John Brantley, IV (born March 3, 1989) is an American former

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 ...

. 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 ...

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 ...

from 2008 to 2011. He was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

after going undrafted in the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

but was released before the start of the season. Brantley has family connections to the University of Florida. His father, John Brantley, III, also played quarterback there in the late 1970s and his uncle,

Scot Brantley Scot Eugene Brantley (born February 24, 1958) is an American radio and television sports broadcaster and former college and professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980 ...

, played linebacker for the Gators and went on to the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a 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 Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

Early life

Brantley attended Trinity Catholic High School in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Florida, United States. Located in North Central Florida, the city's population was 63,591 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 56,315 at the 2010 census and making ...

.Jon Mahoney,
Gator genes: John Brantley will continue a great tradition at Florida
" ''Sports Illustrated'' (January 25, 2007). Retrieved April 19, 2010. As a sophomore, Brantley threw for 1,201 yards, 17 touchdowns and one interception, while sharing time with senior Seth Varnadore. During his junior season, he threw for 2,835 yards, 41 touchdowns and five interceptions, leading Trinity Catholic to the Florida Class 2B state title. Brantley finished his high school career with an FHSAA record 99 touchdown passes, breaking the previous state mark of 98, held by

Tim Tebow Timothy Richard Tebow (; born August 14, 1987) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for three seasons, primarily with the Denver Broncos. Tebow played college football for t ...

. Following his high school career, Brantley was invited to play in the 2007

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

. Brantley was chosen as the 2006

Gatorade National Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys baseball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys football, boys and girl ...

for football and was judged a four star recruit by Scout.com.Scout.com, Football Recruiting
John Brantley
. Retrieved April 19, 2010.

Recruiting process

After a trip to

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

to see the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, Brantley committed to the Longhorns. In a later interview with FloridaFB.com, Brantley reiterated his commitment to Texas, stating that he felt it was "a real special thing to be headed out there exas" The other schools on Brantley's shortlist included

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

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 ...

, and

. In December 2006, Rivals.com reported that Brantley would de-commit from Texas to follow in the footsteps of his uncle at the University of Florida. He later signed his letter of intent, and enrolled in Gainesville in 2007.

College career

Brantley

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his first season with the Gators in 2007, before competing with

Cam Newton Cameron Jerrell Newton (born May 11, 1989) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers. He is the NFL le ...

for the backup job as a redshirt freshman in the 2008 season. Brantley first saw playing time in the season opener against

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, and would go in as the backup after the starters were pulled in several conference games. He appeared in nine games, with pass attempts in seven of them. Brantley finished the 2008 season going 18 for 28 passing for 235 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. Brantley earned media attention during the 2009 season after starting quarterback

suffered a concussion in a September 26 game against

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. It was speculated Brantley would make the first start of his Gator career in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

at LSU, but Tebow was cleared to play on the day of the game. In Florida's spring game of 2010, he completed 15 of 19 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Brantley was the starting quarterback in the Gators' 2011 season. He injured his ankle in the October 1 game against

and missed the following two games.

Professional career

Brantley signed as an undrafted free agent with the

on April 28, 2012 after going undrafted in the

. He was waived on August 1, 2012.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brantley, John 1989 births Living people American football quarterbacks Florida Gators football players Baltimore Ravens players Players of American football from Ocala, Florida