Brandon Ruiz (born February 18, 1999) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

who is a free agent. 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

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

and

Arizona State Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is one of the largest ...

Early years

Ruiz attended Williams Field High School. As a senior, he made 17-of-20 field goals with a long of 58 yards and converted 66-of-67 extra points. He was the team's

kicker Kicker or The Kicker may refer to: Sports * Placekicker, a position in American and Canadian football * ''Kicker'' (magazine), sports magazine in Germany * Kicker, the German colloquial term for an association football player * Kicker, the wor ...

and punter, contributing to the school winning the 2016 5A State Championship with a 14–0 record. He set an Arizona High School record for the longest field goal (58) and tied the record for most field goals in a game (5). He also received All-region and All-state honors.

College career

Ruiz accepted a football scholarship from

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. As a true freshman in 2017, he replaced the recently graduated

Zane Gonzalez Zane Holden Fortunato Gonzalez (born May 7, 1995) is an American professional football placekicker. He played college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, finishing as the NCAA Division I leader in field goals made at the time prior to be ...

as the starter at

. He made 19-of-27 field goal attempts (long of 52 yards) and 49-of-50 extra point attempts. He had 52 touchbacks. As a sophomore in 2018, he made 18-of-22 field goal attempts (tied 16th nationally) and 45-of-45 on extra point attempts. He had 48 touchbacks (tied 24th nationally). He received Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week honors, after making 3 field goals, including the game winner against No. 15 ranked

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 had a career-long 54-yard field goal (third in school history) against

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

. As a junior in 2019, he suffered a groin injury that forced him to miss the first games of the season, while

Cristian Zendejas Cristian Zendejas (born 1999) is a former American football placekicker, kicker who played college football for Arizona State Sun Devils football, Arizona State. Early years Zendejas attended Perry High School (Gilbert, Arizona), Perry High Sch ...

was named the team's starter at

. Ruiz later announced that he planned to transfer during the summer of 2019. On December 8, 2019 he confirmed that he had chosen to transfer to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

. As a

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 ...

junior in 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Mississippi State only played 11 contests during the season. He started the first 10 games and Jace Christman the season finale. Ruiz made 10 out of 12 field goal attempts. His 14 points at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

and against the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

tied for fourth place in school history. Ranked No. 26 in the nation and No. 7 in the SEC Conference in field goal percentage (83.3). As a senior, he appeared in the first 2 games of the season, before being replaced with

freshman Nolan Mccord in the fourth quarter of the contest against

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

, after worsening a groin injury. He returned to play in the sixth game against the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

, where he went 3 for 3 on field goals attempts. He didn't play in the last 4 games of the season because of the injury. He made 5-of-9 field goal attempts and 20-of-20 on extra point attempts.

Professional career

Seattle Sea Dragons

Ruiz was selected by the XFL

Seattle Sea Dragons The Seattle Sea Dragons were a professional American football team based in Seattle, Washington. The Sea Dragons competed in the second incarnation of the XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment as the Seattle Dragons ...

in the Group 5 third round (24th overall) of the 2023 XFL Draft.

References

External links

*
Mississippi State Bulldogs bio

Arizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Brandon 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Gilbert, Arizona American football placekickers Arizona State Sun Devils football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Seattle Sea Dragons players