Benjamin N. Garland (born April 6, 1988) 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 ...

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 eccentricity ...

. 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 ...

at the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academy in El Paso County, Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs. It educates cadets for service in the officer corps of the United States Air Force and Uni ...

and attended Central High School in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mos ...

. He has also been a member of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, as well as 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 ...

. Garland was originally a

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

before converting to an offensive lineman in 2012.

Early years

Garland

lettered Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

four years in football and one in basketball for the Central High School Warriors. He earned first-team all-state honors in football as a senior. He was also an all-conference and all-district selection.

College career

Garland played for the

Air Force Falcons The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athl ...

from 2006 to 2009. He totaled 115 tackles, 11.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, and two blocked kicks in 39 career games, starting 34 of them.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Garland was signed by the

on April 25, 2010 after going undrafted in the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. The Broncos placed Garland on the reserve/military list on September 4, 2010 to serve his two-year military commitment. He was released by the Broncos on August 31, 2012. He was signed to the Broncos' practice squad on September 1, 2012. Garland signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

on January 15, 2013. He was released by the Broncos on August 30, 2013 and signed to the team's practice squad on September 4, 2013. Garland reached

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

with the Broncos, but the team lost 43-8 to the Seattle Seahawks. Garland signed a future's deal with the Broncos on February 4, 2014. He made his NFL debut on November 9, 2014 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He was released by the Broncos on September 5, 2015.

Atlanta Falcons

Garland was signed to the

' practice squad on September 9, 2015. On December 15, 2015, he was signed to the active roster. On January 14, 2017, Garland lined up at defensive tackle and recorded his first career safety after downing

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

during the NFC Divisional Playoff against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. The following week, Garland and the Falcons reached

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 NFL season, 2016 season. The American Football Confer ...

after winning the NFC Championship. Against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in Super Bowl LI, the Falcons lost 34–28 in overtime. In 2017, Garland played in all 16 games, starting three at left guard in place of the injured

Andy Levitre Andrew Steven Levitre ( ; born May 15, 1986) is a former American football offensive guard. He was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the second round, 51st overall in the 2009 NFL Draft, and has also played for the Tennessee Titans and Atlanta Fal ...

. On March 12, 2018, the Falcons placed a second-round restricted free agent tender on Garland. He played in 14 games in 2018, starting four at right guard.

San Francisco 49ers

On April 23, 2019, Garland signed with the

. Garland was moved to center in week 15 following an injury to starting center

Weston Richburg Weston Blaine Richburg (born July 9, 1991) is a former American football center. He was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, and also played for the San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at Colo ...

. Garland helped the 49ers reach

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

, but they lost 31-20 to 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 tea ...

. On March 30, 2020, Garland re-signed with the 49ers. He started five games at center before being placed on injured reserve on October 20, 2020 with a calf strain.

Military career

U.S. Air Force

Garland was stationed at

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

as a Public Affairs Officer from 2010 to 2012 while assigned to the Denver Broncos Military Reserve players list. Garland held the rank of

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

during this time.

Colorado Air National Guard

Garland was approved for his separation from active duty in May 2012 and joined the

Colorado Air National Guard The Colorado Air National Guard (CO ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Colorado, United States of America. It is, along with the Colorado Army National Guard, an element of the Colorado National Guard. The units of the Colorado Air Nation ...

as a Public Affairs Officer with the 140th Wing stationed at Buckley Air Force Base in

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

. He is currently a

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

and fulfills his military obligations between NFL seasons.

Personal life

Garland is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Garland is a supporter of Waterboys, a charity that tries to provide clean, accessible drinking water to communities in need around the world.

References

External links

NFL Draft ScoutAtlanta Falcons bioDenver Broncos bioOfficial website of Ben Garland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garland, Ben Living people 1988 births American football offensive guards American football defensive linemen Air Force Falcons football players Denver Broncos players People from Grand Junction, Colorado Players of American football from Colorado Atlanta Falcons players San Francisco 49ers players Military personnel from Colorado