Bryce Alan Boettcher (; born July 8, 2002) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

. He is also a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

in the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

organization.

Early life and high school

Boettcher attended

South Eugene High School South Eugene High School is a public high school located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. History The school was founded as Eugene High School in 1903, and was located at Willamette Street and West 11th Avenue in a brick building that later se ...

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

, and was rated as a three-star recruit. He committed to play

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 ...

as a walk-on for the

College football career

In Boettcher's first two seasons in 2022 and 2023, he totaled 39 tackles with three being for a loss, a

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 26 games. After being selected in the

2024 MLB draft The 2024 Major League Baseball Draft took place on July 14–16, 2024, in Fort Worth, Texas. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The first six selections were set via a lottery, with first round picks ...

, he decided to return to play for the Ducks in 2024. In week three of the 2024 season, Boettcher recorded ten tackles as he helped the Ducks to a win over rival

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees through all 11 of the universit ...

. Boettcher was the Ducks' leader in tackles for the 2024 season, and won the

Burlsworth Trophy The Burlsworth Trophy is an award given annually to the most outstanding FBS college football player who began his career as a walk-on. It was first awarded for the 2010 season and is a program of the Brandon Burlsworth Foundation. Burlsworth w ...

, which is awarded to the top walk-on player in

. In April 2025, Boettcher announced he would be returning to the Ducks for the 2025 season.

Baseball career

Boettcher had a breakout season in 2024 where he batted .276 with 12 home runs, 35 RBI, and 15 stolen bases, earning a collegiate Gold Glove. After the season, he was drafted by the

in the 13th round of the

References

External links

Oregon Ducks football bioOregon Ducks baseball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boettcher, Bryce 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Eugene, Oregon American football linebackers Baseball players from Oregon South Eugene High School alumni Oregon Ducks football players Oregon Ducks baseball players 21st-century American sportsmen