Brian Edward Winters (born July 10, 1991) 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 an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

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 was selected by 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 ...

in the third round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. 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

Kent State Golden Flashes The Kent State Golden Flashes are the athletic teams that represent Kent State University. The university fields 19 varsity athletic teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division I, Division I level with footba ...

. He also played for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

Early life

Winters attended Hudson High School in

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in northern Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan area. John Brown made his first public vow to destroy slavery here and the ci ...

, and played high school football for the Hudson Explorers. He received All-Ohio and All-Northeast Ohio Conference honors his senior season, after being named all-conference his junior year. In addition to lettering in football twice, Winters also lettered three times in wrestling, and was named all-conference in wrestling his freshman and sophomore years. Rated as only a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, he accepted a scholarship offer from Kent State over offers from

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

and

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

College career

Winters enrolled in

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

, where he played for the

Kent State Golden Flashes football The Kent State Golden Flashes football team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference East division, and competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Ass ...

team from 2009 to 2012. He started every game after joining the Golden Flashes in 2009, 50 in total. He was named to the All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

(MAC) team three times during his career: third-team as a sophomore, second-team as a junior, and first-team as a senior.

Professional career

New York Jets

Winters was selected by the

in the third round, with the 72nd overall pick, of the

. On May 10, 2013, Winters signed a four-year deal with the Jets. He started 12 games as a rookie. On October 13, 2014, against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Winters left the game with a knee injury. The next day, an MRI revealed a torn ACL, prematurely ending his 2014 season. In his first year as the full-time starter at right guard, Winters started 13 games in 2016. On October 2, 2016, against 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 ...

, Winters hit defensive end Michael Bennett head-to-head after a play, which drew a personal foul (15 yard penalty) and caused him to leave the game with concussion symptoms. He was placed on injured reserve on December 20, 2016. On January 16, 2017, Winters signed a four-year contract extension with the Jets. Winters started 13 games at right guard in 2017. He suffered an abdomen injury in Week 2, and played through the injury for most of the year before being placed on injured reserve on December 27, 2017. On November 12, 2019, Winters was placed on injured reserve after a season-ending injury. Winters was released by the Jets on August 2, 2020, after seven seasons with the team.

Buffalo Bills

On August 6, 2020, Winters signed with the

after starting right guard Jon Feliciano suffered a torn pectoral muscle.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 24, 2021, Winters signed with the

on a one-year contract. He was released on September 25, 2021.

References

External links

Kent State Golden Flashes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winters, Brian 1991 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Buffalo Bills players Kent State Golden Flashes football players New York Jets players Sportspeople from Hudson, Ohio Players of American football from Summit County, Ohio Arizona Cardinals players