasons for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Vikings in the second round of the 2003 NFL Dra ...

at middle linebacker. His spot on the depth chart was confirmed when Henderson went down with an injury to his femur after a collision with teammate

Jamarca Sanford Jamarca Deshaun Sanford (born August 27, 1985) is former American football safety. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft as the 231st pick. He formerly played college football for the Ole Miss Rebels ...

in week 13 at Arizona. Brinkley stepped into the game in the fourth quarter, recording five tackles for negative 4 yards on Arizona running back

Tim Hightower Timothy Michael Hightower (born May 23, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Richmond and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He also played f ...

. On December 13, 2009 (week 14), Brinkley made his first start against the Cincinnati Bengals. He recorded 7 tackles en route to a 30-10 victory over the Bengals. Brinkley has had a very close, apprentice-like relationship with Henderson who mentored him as a rookie throughout training camp and his first professional season, even quizzing him while watching film together. On December 20 (week 15), Brinkley started against the Carolina Panthers in a devastating 7-26 loss. He performed admirably, recording 12 tackles (including 5 tackles of Panther's running-back

Jonathan Stewart Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Oregon and was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round (13th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft. H ...

: a 14-yard loss, a tackle for no gain, and another for only a 1-yard gain) and 2 forced fumbles, the first of his career. On December 28 against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, the Vikings suffered a crushing 36-30 loss - their second in a row to a team that was not in playoff contention. Brinkley had 9 tackles, helping the defense to hold Chicago running-back

Matt Forte Matthew Garrett Forte (born December 10, 1985) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tulane Green Wave and was drafted ...

to only 52 yards. On November 16, 2012, Brinkley was fined $21,000 for a hit to the head against 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 Ford ...

Arizona Cardinals

Brinkley signed with the

on March 14, 2013. He played in 15 games with 3 starts. He was released on February 28, 2014.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

On March 9, 2014, Brinkley was re-signed by the

. Brinkley switched jersey numbers with

Gerald Hodges Gerald Davon Hodges Jr. (born January 17, 1991) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Penn State. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fourth round, 120th overall, of the 2013 NFL Draft. Early years ...

, while playing 16 games with 11 starts at

Dallas Cowboys

On March 12, 2015, Brinkley signed a two-year deal with 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 divisi ...

, as insurance in case the team couldn't re-sign

Rolando McClain Rolando Marquise McClain (born July 14, 1989) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Alabama, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American and won the 2010 BCS National Championship. He was selected eig ...

. During training camp he was passed on the depth chart by other

s. Even though his contract included $2 million guaranteed in earnings, he was released on September 7 to make room for

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

Jordan Mills Jordan Michael Mills (born December 24, 1990) is an American football offensive tackle who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana Tech University. E ...

New York Giants

On September 9, 2015, Brinkley was signed by the

. He played in 15 games with 9 starts. On March 29, 2016, he re-signed with the Giants. He was released on September 5.

Personal life

His twin brother

was a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for 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 ...

. Brinkley is also married to Olympic hurdler Kellie Wells-Brinkley.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bioMinnesota Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkley, Jasper 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Thomson, Georgia Twin sportspeople American football linebackers South Carolina Gamecocks football players Minnesota Vikings players Arizona Cardinals players Dallas Cowboys players New York Giants players