Survivor 44 Castaway Brandon Cottom’s NFL Career Explained

Survivor 44’s all-new cast will feature former Seattle Seahawks fullback Brandon Cottom, who hopes to become the first NFL alumnus to win the game.

The premiere of Survivor season 44 is right around the corner, and one castaway from the upcoming season is former NFL player, Brandon Cottom. Joining 17 other new players, Brandon is a 30-year-old security specialist from Newtown, Pennsylvania. In addition to his security work, he also works as a youth sports performance coach.

As a cast member on Survivor season 44, Brandon will begin the game as a member of the Ratu tribe. Ratu will be one of three tribes to start the season, along with Soka and Tika. The tribe will consist of Brandon, yogi Jamie Lynn Ruiz, law student Kane Fritzler, elementary school teacher Lauren Harpe, charity projects manager Maddy Pomilla, and barbershop owner Matthew Grinstead-Mayle.

Related: Why Survivor Needs To Change Its Tribal Council Segment

Brandon Cottom Was An NFL Player

Brandon’s pre-Survivor football career was full of ups and downs. He played four years of college football as a fullback for Purdue before going undrafted as he pursued an NFL career. However, Brandon was signed by the Seattle Seahawks in 2015 and spent several seasons with the team under legendary head coach Pete Carroll.

Unfortunately for the Survivor season 44 castaway, his time with the Seahawks was marked by a series of stops and starts with the team, as he spent time on the injured reserve, was waived and re-hired by the team, and eventually was signed to the practice squad instead of the main roster. When his tenure with the Seahawks ended in 2017, he then departed the NFL and began playing in other professional football leagues. He didn’t get much in-game playing time during his stint in the NFL, but he managed to make an NFL roster as an undrafted free agent, an admirable feat for an aspiring player.

Brandon Cottom Is Latest NFL Player To Appear On Survivor

Brandon is one of several former NFL players to compete on Survivor. He joins a relatively long list of NFL alum who tried their hand at the game, including Gary Hogeboom, Steve Wright, Grant Mattos, Brad Culpepper, Tyler Fredrickson, Alan Ball, and Danny McCray. The most obvious comparison to Brandon would be Danny, who is the only former NFL player to have competed in Survivor‘s modern era, which includes more twists and a shorter game than seasons 1 through 40. Danny had a deep run on Survivor 41 and went on to become the inaugural winner of The Challenge USA on CBS.

Like Brandon, Danny also made an NFL career for himself despite being undrafted when entering the league. Though Brandon Cottom didn’t have a long professional football career, he is still an elite athlete and will likely be a major force in the challenges on Survivor season 44. He’ll probably need to work hard to diminish his threat level and may want to keep his history as a professional athlete a secret from his fellow castaways. Overall, Brandon seems poised to be a well-rounded player, and if he plays his cards right, he could go on to be the first former NFL player to win Survivor.

Survivor season 44 premieres Wednesday, March 1, at 8 p.m. EST.

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Source: Brandon Cottom/Instagram