Justin Jay Brantly (born March 28, 1986) 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 ...

punter. He played for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

of the United Football League. He was signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

as an

undrafted 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 2009. 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 ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Early years

Brantly went to school in

East Bernard, Texas East Bernard is a city in Wharton County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,218 at the 2020 census. U.S. Highway 90 Alternate (US 90A) and Texas State Highway 60 (SH 60) intersect within the city limits. East Bernard has its o ...

, where his father, Jerry Brantly, served as an assistant coach under Dale Lechler, the father of NFL and former Texas A&M punter

Shane Lechler Edward Shane Lechler (; born August 7, 1976) is an American former professional football player who played as punter for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M University and was drafted by th ...

. Shane and Justin were childhood friends and continue to be close. Justin later went to

Sealy High School Sealy High School (SHS) is a public high school located in the city of Sealy, Texas, in Austin County, United States and classified as a 4A school by the UIL. It is a part of the Sealy Independent School District. A new, multimillion-dollar campu ...

Sealy, Texas Sealy is a city in Austin County in southeastern Texas, United States. The population was 6,839 at the 2020 census. Sealy is located west of the downtown Houston area, on the most eastern part of the Texas-German belt region, an area settled by G ...

, where he ran track and played basketball and baseball. He was voted into the UIL All-Century Defensive Football Third-team.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

ranked him the 18th kicker prospect in the 2005 recruiting class. He chose to play for

over

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

due to the small-town atmosphere at A&M. He played in the 2005

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

College career

Brantly compiled a 44.3 career punting average, which ranks second in school history behind

's 44.7 set from 1996 to 1999. Brantly punted 44 times inside the opponent's 20-yard line and recorded 57 career punts of more than 50 yards. He hit a career-best 80-yard punt against Colorado in 2005. During his senior season, Brantly led the Big 12 and placed third nationally with a 45.7-yard average. He booted 18 of his 51 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and hit at least one punt of 50 or more yards in 10 of the 12 games. After his senior season, he played in the

Texas vs. The Nation Game Texas vs The Nation was an American college football All-star game, all-star bowl game played from 2007 to 2013. Originally played at the Sun Bowl Stadium, the format of the game pitted 50 top-rated college seniors who played college or high scho ...

on January 31, 2009.

College awards and honors

*2005

first-team freshman All-American *2006

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Honorable mention * 2007 Second-team All-Big 12 *2006, 2007, 2008

Ray Guy Award The Ray Guy Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding punter as adjudged by the Augusta Sports Council. The award is named after punter Ray Guy, an All-American for Southern Mississippi and an All-Pro in the National Foo ...

candidate *2008 First-team Academic All-Big 12 *2008 First-team All-Big 12 (League's coaches,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, ''

Waco Tribune-Herald The ''Waco Tribune-Herald'' is an American daily newspaper serving Waco, Texas, and vicinity. Background The newspaper has its roots in five predecessors, beginning with the ''Waco Evening Telephone'' in 1892. The ''Tribune-Herald'' took its curr ...

'', and ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis include ...

''); named to the second-team by the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'' and ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With it ...

'' *2008

Second-team All-American *2008

SI.com ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

honorable mention All-American *2008 ''College Football News'' third-team All-American

Professional career

Pre-draft

Brantly weighed 247 pounds and measured 6-foot-3 and 3/8 at the Texas A&M Pro Day on March 4, 2009.

Houston Texans

Brantly was not drafted in the

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 ...

, but later signed as a

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 ...

with the

. He was released by the Texans in June 2009. He worked out with other teams during the 2009 regular season.

Omaha Nighthawks

Brantly signed with the

of the United Football League in July 2010.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bioJust Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brantly, Justin 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Corpus Christi, Texas American football punters Texas A&M Aggies football players Houston Texans players Omaha Nighthawks players