Ryan David Pontbriand (born October 1, 1979) 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 ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. 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 ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

and was drafted in the fifth round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He has the distinction of being the highest-drafted pure long snapper in the history of the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

Early years

Pontbriand attended

Clements High School William P. Clements High School, more commonly known as Clements High School, is a public high school in First Colony and in Sugar Land within the U.S. state of Texas that is named after former Texas governor Bill Clements, and is a part of the Fo ...

Sugar Land, Texas Sugar Land is the largest city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, located in the southwestern part of the metropolitan area. Located about southwest of downtown Houston, Sugar Land is a populous suburban municipality centered around th ...

, where he was a three-year letterman and a full-time starter on the football team's offensive line. He was a first-team all-district selection as a senior after receiving an honorable mention as a junior. Pontbriand was named his team's offensive lineman of the year during his senior year and was his team's co-captain.

College career

Ryan graduated high school and attended

, redshirting his first year of eligibility in 1998. While at Rice, Pontbriand was the team's long snapper, and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

After finishing his fifth year at Rice, Pontbriand was eligible for the

. In the fifth round of the

, Ryan was selected by the

with the 142nd overall pick. Pontbriand is one of only thirteen long snappers drafted since 1982. Pontbriand missed only five games with the Browns, which occurred during the 2005 season due to a back injury. Pontbriand was named to the Pro Bowl as the "need" player in 2007, 2008. On November 29, 2011, he was released by the Browns due to an injury that was believed to be career-ending.

San Francisco 49ers

Pontbriand signed with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

on February 21, 2012. He was brought in to provide competition to Brian Jennings at the position. He was released on June 15, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontbriand, Ryan 1979 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American football centers American football long snappers Cleveland Browns players Players of American football from Houston Rice Owls football players San Francisco 49ers players