Brandon Dennard Pettigrew (born February 23, 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

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 ...

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 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

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

. He was selected in the first round (20th overall) of the 2009 NFL draft by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, and spent his entire 8-year career with the team.

Early life

Brandon Pettigrew 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 ...

at Robert E. Lee High School in

Tyler, Texas Tyler, officially the City of Tyler, is a city in and the county seat of Smith County, Texas, United States. As of 2020, the population is 105,995. Tyler was the List of municipalities in Texas, 38th most populous city in Texas (as well as the m ...

, where he was teammates with

Matt Flynn Matt or Matthew Flynn may refer to: * Matt Flynn (American football) (born 1985), American football player * Matt Flynn (Australian footballer) (born 1997), Australian rules footballer * Matt Flynn (politician) (born 1947), American politician * ...

, Justin Warren, and Ciron Black. While at Robert E. Lee, Pettigrew played as a tight end and on

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named All-District and All-East Texas. He was also one of three players to be named to the All-State team. He chose to attend

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

(TCU),

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU) and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

College career

Pettigrew played college football at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

where he majored in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. As a freshman in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, he appeared in 11 games (nine starts). He recorded 11 receptions for 128 yards and one

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, as a sophomore, he started all 13 games. He recorded 24 receptions for 310 yards and four touchdowns and was an All-Big 12

honorable mention An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

. As a junior in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, he started all 13 games. He recorded 35 receptions for 540 yards and four touchdowns. He was named First-team All-Big 12 Football at Tight End in 2007. As a senior in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he recorded 42 receptions for 472 yards. During his career he recorded 112 receptions for 1,450 yards and nine touchdowns.

College statistics

Professional career

Pettigrew was selected in the first round (20th overall) of the 2009 NFL draft by the

. The pick used to select Pettigrew was originally acquired by the Lions in a trade that sent Roy Williams to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. On July 31, 2009, the Detroit Lions signed him to a five-year, $14.60 million contract with $9.4 million guaranteed and a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $5.09 million. On November 22 against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, Pettigrew caught six passes for 72 yards, including the game-winning touchdown. Pettigrew suffered a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

injury during the opening drive of the Lions' annual Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit. The next day, an

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and rad ...

revealed he would require season-ending surgery. On December 1, 2009, Pettigrew was officially placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

and missed the rest of the 2009 season. He finished the season with 30 receptions for 346 yards and two touchdowns. In

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, he recorded 71 receptions for 722 yards and four touchdowns. His 71 receptions and 722 receiving yards were both third best among

s. For the 2011 season, he recorded 83 receptions for 777 yards and five touchdowns. This set the record for the most receptions and yards in a season by a tight end in Lions history which would stand until Sam LaPorta's stellar 86-catch, 889-yard rookie season in 2023. In

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, he recorded 59 receptions for 567 yards and three touchdowns. For the 2013 season, he recorded 41 receptions for 416 yards and two touchdowns. On March 14, 2014, the Lions signed Pettigrew to a four-year, $12 million free-agent contract with $8 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4 million. For the 2014 season, he recorded ten receptions for 70 yards. In a December 13, 2015, game against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

, Pettigrew suffered a torn ACL. He was placed on injured reserve on December 15. For the 2015 season, he recorded seven receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown. Pettigrew started out the 2016 on the PUP list to recover from his torn ACL the previous season. He was moved to the reserve/non-football injury list on December 6, 2016. Days later the Lions cleared out his locker, indicating that the team could be moving on without him. He was officially released by the Lions on December 9, 2016.

NFL statistics

Personal life

Pettigrew was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness on February 5, 2017, after an

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

bar fight. Pettigrew was arrested on July 9, 2018, in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, accused of aggravated assault after an argument arose regarding an unpaid limo fee. In November 2018, charges of aggravated assault and diversion of services were withdrawn. Pettigrew was arrested June 2, 2024, after an altercation in a Dallas convenience store.

References

External links

Oklahoma State Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pettigrew, Brandon 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Tyler, Texas American football tight ends Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Detroit Lions players