Kyle Brotzman (born October 3, 1986) is an

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

placekicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Spe ...

who is currently a free agent. He has also been a member of the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division (AFL), West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did ...

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

and

Spokane Empire Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canadi ...

College career

He played for the Boise State Broncos. A former walk-on, he became the Broncos' starting kicker and punter. He garnered second-team All-WAC honors in 2007 and was Boise State's co-Special Teams Player of the Year in 2008. In the

2010 Fiesta Bowl The 2010 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game was a post-season college football bowl game between the #4 TCU Horned Frogs, champions of the Mountain West Conference, and the #6 Boise State Broncos, champions of the Western Athletic Conference. The game wa ...

, Brotzman threw a fourth-down pass out of punt formation that led to the Broncos' winning touchdown. Brotzman gained national media attention when he missed two late-game field goals in the November 26, 2010 game versus the

Nevada Wolf Pack The Nevada Wolf Pack are the athletic teams that represent the University of Nevada, Reno. They are part of NCAA's Division I's Mountain West Conference. It was founded on October 24, 1896 with football as the Sagebrushers in Reno, Nevada. H ...

. The first one, a 26-yarder at the end of regulation, would have sealed a victory for the Broncos as time ran out. The second failed attempt would have put the Broncos ahead in overtime, and was a 29-yard try. Nevada went on to win the game 34–31, dealing Boise State its first defeat of the 2010 season. Boise State coach

Chris Petersen Christopher Scott Petersen (born October 13, 1964) is a former American football coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Washington. Previously the head coach for eight seasons at Boise State University, Petersen guided ...

refused to directly blame the loss on Brotzman, stating that "one play can win a game but one play can't lose it. There's a lot of plays to be made that we didn't make for whatever reason." Meanwhile, Nevada's coach,

Chris Ault Christopher Thomas Ault (born November 8, 1946) is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served three stints at the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Reno (1976–1992, 1994–1995 and 200 ...

characterized his win as the greatest in the program's history. After the game, over 45,000 Broncos fans showed their support for Brotzman on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

. However, he was also the recipient of death threats and hate-mail from angered Boise State fans. He graduated with the record for the most points in NCAA history by a Division I kicker.*

Professional career

On June 15, 2011, he signed with the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. He debuted in Utah Blaze's 81-40 victory over the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference (AC) in the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2011, the Power ...

. On November 12, 2015, Brotzman was assigned to the

. On March 10, 2016, Brotzman was placed on reassignment. Brotzman was signed by the

on April 7, 2016. He was released on April 12, 2016. On March 10, 2017, Brotzman once again signed with the Empire. He was released on March 15, 2017. On April 4, 2019, the Idaho Horsemen announced that Brotzman had signed with the team.

References

External links

Boise State Bio

Utah Blaze Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brotzman, Kyle Boise State Broncos football players Living people American football placekickers Utah Blaze players 1986 births People from Meridian, Idaho Players of American football from Idaho Jacksonville Sharks players Spokane Empire players