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Meet Tuskers Speed Merchant Bennie Brazell

August 6, 2010 - United Football League (UFL 1)
Florida Tuskers News Release


There is one word that has been consistently used to describe Florida Tuskers wide receiver Bennie Brazell in every publication about his football career.

That one word is, "Speedster."

In Brazell's life he has used that speed to torch opponents in a list of sports that include baseball, football, track, and most recently rugby before signing to play in the United Football League.

Tuskers head coach Jay Gruden brought Brazell in after he saw the Louisiana State University product in a head-turning free agent tryout in Miami where he blew by every cornerback that Gruden threw at him.

"There is no substitute for speed and at our Miami free agent camp Bennie chose not to run the 40 so we were thinking 'yeah this guy can't run anymore or might be hurt' until we started the one-on-ones. Bennie just blew by the first person he faced," Gruden said. "So we figured maybe that guy was slow, let's put somebody else on him, but he continued to run by every guy we put on him, ran solid routes, and caught the ball well."

Perhaps Brazell's speed should not have come as a surprise. He was a standout athlete at LSU where he ran four seasons of track and played four seasons of football.

In track, he helped the Tigers win national championships in the 4x400 in 2003 and 2005 and the 4x100 in 2002 and 2003. His crowning moment was making the 2004 United States Olympic Track and Field team where he participated in the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Brazell ran the 400-meter hurdles where he finished in eighth in the finals.

Taking a lot of pride in making the US Olympic team, Brazell took it as a personal challenge. "I put in so much work in just trying to make the team and proving a lot of doubters, including some family members, wrong," said Brazell. "So it just felt really good to achieve that goal."

In football he recorded 17 catches for 343 yards and three touchdowns in 43 career games for LSU.

While the numbers fail to jump off the page it was his speed that got him drafted in the seventh round of the 2006 National Football League draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

He suffered a knee injury that forced him to miss all of his rookie season and failed to make the Bengals' 52-man roster the following season before trying out for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2008.

"I look at it like this season will be my rookie year," Brazell said. "I felt like I lost my competitive spirit so I haven't played football in awhile. I know that Jay [Gruden] likes to throw the football a lot so I am looking forward to that."

For a guy who considers himself a rookie, Brazell possesses knowledge from two of the NFL's best veteran wide receivers in Chad Ochocinco and T.J. Houshmandzadeh from his time in Cincinnati.

"As far as learning it was two-great years of my life, Chad and T.J. taught me a lot," he said. "That's why no matter what anybody says about Chad I've always got his back because he taught me a lot of things and he is a real hard worker."

Gruden is equally excited to see how he can use Brazell's speed in his offensive schemes and is hoping that speed stays true when the former Olympian straps on the pads in Tuskers' training camp beginning August 16 in Orlando.

"First we spoke a lot with the Bengals coaches, they said he's tough to cover but he had some injury issues up there," Gruden said. "Then you 'YouTube' him and see him run the 4x400 relay at LSU he kicked it into another gear and helped them win a national title. Having Bennie will really open up a lot of things for us in our offense to have a guy who can run like that."



United Football League Stories from August 6, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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