Brandon Jerome Mebane ; (born January 15, 1985) 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 a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, 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 ...

(NFL). He attended

Crenshaw High School Crenshaw High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located on 11th Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The school first opened in 1968 and currently enrolls arou ...

in Los Angeles. 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 ...

for the

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the third round of the

2007 NFL draft The 2007 NFL draft was the 72nd annual meeting of National Football League franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 28 and April 29, 2007. The draf ...

. He also played in the NFL for the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

College career

Mebane played four seasons at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, recording 109 tackles, 25.5 tackles for a loss, 14.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery for the Golden Bears.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Mebane was selected by the

in the third round, 85th overall of the

, and on July 24, he signed a four-year contract. In his rookie season, he played all 16 games and recorded 29 tackles including two sacks. 2008 was a promising year for Mebane as he again played all 16 games and recorded 39 tackles, 5.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. With the departure of

Rocky Bernard Robert "Rocky" Eugene Bernard Jr. (born April 19, 1979) is an American former professional football defensive tackle. He was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Texas A&M. Prof ...

, Mebane was expected to make a big impact for the Seahawks in 2009 in which he started 15 games and recorded 49 tackles and 1.5 sacks. For the 2010 season Mebane started the first four games but suffered a calf injury and was forced to sit out the next four games. In the first four games, he had 8 tackles and 1 sack. Mebane has been a constant in the middle and helped the 2013–2014 Seahawks defense reach dominant heights, as they had one of the best seasons in NFL history. The Seahawks eventually won Super Bowl XLVIII against the Denver Broncos, 43–8. Mebane, along with defensive linemen

Red Bryant Joseph Anthony "Red" Bryant (born April 18, 1984) is an American former professional football defensive tackle. He played college football at Texas A&M, and was selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 2008 NFL draft. Bryant w ...

, center

Max Unger Maxwell McCandless Unger (born April 14, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks and was selected by the S ...

and punter

Jon Ryan Jonathan Robert Ryan (born November 26, 1981) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a punter in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played university football for the Regina Rams, an ...

, were the only four holdovers on the Super Bowl winning team roster from pre-Carroll/Schneider era. Brandon Mebane vs Ravens 2015

Fellow Seahawks teammate Richard Sherman was quoted as saying of Mebane: "He's an incredibly technical player in his movements and everything he does. He's rarely out of position and he's rarely out of the play. You rarely see a defensive tackle running making tackles on the sideline, or akingtackles on screen plays. He does all that. But once again, he's overlooked because I guess he's not a big sack-total guy. He's just a guy that does his job incredibly well week in and week out." With the Seahawks Mebane anchored the middle of the defensive line for the all-time great Legion of Boom defense.

San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers

On March 9, 2016, Mebane signed a three-year contract with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. On September 5, 2016, Mebane was named one of the San Diego Chargers team captains for the 2016 season. He was placed on injured reserve on November 14, 2016, with a torn bicep. On March 13, 2019, Mebane re-signed with the Chargers on a two-year contract. Mebane was released on March 13, 2020. On November 20, 2020, Mebane announced his retirement from professional football.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

California Golden Bears bio

"Brandon Mebane On Seahawks Celebrating At Half Time, Super Bowl 48 Stories & More,"
KJ All Day Podcast, YouTube.com, May 31, 2023. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mebane, Brandon 1985 births American football defensive tackles California Golden Bears football players Living people Los Angeles Chargers players San Diego Chargers players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Los Angeles Crenshaw High School alumni 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen