Justin Jay Brantly (born March 28, 1986) 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 ...

punter. He played for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He was signed by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

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 ...

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 ...

Early life

Brantly went to school in East Bernard, Texas, where his father, Jerry Brantly, served as an assistant coach under Dale Lechler, the father of NFL and former Texas A&M punter Shane Lechler. Lechler and Brantly were childhood friends. Justin later went to Sealy High School in

Sealy, Texas Sealy is a city in Austin County in southeastern Texas, United States. The population was 6,839 at the 2020 census. Sealy is located west of the downtown Houston area, on the most eastern part of the Texas-German belt region, an area settled by ...

, where he ran track and played basketball and baseball. He was voted into the UIL All-Century Defensive Football third-team. Rivals.com ranked him the 18th kicker prospect in the 2005 recruiting class. He chose to play for

over

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

due to the small-town atmosphere at A&M. He played in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Brantly compiled a 44.3 career punting average, which ranks second in school history behind Shane Lechler's 44.7 set from 1996 to 1999. Brantly punted 44 times inside the opponent's 20-yard line and recorded 57 career punts of more than 50 yards. He hit a career-best 80-yard punt against Colorado in 2005. During his senior season, Brantly led the Big 12 and placed third nationally with a 45.7-yard average. He booted 18 of his 51 punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line, and hit at least one punt of 50 or more yards in 10 of the 12 games. After his senior season, he played in the Texas vs. The Nation Game on January 31, 2009.

College awards and honors

*2005 Rivals.com first-team freshman All-American *2006

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

Honorable mention * 2007 Second-team All-Big 12 *2006, 2007, 2008 Ray Guy Award candidate *2008 First-team Academic All-Big 12 *2008 First-team All-Big 12 (League's coaches,

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, Rivals.com, '' Waco Tribune-Herald'', and ''

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

''); named to the second-team by the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' and ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' *2008 Rivals.com Second-team All-American *2008 SI.com honorable mention All-American *2008 ''College Football News'' third-team All-American

Professional career

Pre-draft

Brantly weighed 247 pounds and measured 6-foot-3 and 3/8 at the Texas A&M Pro Day on March 4, 2009.

Houston Texans

Brantly was not drafted in the 2009 NFL draft, but later signed as a

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 ...

with the

. He was released by the Texans in June 2009. He worked out with other teams during the 2009 regular season.

Omaha Nighthawks

Brantly signed with the

of the United Football League in July 2010.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bioJust Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brantly, Justin 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Corpus Christi, Texas American football punters Texas A&M Aggies football players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Omaha Nighthawks players