William Brody Eldridge (born March 31, 1987) 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 ...

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 ...

who played 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 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. He was a member of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

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 ...

and

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Eldridge attended Prairie View High School in

La Cygne, Kansas La Cygne (pronounced ) is a city in Linn County, Kansas, United States, and situated along the Marais des Cygnes River. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,050. The city is named after the Marais des Cygnes River which ...

where he played a number of different positions including

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. During his junior year, he totaled 130 tackles and eight sacks and also played tight end where he recorded 35 receptions and four touchdowns. For this he garnered All-State Kansas honors. During his senior season, Eldridge broke his ankle in the second game and did not play the rest of the season. Despite this, he was rated the No. 43 strongside defensive end in the country by Rivals.com and No. 16 player in the Midlands by Scout.com. He was eventually recruited by the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

College career

Eldridge redshirted the 2005 season but as a Freshman in 2006 he converted to tight end and did most of his work in three-tight end sets or as a blocking back. He was characterized by coaches as one of the top blockers on the team and had three receptions on the season, including a long of 10 yards against

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. As a Sophomore he saw playing time at fullback position where he was an All-Big 12 award winner and had six starts as a tight end, playing in two or three-tight end sets or as a blocking back. He had two receptions for 23 yards against

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 ...

, including a career-long 12-yard catch. In 2008 as a Junior he continued to play primarily as a blocking tight end and fullback starting the first 4 games of the season before suffering an ankle injury which caused him to miss 3 games. He registered his first career touchdown with a one-yard reception against

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 ...

and had a season-long 11-yard catch against

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in the Big 12 Championship. As a Senior in 2009, Eldridge started at

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, tight end and

left guard In American football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is an offensive line player who lines up between the center and the tackles. Like other offensive line positions, guards are used primarily for blocking. Right ...

before suffering a season ending neck injury against

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. He finished the season with 2 receptions for 19 yards.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Eldridge was considered the best blocking tight end in the draft and was thought of as a late-round pick.

Indianapolis Colts

Eldridge was selected by the

in round 5 with the 162nd pick of the 2010 NFL draft. He was the second tight end drafted from the

that year following Jermaine Gresham in the first round. He agreed to a four-year, $1.95 million contract with the Colts. Eldridge was waived by the Colts on May 17, 2012.

St. Louis Rams

On May 18, 2012, Eldridge was claimed by the

. On July 2, 2012, it was reported that he would be suspended for the first four games of 2012 season due to violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances. He was able to participate in all offseason and preseason practices and games, but could not be added to the active roster until after facing 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 ...

on September 30.

Chicago Bears

On October 15, 2012, Eldridge was signed to the

. On November 13, 2012, Eldridge was released by the Bears to make room for

Josh McCown Joshua Treadwell McCown (born July 4, 1979) is an American professional American football, football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foo ...

after starting quarterback

Jay Cutler Jay Christopher Cutler (born April 29, 1983) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. A member of the Chicago Bears for most of his career, he is ...

suffered a concussion. Eldridge was brought back on January 9, 2013. Eldridge was waived on August 3, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eldridge, Brody 1987 births Living people People from La Cygne, Kansas Sportspeople from the Kansas City metropolitan area Players of American football from Kansas American football tight ends Oklahoma Sooners football players Indianapolis Colts players Chicago Bears players