Brandon Jamal Bostick (born May 3, 1989) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (1956–2023), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Ne ...

. Bostick was signed by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

in 2012. He was also member of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

and

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

. He is most well known for his gaffe on an

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff (under American and Canadian rules) or punt (under Canadian rules only) deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a t ...

in the

2014 NFC Championship game The 2014 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game was an American football game played between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks on January 18, 2015, at Lumen Field, CenturyLink Field in Seattle, Seattle, Washington. Bot ...

that allowed 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

to make a late fourth-quarter comeback and defeat the Packers.

Early life and college

Bostick was born in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropol ...

and graduated from

West Florence High School West Florence High School is a public secondary school serving grades 9 through 12 in Florence, South Carolina, United States. The school is located on the city's west side, near the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95. History West Florence ...

in 2007. He then attended

Newberry College Newberry College is a private Lutheran college in Newberry, South Carolina. As of 2023, it had 1,521 students. Academics Newberry College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) ...

, a Division II school. After redshirting his freshman year, Bostick played at Newberry as

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

from the 2008 to 2011 seasons. In 39 games, he started 24 and made 136 receptions for 1,935 yards and 19 touchdowns. Bostick also played basketball at Newberry for the second half of his junior season. He was a

sports management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiza ...

major at Newberry.

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

He was signed by the Packers as an

on May 30, 2012. Bostick spent his entire rookie season in 2012 on the practice squad. Playing primarily on special teams, Bostick made his NFL debut on September 15, 2013, against

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He recorded his first NFL touchdown catch on November 10, 2013, against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, on a 22-yard pass from

Scott Tolzien Scott Jeffery Tolzien (born September 4, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback and coach who currently serves the quarterbacks coach for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foot ...

, in a play that was also Tolzien's first career touchdown pass. Bostick finished the 2013 season with 7 receptions for 120 yards and a touchdown in 11 games. He missed the Thanksgiving Classic due to a concussion suffered during the November 24 game. On December 15 against

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Bostick suffered a foot injury late in the second half; he was placed on season-ending injured reserve six days later. Bostick played 13 games in the 2014 season and made 2 receptions for 3 yards and a touchdown. On November 9, in a Sunday night 55–14 win over the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, Bostick made the Packers' first touchdown score, on a pass from

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears foo ...

on fourth down from the Bears' 1-yard line. In the

NFC Championship Game The NFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the National Football Conference (NFC) and one of the two semifinal National Football League playoffs, playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional Ame ...

against the

on January 18, 2015, with slightly over 2 minutes remaining and the Packers leading 19–14, Bostick, the Packers' third-string tight end, misplayed a Seahawks

by ignoring his blocking assignment and stepping in front of

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

receiver

Jordy Nelson Jordy Ray Nelson (born May 31, 1985) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders. He played ...

who was assigned to catch and was waiting for the ball. The ball bounced off Bostick's helmet and was recovered by Seahawks wide receiver

Chris Matthews Christopher John Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American political commentator, retired talk show host, and author. Matthews hosted his weeknight hour-long talk show, ''Hardball with Chris Matthews'', on America's Talking and later on M ...

. In the ensuing drive, the Seahawks scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to go ahead 22–19.

Mason Crosby Mason Walker Crosby (born September 3, 1984) is an American former professional football placekicker. He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, and earned unanimous All-American honors. The Green Bay Packers selected him in the sixth ...

made a game-tying field goal with 14 seconds left, but Seattle won 28–22 in overtime. Bostick was widely credited in both Wisconsin and National sports media as having made a

Bill Buckner William Joseph Buckner (December 14, 1949 – May 27, 2019) was an American first baseman and left fielder in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for five teams from through , most notably the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston R ...

type mistake costing his team a chance for a championship. In his postgame interview, Bostick acknowledged that he was supposed to block so that

could recover the onside kick. Bostick was released on February 16, 2015.

Minnesota Vikings

Bostick was claimed off waivers by the

on February 18, 2015. He was released as part of the first wave of roster cuts on August 30, 2015.

Arizona Cardinals

On September 7, 2015, the

signed Bostick to their practice squad. On September 22, 2015, he was released by the Cardinals. On October 2, 2015, Bostick was re-signed to the Cardinals' practice squad. On December 1, 2015, he was released from practice squad.

New York Jets

On December 8, 2015, the

signed Bostick to their practice squad. In 2016 he played in 16 games, starting in 7 of them, finishing the season with 8 catches for 63 yards.

Statistics

''Source
NFL.com
'

Personal life

His cousin, Akeem Bostick, is a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bostick, Brandon 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Florence, South Carolina American football tight ends Newberry Wolves football players Newberry Wolves men's basketball players Green Bay Packers players Minnesota Vikings players Arizona Cardinals players New York Jets players