Brandon Michael Kirsch (born October 13, 1983) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. 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 ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, where he would forgo his senior season to enter the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

. Kirsch played for the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

and

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

of the

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).

Early life

Kirsch, attended Cedar Crest High School in

Lebanon, Pennsylvania Lebanon ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lebanon was founded by George Steitz in 1740 and was originally named ...

, where he was first team all-state, first team all-county and league Most Valuable Player as senior after completing 115 of 198 passes (58.0 percent) for 1,950 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also rushed for 515 yards on 88 carries (5.9 average) and two touchdowns. Brandon was named second team all-county both his sophomore and junior seasons and was honorable mention all-state as junior. He completed 104 of 186 passes (55.9 percent) for 1,595 yards and 20 touchdowns as junior and 78 of 162 passes (48.1 percent) for 1,178 yards and 14 touchdowns as sophomore. Career totals were 300 of 552 passing (54.3 percent) for 4,808 yards and 61 touchdowns with 241 rushes for 1,142 yards (4.7 average) and 10 touchdowns. His high school football coach was Gene Fuhrman. He also played baseball and basketball. On September 24, 2001, he signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at

. He was ranked a 4-star prospect according to

Rivals.com Rivals.com (stylized as ''rivals'') 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 found ...

College career

Kirsch started four games in 2002 as a true freshman, completing 59.0 percent of his passes for 1,067 yards with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He was also third on the team in rushing with 423 yards. Kirsch appeared in only three games his sophomore season (all as a reserve) before injuring his throwing shoulder and taking a medical

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

. He returned in 2005 and started six games, throwing for 1,625 yards with 7 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in those games, before being benched in favor of freshman Curtis Painter. Following the benching, Kirsch caused a controversy on the team and lost popularity among fans and teammates. Kirsch chose to not return to school for his senior season, declaring himself for the

Statistics

Kirsch's career stats are as follows:

Professional career

Kirsch was rated the 21st quarterback in the

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Colorado Crush

He was not drafted by the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and signed with the

. Spent two seasons with the Crush, (2007–08) where he played four total games, completing 12-of-21 passes for 179 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Philadelphia Soul

On May 20, 2011, the

signed Kirsch to fill in for Justin Allgood, who was traded to the

Tulsa Talons Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa ...

. On June 19, 2011, it was announced that he would start in place of the struggling

Ryan Vena Ryan Vena (born November 15, 1977) is a former arena football quarterback. Vena attended Colgate University in Hamilton, New York and graduated in 2000. Vena started his career in arena football in 2002. He ended his career with over 720 career ...

Reading Express

Kirsch signed with the

Reading Express The Reading Express were a professional indoor football team based in Reading, Pennsylvania. They were most recently a member of the United Conference of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Express began play in 2006, as an expansion team of t ...

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

(IFL) for the 2012 season, but never played for the Express.

Statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

References

External links

Purdue profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsch, Brandon 1983 births Living people American football quarterbacks Colorado Crush players Philadelphia Soul players Purdue Boilermakers football players Sportspeople from Lebanon, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania Reading Express players