Brandon David Fields (born May 21, 1984) 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 ...

punter who played nine seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

(NFL). 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

for

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He has also played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

Early years

Fields was born in

Southfield, Michigan Southfield is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618. As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its southern border with Detroit. The city was original ...

. He attended St. John's Jesuit High School in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

, and played for the St, John's Titans

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

team. During his senior season, he handled kickoff duties for the Titans football team and was a first-team all-state selection as a punter while also playing tight end. Fields also lettered in basketball for St. John's.

College career

Fields attended Michigan State University, and played for the

Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims ...

team from 2003 to 2006. He earned numerous honors during his freshman season in 2003. He led the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

and was second in the nation with a 46.4-yard average. In a game against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, Fields set an

Alamo Bowl The Alamo Bowl is an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game played annually since 1993 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Since 2010 it matches the second choice team from the Pac-12 Conference and the secon ...

record with a 62-yard punt. Fields had the most productive season of his collegiate career as a sophomore in 2004, leading the nation with a 47.9-yard punting average. Honors on the season included numerous All-Big Ten and

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n selections. He was also a finalist for the

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 All-Pro is an ho ...

, given annually to the nation's top punter. As a junior in 2005, Fields handled the kickoff duties for the first four games of the season in addition to being the team's punter. He wrapped up his collegiate career with a 45.0-yard punting average as a senior. On December 13, 2010, the Big Ten Conference instituted the Eddleman-Fields Punter of the Year award to honor Fields and Thomas "Dike" Eddleman, Illinois punter from 1946 to 1948.

Awards and honors

During his collegiate career at Michigan State, Fields earned the following honors: Freshman (2003): * Mid-season

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 twic ...

n * Second-team coaches All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* First-team media All-Big Ten * First-team ''

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

'' Freshman All-American * Honorable mention Rivals.com All-American * Second-team ''Sporting News'' All-American Sophomore (2004): * Second-team coaches All-Big Ten * First-team media All-Big Ten * First-team AP All-American * First-team

FWAA The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media ou ...

All-American * First-team Rivals.com All-American * First-team SI.com All-American * First-team Walter Camp All-American *

finalist In addition to his football accolades, Fields was an Academic All-Big Ten selection each of his four years at Michigan State.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Prior to the 2007 NFL Draft, Fields was invited to the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. At his Pro Day in April, Fields measured in at 6-foot-4 7/8 and 236 pounds.

Miami Dolphins

Fields was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round (225th overall) of the 2007 NFL Draft. The pick used to select Fields was acquired from the St. Louis Rams earlier in the offseason in exchange for punter Donnie Jones. Fields was the first punter drafted by the Dolphins since Brent Bartholomew in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and was the first rookie to handle punting duties for the team on a full-time basis since

Reggie Roby Reginald Henry Roby (July 30, 1961 – February 22, 2005) was an American professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. He played college football for the Iowa H ...

in 1983. On May 24, the Dolphins signed Fields to a four-year contract. Fields handled punting duties for the Dolphins during all 16 games of his rookie season. His 77 punts averaged 43.2 yards in length, with 10 of them landing inside the opponent's 20-yard line. He also served as the holder on field goals and extra points. His gross average ranked seventh in the

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

and led all four rookie punters in the NFL that season and has improved in all facets of his game every season since. During the 2008 offseason, it was reported that new Dolphins Vice President

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

"absolutely loves Brandon Fields." The team did not pursue competition for him that offseason or since. On December 27, 2013, the NFL announced Fields as a selection for the

2014 Pro Bowl The 2014 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2013 season. It took place at 2:30 pm local time on January 26 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was televised nationally by NBC and was the final Pr ...

. Fields was released on September 1, 2015.

New Orleans Saints

Fields signed with the

on October 6, 2015, to replace

Thomas Morstead Thomas James Morstead (born March 8, 1986) is an American football punter for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at SMU and was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fifth round of the 2009 ...

while he recovered from a strained quadriceps. Fields played in two games, and was then released on October 20, 2015.

Retirement

On September 29, 2017, Fields announced his retirement from the NFL.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

His wife, Katie, whom he married during the 2008 offseason, earned her degree in chiropractic medicine at

Palmer College of Chiropractic Palmer College of Chiropractic is a private chiropractic college with its main campus in Davenport, Iowa. It was established in 1897 by Daniel David Palmer and was the first school of chiropractic in the world. The college's name was originally ...

Port Orange, Florida Port Orange is a city in Volusia County, Florida. The city's population was estimated at 64,842 in 2019 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The city is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area; the metropolitan area's populati ...

. He is part owner of Inside The Five Brewery in Sylvania, Ohio and Perrysburg, Ohio. In 2016, Fields earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from the University of Miami Business School.

References

External links

*
Michigan State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fields, Brandon 1984 births Living people All-American college football players American football punters Miami Dolphins players Michigan State Spartans football players New Orleans Saints players Sportspeople from Southfield, Michigan Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Unconferenced Pro Bowl players University of Miami Business School alumni