Curtis Brinkley (born September 20, 1985) 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2009. 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 ...

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 ...

. He was also a member of the

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

Brinkley was born on September 20, 1985, in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He attended both

West Catholic Preparatory High School West Catholic Preparatory High School is a co-educational Catholic high school in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 45th and Chestnut Streets, the University City neighborhood of West Philadelphia ...

and

Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private school, private, all-male, Military school, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Chr ...

. During his career he set Philadelphia city records with 1,007 carries and rushing for 300 yards five times. As a senior, he was named all-city along with rushing for 2,813 yards. He finished his high school career with 7,429 yards and scoring 85 touchdowns in four years. Those stats broke the record of current

Kevin Jones. In 2004, at Hargrave he faced competition from Robert Barcliff and Andre Brown. During his time in high school, Brinkley was nicknamed "Boonah". Brinkley was the MVP of the 2004 Big 33 game.

College career

Entering college, Brinkley was named a ''PrepStar

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

'' and was rated as the 12th best running back by '' Rivals.com''. On October 6, 2005, against

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

saw playing time as a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

. As a senior, Brinkley ran for 1,165 rushing yards and scored 14 touchdowns with 237 carries.

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

After going unselected in the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

, Brinkley was signed by the

as an

. He was waived on September 4, 2010, but was re-signed the following day to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

. He was promoted to the active roster on September 25, only to be waived on September 28 and re-signed to the practice squad on October 1. The Chargers promoted him to the active roster again on November 22. Brinkley was waived on December 16 and re-signed to the practice squad on December 19. However, he was promoted to the active roster again on December 31, where he finished the season. The following season, he was waived during final cuts again and was later re-signed to the practice squad on September 12, 2011. On September 15, he was released, only to be re-added to the practice squad on September 17. The Chargers released him again a week later, but again re-signed him on September 28. Brinkley was promoted to the active roster on October 22. Brinkley scored his first career touchdown on October 31, 2011, in a Monday Night Football game at Kansas City. He totaled 43 yards on 10 carries, reaching the end zone on a 2-yard score.Farrar, Doug (November 1, 2011) "Chargers' Curtis Brinkley is a survivor in more ways than one," Yahoo! Sports, https://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Chargers-Curtis-Brinkley-is-a-survivor-in-more-?urn=nfl-wp10894 However, Brinkley was diagnosed with a concussion after the game.

Chicago Bears

On August 12, 2013, Brinkley signed a one-year contract with the

. He was waived on August 25.

Shooting

On July 10, 2009, Brinkley was shot multiple times by an unknown gunman while his car was stopped in the Philadelphia suburb of

Cheltenham Township Cheltenham Township is a home-rule township located in the southeast corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Philadelphia to the south and east, Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Abington Township ...

. After the shooting, Anthony Peterson Jr., 25, the boyfriend of Brinkley's sister, admitted to firing the shots, which were intended for a romantic rival. Peterson was convicted of one count each of attempted murder and aggravated assault, both first-degree felonies, and sentenced to seven to 14 years in state prison. Following the shooting, Brinkley was taken to

Albert Einstein Medical Center Jefferson Einstein Hospital (formerly Einstein Medical Center Philadelphia) is a non-profit hospital located in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The hospital is a part of Jefferson Health. The medical center offers Residency (medicine), reside ...

and was listed in stable condition. His shooting makes it the third time in six years a Chargers player was shot, Terrence Kiel was shot in 2003 and Steve Foley was shot in 2006.

References

External links

San Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brinkley, Curtis 1985 births Living people Players of American football from Philadelphia American football running backs Syracuse Orange football players San Diego Chargers players Chicago Bears players