Johnathon Lee Bronson (born July 8, 1982) 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 ...

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. Like ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

High school

Bronson was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

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 ...

Kent-Meridian High School Kent-Meridian High School is a high school located in Kent, Washington, United States, and part of the Kent School District. Kent-Meridian is one of four high schools in the Kent School District. It serves students in grades nine through twelve w ...

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest municipality in greater Seattle and t ...

. He was a first-team all-conference

and

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 ...

in his senior year there. Bronson finished his career with 48 receptions for 472 yards and two touchdowns Bronson had 80 tackles with 10 sacks and one interception as a senior. Bronson also excelled at

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, leading Kent-Meridian to four undefeated dual meet seasons. He finished 7th in the state in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and helped his 4x100 relay team place 6th in the state.

College

Bronson moved from

prior to his senior season at

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, and he caught 4 passes for 16 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 Ameri ...

. As a junior, he played in 10 games, starting 4 at defensive end finishing the season with 26 tackles and two sacks for the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot is the Nittany Lion. The interc ...

. Bronson started 11 games at defensive end as a sophomore and had 57 tackles and 4½ sacks. He played in the first 8 games as a redshirt freshman, recording 9 tackles. He earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

from

in 2004.

Professional football career

Bronson signed with the

as an

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

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 ...

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2005. He made the opening day 53-man roster but suffered a knee injury in the season opener at the

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. ...

on September 11, 2005 and spent the remainder of the year on injured reserve. Bronson did record two

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 ...

tackles in that game. The Cardinals released him on August 27, 2007, at the end of the 2007 preseason.

Later career and personal life

After his stint in the NFL, Bronson had a series of transitioning ventures including travel, real estate, and personal training companies. Bronson is the Managing Director of Finger Licking Dutch, a stroopwafel company that produces caramel waffle cookies from The Netherlands. He runs this business with his current life partner Femke Veelenturf, who is Dutch. He was also the founder and Chief Sports Mentor of Sporment, an online mentoring organization in which children are assisted by former professional sportspeople. In 2013, Bronson shifted his focus to start PACC Pro Network (formerly known as the Pro Athlete Chamber of Commerce) and hold an executive role at John Bronson Marketing. He was married to Dawn Root Bronson, who died in April 2016 of kidney cancer. Johnson has two brothers, who also play in the NFL: Demitrius Bronson played for the Seattle Seahawks, and Josiah Bronson with the Dallas Cowboys (traded from the New Orleans Saints).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bronson, John 1982 births Living people American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Sportspeople from Kent, Washington Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications alumni