Brandon Denson (born July 22, 1987) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) and

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). 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 ...

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

. He was a member of the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

, and

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

of the CFL and the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the ...

of the AFL.

Early life

Brandon Denson was born on July 22, 1987, in

Ypsilanti, Michigan Ypsilanti ( ), commonly shortened to Ypsi ( ), is a college town and city located on the Huron River in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's popu ...

. He played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Willow Run High School Willow Run High School was a public high school in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan.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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

. He rushed for 750 yards as a senior, including a career-high 210 yards and three touchdowns in the final game of the season. Denson also played basketball at Willow Run, averaging 4.4 points and 8.7 rebounds as a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

during the 2004–05 season. He was a four-year starting

centerfielder A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the baseball and softball fielding position between left field and right field. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the ce ...

for the baseball team and led the team with ten steals his junior year. He garnered all-conference recognition in track his senior season, participating in the 110 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. Denson was diagnosed with

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...

his senior year.

College career

Denson joined the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

in 2005 as a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album) or the title song, 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album) or the title song, 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album) or the title song, 1992 *''Walk On'', by Kellie Coffey, 200 ...

. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the 2005 season as a running back. He was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

from 2006 to 2009. He moved to

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

in 2006. He played in eight games during the 2006 season, mostly on special teams, and posted two tackles while also returning one punt for 20 yards. Denson appeared in all 13 games in 2007, primarily on special teams, and recorded six solo tackles and four assisted tackles. He converted to linebacker in 2008 and played in 12 games, appearing as a Sam linebacker on

nickel defense American football, a nickel defense (also known as a 4–2–5 or 3–3–5) is any defensive alignment that uses five defensive backs, of whom the fifth is known as a nickelback. The original and most common form of the nickel defense features ...

plays and on special teams. That season, he totaled 19 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, 1.5 sacks, and three pass breakups. Denson played in 12 games, starting ten at Will linebacker, as a senior in 2009, recording 23 solo tackles, 45 assisted tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one interception. He also missed one game due to injury that year. He majored in criminal justice at Michigan State.

Professional career

Denson dressed in four games, starting one, for the

of the

(CFL) in 2011, totaling five defensive tackles, seven special teams tackles, and one fumble recovery. Denson tried out for 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

at rookie

minicamp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

in May 2012 but was not signed. Denson was assigned to the

of the

on June 19, 2012. He was placed on injured reserve on July 2. He was assigned to the Gladiators again on November 1. Denson was placed on physically unable to perform on March 10, 2013, and activated the next day. He was placed on the suspended list on April 2, 2013. He posted six solo tackles and six assisted tackles for the Gladiators during the 2013 season. He was placed on reassignment on June 11, 2014. Denson spent most of the

2013 CFL season The 2013 CFL season was the 60th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 56th season of the Canadian Football League. The pre-season began on June 12, 2013 and the regular season began on June 27, 2013. Regina, Saskatch ...

on the practice roster of the

. However, he did end up dressing for one game, where he did not record any statistics. Denson signed with the CFL's

in January 2014. On June 10, 2014, it was reported that Denson had been released.

Post-football career

Denson competed in the eighth season of

American Ninja Warrior ''American Ninja Warrior'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''ANW'') is an American sports entertainment reality show based on the Japanese television reality show ''Sasuke (TV series), Sasuke,'' which also serves as a successor of ''American Ninja C ...

in 2016. He has also spent time as a disciplinarian at Voyageur Academy in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denson, Brandon Living people 1987 births Players of American football from Michigan American football defensive ends American football linebackers American football running backs American football safeties Canadian football defensive linemen Canadian football linebackers Michigan State Spartans football players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Montreal Alouettes players Cleveland Gladiators players Ottawa Redblacks players Contestants on American game shows Sportspeople from Ypsilanti, Michigan Players of Canadian football from Michigan People with type 1 diabetes