Brandon Keith James (born December 21, 1987) 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 ...

wide receiver and kick returner. James 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 the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, was a two-time All-American, and was a member of two

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

teams. Thereafter, he played professionally for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of 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) and for the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Comm ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

(CFL).

Early years

James was born in

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; es, San Agustín ) is a city in the Southeastern United States and the county seat of St. Johns County on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorers, it is the oldest continuously inhabi ...

in 1987.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Brandon James
Retrieved March 28, 2011. He attended

St. Augustine High School The name St. Augustine High School could refer to: In the United States: * St. Augustine Academy (Lakewood, Ohio) * St. Augustine High School (Laredo, Texas) * St. Augustine High School (New Orleans), Louisiana * St. Augustine High School (San Di ...

, where he was a standout

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

for the St. Augustine Yellow Jackets high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2009 Roster
Brandon James
. Retrieved August 25, 2010. As a senior team captain in 2005, James ran for 900 yards and eight

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s while leading the Yellow Jackets to a Florida Class 3A state championship.

College career

James received an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fro ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team from

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 85, 89, 95, 97, 98, 102, 125, 139, 147–150, 158, 182 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. As a freshman in 2006, James saw immediate playing time as a kick return specialist, returning 33 punts for 363 yards and one touchdown in 2006, and earning Freshman All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) and Freshman All-American honors. His 33-yard kickoff return against the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

in the

2007 BCS National Championship Game The 2007 Tostitos BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on January 8, 2007, and featured the top-ranked Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes against the 2nd-r ...

gave the Gators the ball in Buckeye territory after Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. opened the game with a kickoff return for a touchdown. James's dramatic return and the Gators' resulting touchdown changed the early momentum of the game, with the Gators ultimately defeating the top-ranked Buckeyes 41–14 to win the BCS National Championship. James led the Gators in kickoff and punt return yardage for four consecutive seasons, and finished his college career with 4,770 total yards gained, including 112 kickoff returns for 2,718 yards and a touchdown, 117 punt returns for 1,371 yards and four touchdowns, 379 receiving yards and 302 rushing yards. His career kickoff return yardage and combined kick return yardage remain SEC records. He was a first-team All-American in 2007, a consensus first-team All-American in 2008, a first-team All-SEC selection in 2008, the SEC Special Teams Player of the Year in 2008, and a senior team captain in 2009. During his time as a Gator, the team won two

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regul ...

s (

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

) and two

BCS National Championship Game The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college fo ...

s (

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

). James graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 2010.

Track and field

James was also a member of the

Florida Gators track and field The Florida Gators track and field program represents the University of Florida in the sport of track and field. The program includes separate men's and women's teams, both of which compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic As ...

team, competing at the SEC Outdoor Championships. His personal bests are 10.43 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contes ...

and 21.00 seconds in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Personal bests

Professional career

The

signed James as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2010. On November 10, James was activated from the practice squad to the main roster. On November 28, 2010, James posted 150 kick return yards and 29 punt return yards.National Football League, Current Players
Brandon James
Retrieved March 28, 2011. He was released the following week from the Colts active roster. In , the

signed James as a free agent, but he was later released during the regular season, bringing his playing career to an end.

Coaching career

In 2012, James was hired to coach the football team at St. Joseph Academy in St. Augustine. He was fired after one season in which the team went 2-8.Klein, Danny
"St. Joseph parts ways with Brandon James as football coach"
staugustine.com. January 8, 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). .

External links

Brandon James
– Florida Gators player profile {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Brandon 1987 births Living people People from St. Augustine, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football return specialists American football running backs American football wide receivers Florida Gators football players All-American college football players Indianapolis Colts players American players of Canadian football Edmonton Elks players Track and field athletes from Florida Florida Gators men's track and field athletes