Brandon Latrel Keith (born November 21, 1984) 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 was an

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for the

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 ...

of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Northern Iowa Panthers The Northern Iowa Panthers are the athletic teams of the University of Northern Iowa. The university is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and competes in NCAA Division I (Division I FCS in football). History The school's mascot is the ...

. Keith was selected by the Cardinals in the seventh round of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

. He was also a 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 ...

Early life

Keith attended McAlester High School in

McAlester, Oklahoma McAlester is the county seat of Pittsburg County, Oklahoma. The population was 18,363 at the time of the 2010 census, a 3.4 percent increase from 17,783 at the 2000 census.Shuller, Thurman"McAlester" profile ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and ...

, where tallied over 70 pancake blocks earned first-team all-state honors from the ''

Daily Oklahoman ''The Oklahoman'' is the largest daily newspaper in Oklahoma, United States, and is the only regional daily that covers the Greater Oklahoma City area. The Alliance for Audited Media (formerly Audit Bureau Circulation) lists it as the 59th larg ...

'' and the ''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'' as a senior in 2002. Considered a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Keith was rated as the No. 20 offensive tackle in the nation. He committed to the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, but did not qualify academically, and eventually headed for

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

College career

After redshirting his first year at

Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) is a Public college, public community college in Miami, Oklahoma. Established as the Miami School of Mines in 1919, NEO has an enrollment of approximately two thousand students. The Golden Norsemen is th ...

, Keith received first-team all-Southwest League honors and second-team NJCAA All-American in 2004. Honoring his commitment to the Sooners, Keith was a member of the

2005 Oklahoma Sooners football team The 2005 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season, the 111th season of Sooner football. The team was led by two-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year Award winner, Bob Stoo ...

but did not see action. Unsatisfied with his role, he decided to transfer to the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa, United States. UNI offers more than 90 majors across five colleges. The fall 2024 total enrollment was 9,283 students. The university was initially founded in 1 ...

. Keith saw action in seven games for the Panthers, and started two. He missed four games with a bone bruise in his right knee. Keith was part of the offense ranked No. 11 in the nation in scoring (31.0 points/game) in 2006. In 2007, Keith started 11 games at right tackle, helping to guide the Panthers to a perfect 11–0 regular season and a No. 1 national ranking for six weeks. He received ''

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'' All-America third-team honors and was named an honorable mention All-American by ''The Sports Network''.

Professional career

Despite impressive showings at Northern Iowa's Pro Day, where he ran a sub-5.0

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

at 345 pounds, Keith was not regarded as one of the top offensive tackles in the draft, due to his unpolished footwork and lack of consistency. He was selected in the seventh round with the 225th overall pick by the

. After signing with the

on May 6, 2013, Keith was released by the Vikings on August 31, 2013 (along with 18 others) to get to a 53-man roster.

Coaching career

He coaches at Salt River High School in the Salt River Pima Indian County.

References

External links

UNI Panthers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Brandon 1984 births Living people People from Silsbee, Texas American football offensive tackles Northern Iowa Panthers football players Arizona Cardinals players Minnesota Vikings players Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas