Tyler Brayton (born November 20, 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 wi ...

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders 32nd overall in 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. T ...

. He played college football at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Brayton also played for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

and Indianapolis Colts.

College career

In 47 games at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, Brayton recorded 152 tackles with 12.5 sacks, 25 stops for losses, 34 quarterback pressures, 17 third-down hits, three fumble recoveries, three forced fumbles and six pass deflections.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

Brayton was the last NFL draft pick in the first round in 2003, after Oakland acquired the first-round pick from the eventual Super Bowl Champion

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

in exchange for head coach Jon Gruden at the end of the 2001 season. Gruden became the Buccaneers coach after

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

's firing, with the latter taking over as the Indianapolis Colts coach when

Jim E. Mora James Ernest Mora (born May 24, 1935) is a former American football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was the head coach of the New Orleans Saints from 1986 to 1996 and the Indianapolis C ...

was fired the same year. Brayton was one of two Raiders selected in the first round in 2003; the other was Nnamdi Asomugha. In his debut season, he played and started in all 16 games and finished the campaign with 61 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The following season, he recorded 45 tackles, 2.5 sacks and his first career interception at the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

on December 25. During the 2005 season, Brayton played in all 16 games, notching up three starts and finished the season with 16 tackles and one sack. In 2006, he finished with 42 tackles. In his final year with the Raiders, Brayton finished the season with 11 tackles. On November 6, 2006 in a game against the Seattle Seahawks, Brayton kneed Seahawks tight end

Jerramy Stevens Jerramy Ryan Stevens (born November 13, 1979) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Washington and was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. Stevens played for the Seahawks an ...

in the groin after Stevens had kneed him, and was ejected. Brayton was later fined $25,000 by the NFL and Stevens was fined $15,000.

Carolina Panthers

On March 4, 2008, Brayton was signed by the

. In his first season at the Panthers, he played and started in all 16 games and finished the campaign with 40 tackles and a career-high 4.5 sacks. On December 12, 2010 in a game against the Atlanta Falcons, Tyler Brayton came off the bench and elbowed Atlanta Falcons cornerback

Christopher Owens Christopher David Owens (born July 13, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the frontman and songwriter for the now-disbanded indie rock band Girls. He released his debut album as a solo artist, '' Lysandre' ...

in the head while Owens was running along the Carolina sideline as part of the punt coverage unit. The NFL fined Tyler Brayton $15,000 for the illegal hit. Carolina released him on July 29, 2011.

Indianapolis Colts

Brayton signed with the Indianapolis Colts on August 15, 2011.

Personal life

Brayton is the grandson of former

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant uni ...

baseball coach Bobo Brayton Brayton participated on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

show

American Ninja Warrior American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

June 1st, 2015.
"Oakland Raiders official bio"
Oakland Raiders website, February 16, 2008.

References

External links

Tyler Brayton profile
by the Oakland Raiders
Tyler Brayton profile
by the

Tyler Brayton profile
by the Indianapolis Colts {{DEFAULTSORT:Brayton, Tyler 1979 births Living people People from Richland, Washington Players of American football from Washington (state) American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles American football linebackers Colorado Buffaloes football players Oakland Raiders players Carolina Panthers players Indianapolis Colts players