William Brandon Silvers (born May 9, 1994) is an American 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 ...

for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). 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

Troy Trojans The Troy Trojans are the sports teams of Troy University. They began playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's Division I (NCAA), Division I-A in 2001 in sports, 2001, became a American football, football only member of the ...

Early life

William Brandon Silvers was born to Rae Ann and Jeff Silvers on May 9, 1994, in

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He has one brother, Chase. His uncle, Carey Christensen, played starting

for the Foley Lions and Troy Trojans, helping the latter to win the 1984 NCAA Division II Football Championship. His aunt, Metta Christensen Stapleton, was a star basketball player for the Foley Lions and South Alabama Jaguars. Silvers first started as quarterback his junior year at

Gulf Shores High School Gulf Shores High School is a public high school located in Gulf Shores, Alabama, United States. The school serves grades 9– 12 and is part of the Gulf Shores City Schools district. The school is at the center of a plan to build a combination ...

Gulf Shores, Alabama Gulf Shores is a resort city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 15,014. Geography Gulf Shores is located on the Gulf of Mexico, and is the southernmost settlement in the state of Alabama. It ...

. He threw for 2,468 yards and 26

touchdowns 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 ...

. Silvers had a 54% completion rating his senior year, with 201 attempts for 1,400 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also rushed for 410 yards on 116 carries and nine touchdowns. At the time,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

ranked him as the 27th best high school quarterback in the country.

College career

Silvers began playing for the

in 2014, where he set an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

record for the highest completion percentage by a freshman. After 2 losing seasons, Silver led the 2016 Trojans to a 10–3 record and a victory in the

Dollar General Bowl The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd–Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on th ...

over

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. For his efforts, he was named First-team All-

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered stretching across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the Parallel 36°30′ north. Several climates can be found in the re ...

. 2017 would see Silvers lead the Trojans to another winning record and a Sun Belt Conference co-championship. His final season would be capped off with a victory in the

New Orleans Bowl The New Orleans Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2001. It is normally held at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans; when the Superdome and the rest of the city suffered damage due t ...

against

North Texas North Texas is a term used primarily by residents of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to refer to a geographic area of Texas, generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, Texas, Abilene, west of Paris, Texas, Par ...

. He declared for the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

shortly after. In his 4 years at

Troy University Troy University is a public university in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was founded in 1887 as Troy State Normal School within the Alabama State University System, and is now the flagship university of the Troy University System. It was one ...

, Silvers passed for 10,677 yards, 71 touchdowns, and 29

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s with a 64.4% completion rating, while also adding 415 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns on 237 attempts. He ended his college career with a passing rating of 135.8. As of 2022, Silvers is second all-time for passing yards and passing touchdowns at Troy.

College statistics

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

, Silvers was invited to the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

rookie

minicamp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

, but was not signed to a contract.

Memphis Express

He was selected by the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football Franchise (sports), franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Lib ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

(AAF) during the

2019 AAF QB Draft The AAF QB draft was the only draft for the Alliance of American Football (AAF), held in advance of the 2019 season. The draft was a four-round quarterback draft where clubs were allowed to "protect or pick" from the selection. It was held on No ...

. He started the 2019 season as the third-string quarterback behind

Christian Hackenberg Christian Blaize Hackenberg (born February 14, 1995) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and was selected b ...

and Zach Mettenberger. Hackenberg was demoted to third string after several weeks of poor play and an injury sidelined Mettenberger in week 6. Silvers then began splitting time with recently signed

Johnny Manziel Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992), nicknamed "Johnny Football", is an American former football quarterback. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies and was the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy. He played prof ...

. Silvers and Manziel combined to lead the Express to just its second victory of the season in week 7. Silvers passed for the game-winning touchdown in overtime to beat the Birmingham Iron. With Manziel suffering an injury early in week 8, Silvers played the bulk of the game against the top-ranked

Orlando Apollos The Orlando Apollos were a professional American football franchise based in Orlando, Florida, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The team played its home games at Spectr ...

. Silvers nearly pulled off an upset before losing 34–31, with a late interception by Silvers. Silvers started two games for the Express, passing for 799 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and had a 64% completion rating.

New York Jets

On April 10, 2019, Silvers signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the NFL. He was waived on May 6, 2019.

Seattle Dragons

On October 15, 2019, Silvers was chosen to be the first quarterback of the

Seattle 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 (2020), XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment as the Seat ...

of the XFL. He signed a contract with the team on November 4, 2019. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

The Spring League

Silvers signed with the Conquerors of

The Spring League The Spring League (TSL) was an American football Minor league football (gridiron), developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional football (gridiron), p ...

in May 2021. Silvers would be a part of the Conquerors Week 1 roster. In the 2021 season, Silvers would go on to lead the league in passer rating, guiding his team to a 4–2 record. Unfortunately, the Conquerors would fall short of making the championship game. Silvers finished his first season in the Spring League with 685 passing yards, 9 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a passer rating of 127.3. Silvers signed with the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) after the deadline to be included in the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

and was included in the supplemental draft, but went undrafted.

Houston Roughnecks

On September 29, 2022, XFL reporter Mike Mitchell reported that 8 quarterbacks that worked with Jordan Palmer have reportedly signed with each team. Silvers was signed to the Houston Roughnecks. Silvers started 8 of the Roughnecks' 10 games and led them to the playoffs.

St. Louis Battlehawks

On February 14, 2024, Silvers was signed by the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). In St. Louis, Silvers has primarily served as backup to fellow Alabama native A. J. McCarron and

Manny Wilkins Manny Wilkins Jr. (born November 5, 1995) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (2024), United Football League (UFL). He played college football for Arizona ...

. Silvers re-signed with the Battlehawks on April 22, 2025, following McCarron's departure and injuries to Wilkins and Chevan Cordeiro. He served as the backup to

Max Duggan Maxwell Duggan (born March 12, 2001) is an American professional football quarterback for the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, winning several national awards after ...

, saw action in two regular season games, started the week 10 contest, and entered the XFL Conference Championship in relief of Duggan before suffering a broken scapula on an extra point attempt.

Professional statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silvers, Brandon 1994 births Living people People from Orange Beach, Alabama Players of American football from Baldwin County, Alabama American football quarterbacks Troy Trojans football players Memphis Express (American football) players New York Jets players Seattle Dragons players The Spring League players Houston Roughnecks players St. Louis Battlehawks players