Jacob William Brendel (born September 10, 1992) is an

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 eccentrici ...

for 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 ...

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 ...

(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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. Brendel was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2016.

Early life

A native of

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Hist ...

, Brendel attended

Plano East Senior High School Plano East Senior High School (commonly known as East, Plano East, or PESH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors, as well as freshmen and sophomores as a part of the IB World School (beginni ...

, where he played as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

in his first 2 years. He was moved to the offensive line as a junior. He served as a team captain and was a two-time first-team All-district at the offensive line. He was regarded as a three-star recruit by

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and was listed as the No. 15 center prospect in his class.

College career

After redshirting his initial year at UCLA, Brendel became a fixture at center after spring practice and started all 14 games for the Bruins in 2012. He was named first-team Freshman All-America by ''

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'', CBSSports.com, and

Football Writers Association of America 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 out ...

, and second-team Freshman All-America by ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis include ...

''. As a junior in

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, he was team's most experienced offensive lineman. After missing the season opener against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

with a knee injury, he returned to start the rest of the season. Brendel was named to the All-Pac-12 second-team. He requested an evaluation of his

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 ...

stock, but decided to return for his senior year, when he again earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. The three-time team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

finished his UCLA career with a school record of 52 starts. Brendel graduated from UCLA in Spring 2015 with a degree in Business Economics. He was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 Academic team.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Brendel was signed as an

by the

after the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft beg ...

on May 6. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Cowboys. The next day, he was signed to the Cowboys' practice squad. He was released from the practice squad with an injury settlement on September 29.

Miami Dolphins

On October 11, 2016, Brendel was signed to 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 pla ...

' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 19. He appeared in one game. In 2017, he appeared in all 16 games as a backup center. On September 2, 2018, Brendel was placed on injured reserve with a calf injury. He was activated off injured reserve on November 2. He played in four games, starting three at left guard and center due to injuries. He was placed back on injured reserve with a calf injury on December 12, 2018.

Denver Broncos

On April 18, 2019, Brendel signed with 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 ...

. He was released on August 31.

Baltimore Ravens

On November 27, 2019, Brendel was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

, but was released three days later on November 30.

San Francisco 49ers

On February 7, 2020, Brendel was signed by the

. On August 6, Brendel announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On August 31, 2021, Brendel was waived during final roster cuts. On March 9, 2022, Brendel re-signed with the 49ers.

References

External links

UCLA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brendel, Jake 1992 births Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Plano, Texas Players of American football from Texas Players of American football from Wisconsin Living people American football offensive linemen UCLA Bruins football players Dallas Cowboys players Miami Dolphins players Denver Broncos players Baltimore Ravens players San Francisco 49ers players