Samuel Callaghan Brenner (born April 27, 1990 in Oceanside, California) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was originally signed 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 ...

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 2013. Brenner played college football at

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Early years

Brenner played

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, part ...

Oceanside High School Oceanside High School (California) is an American public secondary school located in Oceanside, California. It is part of the Oceanside Unified School District. History and Campus Oceanside High School is one of two high schools in the Oceanside ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he was a two-time all-league selection and a second-team all-state selection as a senior in 2007. He was twice named his team's Most Valuable Offensive Lineman and played in the California All-Star Game following his senior season. He was named a scholar leader athlete by the Walter J Zable/ San Diego chapter of the National Football and College Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was a finalist in the county wide Silver Pigskin, the first offensive lineman ever so honored by the voting coaches and sports reporters. Brenner's team won the 2007 California Division II State Bowl. As a college prospect, Brenner was ranked by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

as the No. 50 offensive guard in the country and the No. 88 overall prospect in the state of California.

College career

Although Brenner signed with the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

in 2008, he did not enroll until January 2009. As a true freshman, Brenner played primarily on special teams in all 13 games and added 53 snaps on offense. As a sophomore in 2010, Brenner served as the team's top backup offensive lineman and started at left tackle in the team's

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada before moving to the ...

loss to Boise State. Brenner started 12 games at right guard and one at tackle as a junior in 2011, grading out as the team's best offensive lineman in five games and ranking second on the team in total snaps despite exiting the season finale with a neck injury. As a senior in 2012, he started the first two games at right guard followed by 10 at left tackle, allowing just one sack on his way to second-team All- Pac-12 honors.

Professional career

2013 NFL Draft

At Utah's Pro Day prior to the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

, Brenner ran a 5.03 40-yard dash and did 29 bench reps of 225 pounds. He was regarded as a late-round or undrafted prospect, drawing style comparisons to

Zane Beadles Zane Dae Beadles (born November 19, 1986) is a former American football guard who played nine seasons in the NFL. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He has also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sa ...

and

T. J. Lang Thomas John "T. J." Lang (born September 20, 1987) is a former American football guard. He played college football at Eastern Michigan and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Lang was a member of the ...

. After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, Brenner signed with the

as an

Miami Dolphins

Brenner entered his first pro training camp as the lone backup at center behind

Mike Pouncey James Michael Pouncey (born July 24, 1989) is a former American football center who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of Florida, was a member of a BCS National Championship ...

, facing competition from second-year guard

Josh Samuda Joshua Samuda (born December 23, 1988) is a former American football offensive guard. He played college football at Massachusetts. College career He played college football at Massachusetts. During his four years in Massachusetts, He played a to ...

. He was released by the team during final cuts before the regular season and was re-signed to the practice squad on September 2. After 10 weeks on the practice squad, Brenner was promoted to the active roster, replacing offensive tackle Will Yeatman, who was placed on injured reserve with a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and th ...

, and providing depth at center with starter Mike Pouncey listed as questionable for the team's Week 11 contest with an illness. On September 5, 2015, Brenner was waived by the Dolphins. On the following day, he was signed to the Dolphins' practice squad. On September 11, 2015, he was promoted to the Dolphins' active roster. On September 14, 2015, Brenner was waived by the Dolphins. On September 16, 2015, he was re-signed to the Dolphins' practice squad. On September 26, 2015, Brenner was promoted to the Dolphins active roster. On November 7, 2015, Brenner was waived by the Dolphins. On November 10, 2015, he was re-signed by the Dolphins. On November 17, 2015, Brenner was waived by the Dolphins.

Denver Broncos

On November 18, 2015, Brenner was claimed off waivers by 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 headquar ...

. In the 2015 season, the Broncos made

Super Bowl 50 Super Bowl 50 was an American football game to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2015 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football Conference (NFC) cha ...

, but Brenner was inactive for the game. The Broncos defeated 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. ...

by a score of 24–10. Brenner was placed on injured reserve on August 5, 2016.

Personal life

Brenner is the son of Jim Brenner and Eileen Malik, who both served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. Brenner's father swam collegiately at the

University of Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, while his mother played soccer and lacrosse at Castleton State college and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at Cal State San Bernardino. Brenner is bilingual with Spanish being his second language.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenner, Sam 1990 births Living people Players of American football from Oceanside, California American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards American football centers Utah Utes football players Miami Dolphins players Denver Broncos players