John Brantley, IV (born March 3, 1989) 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 ...
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
. 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 ...
at
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
from 2008 to 2011. He was signed by the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
after going undrafted in the
2012 NFL Draft
The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...
but was released before the start of the season.
Brantley has family connections to the University of Florida. His father, John Brantley, III, also played quarterback there in the late 1970s and his uncle,
Scot Brantley
Scot Eugene Brantley (born February 24, 1958) is an American radio and television sports broadcaster and former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 198 ...
, played linebacker for the Gators and went on to the
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 ...
.
High school career
Brantley attended
Trinity Catholic High School in
Ocala, Florida
Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida.
Home to ...
.
[Jon Mahoney,]
Gator genes: John Brantley will continue a great tradition at Florida
" ''Sports Illustrated'' (January 25, 2007). Retrieved April 19, 2010.
As a sophomore, Brantley threw for 1,201 yards, 17 touchdowns and one interception, while sharing time with senior Seth Varnadore. During his junior season, he threw for 2,835 yards, 41 touchdowns and five interceptions, leading Trinity Catholic to the Florida Class 2B state title. Brantley finished his high school career with an FHSAA record 99 touchdown passes, breaking the previous state mark of 98, held by
Tim Tebow. Following his high school career, Brantley was invited to play in the 2007
U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Brantley was chosen as the 2006
Gatorade National Player of the Year
The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...
for football and was judged a four star recruit by Scout.com.
[Scout.com, Football Recruiting]
John Brantley
Retrieved April 19, 2010.
Recruiting process
After a trip to Austin to see the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
, Brantley committed to the Longhorns. In a later interview with FloridaFB.com, Brantley reiterated his commitment to Texas, stating that he felt it was "a real special thing to be headed out there
exas"
The other schools on Brantley's shortlist included
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
,
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
,
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
, and
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
.
In December 2006, Rivals.com reported that Brantley would de-commit from Texas to follow in the footsteps of his uncle at the University of Florida. He later signed his letter of intent, and enrolled in Gainesville in 2007.
College career
Brantley
redshirted
Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...
his first season with the Gators in 2007, before competing with
Cam Newton
Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the NFL ...
for the backup job as a redshirt freshman in the
2008 season. Brantley first saw playing time in the season opener against
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, and would go in as the backup after the starters were pulled in several conference games. He appeared in nine games, with pass attempts in seven of them. Brantley finished the 2008 season going 18 for 28 passing for 235 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception.
Brantley earned media attention during the 2009 season after starting quarterback
Tim Tebow suffered a concussion in a September 26 game against
Kentucky
Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...
. It was speculated Brantley would make the first start of his Gator career in
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...
at LSU, but Tebow was cleared to play on the day of the game.
In Florida's spring game of 2010, he completed 15 of 19 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns.
Brantley was the
starting quarterback in the
Gators' 2011 season. He injured his ankle in the October 1 game against Alabama and missed the following two games.
Professional career
Brantley signed as an undrafted free agent with the
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...
on April 28, 2012 after going undrafted in the
2012 NFL Draft
The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...
.
He was waived on August 1, 2012.
References
External links
Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brantley, John
1989 births
Living people
American football quarterbacks
Florida Gators football players
Baltimore Ravens players
Sportspeople from Ocala, Florida
Players of American football from Florida