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

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

from 2008 to 2011. He was signed by the

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

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, played linebacker for the Gators and went on to the NFL.

High school career

Brantley attended Trinity Catholic High School in

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home t ...

.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. Following his high school career, Brantley was invited to play in the 2007 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Brantley was chosen as the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year 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 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. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, 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 (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, Oklahoma, 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 football quarterback who is a free agent. He has played for 11 seasons, primarily with the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed "Super Cam", he is the ...

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

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

, 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 Tim Tebow suffered a concussion in a September 26 game against

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

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

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of countie ...

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 Alabama 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 Sportspeople from Ocala, Florida Players of American football from Florida