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Scot Brantley

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Scot Brantley
refer to caption
Brantley, c. 1982
No. 52
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1958-02-24) February 24, 1958 (age 66)
Chester, South Carolina, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school:Ocala (FL) Forest
College:Florida
NFL draft:1980 / round: 3 / pick: 76
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Interceptions:8
Sacks:5.0
Fumble recoveries:4
Stats at Pro Football Reference

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 1980s. Brantley played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.

Early life

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Brantley was born in Chester, South Carolina, in 1958.[1] He attended Forest High School in Ocala, Florida,[2] where he played high school football for the Forest Wildcats. Brantley was a starting linebacker on the Wildcats varsity as a freshman,[3] and as a junior and senior, he was a member of the Wildcats' 1974 and 1975 Florida Class 3A high school state championship teams. Brantley was twice named a high school All-American by Parade magazine, and was one of the mostly highly sought-after college recruits in the country in 1975. He was also a standout outfielder for the Wildcats baseball team, and was drafted by the New York Mets despite having already signed with the Florida Gators to play college football.[4]

In 2007, thirty-one years after he graduated from high school, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recognized Brantley as one of the "100 Greatest Players of the First 100 Years" of Florida high school football.[5]

College career

[edit]

Brantley accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Doug Dickey and coach Charley Pell's Florida Gators football teams from 1976 to 1979.[6] Brantley was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection in 1977 and 1978 and received honorable mention All-American honors in 1977 and 1978.[6] His senior season in 1979 was cut short by a brain injury after he was knocked unconscious in the Gators' first home game,[7] which was a severe blow to a team in the first year of a coaching transition.[8] Brantley led the Gators in tackles during the 1976 and 1978 seasons, and his career total of 467 tackles still ranks second on the Gators' all-time records list.[6]

Brantley was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1990,[9][10] and the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame in 2010.[11] In a 2006 article series, the sports editors of The Gainesville Sun recognized him as No. 25 among the top 100 Gators from the first 100 Florida football seasons.[12]

Professional career

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After his college career, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Brantley in the third round (seventy-sixth pick overall) of the 1980 NFL draft,[13] and he played linebacker for the Buccaneers for his entire eight-year NFL career from 1980 to 1987.[14] Brantley became a regular starter in his third season in 1982, played in 114 games, started in seventy-one of them, and had eight interceptions in his career.[1]

Life after the NFL

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Following his professional football career, Brantley pursued a career in sports broadcasting. He has served on the Gator Radio Network as both a color analyst during games and an analyst during pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. Brantley also spent ten seasons as the broadcast partner of Gene Deckerhoff on the Buccaneers Radio Network. He now hosts a daily radio show on WHBO in Tampa, Florida every weekday afternoon.[15]

Brantley's broadcasting career has had ups and downs. The Gators and Buccaneers both unexpectedly dropped him from their broadcast booths after the 2004 and 2005 seasons, respectively, after he had spent seven years in each of those positions.[16][17] Hardy Nickerson replaced him for the Buccaneers broadcasts,[17] while Lee McGriff took his spot when he returned to the Gators broadcasts after spending several years alongside Mick Hubert in the 1980s and 1990s.[16] Brantley's previous radio show on WQYK was also canceled due to format changes with the station.[15]

Brantley suffered two small strokes in 2008, and lost most of his sight in his left eye as a result.[18] He was forced to take a leave of absence from his radio broadcasting responsibilities while recovering from the strokes and subsequent heart surgery.[19]

In 2013, Brantley began co-hosting an afternoon drive-time show, "Sports Time!", heard on WMOP & WGGG weekdays from 4-6 p.m. His co-hosts are Steve Woodard and Mark McLeod. The stations are owned/operated by Florida Sports Talk and carry NBC Sports Radio.

In May 2018 it was revealed that Scot was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.[20] He was featured on an episode of Real Sports on HBO titled "Unsettled" concerning disabled NFL players unable to receive payments from the NFL concussion settlement.[21]

Gator football family

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Brantley's nephew, John Brantley, IV, was the Florida Gators' starting quarterback for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.[22] His brother, John Brantley, III, was the Gators' starting quarterback in 1978.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Scot Brantley. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  2. ^ databaseFootball.com, Players, Scot Brantley Archived November 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  3. ^ Greg Larson, "Wildcat Frosh Starts At Linebacker: Brantley Will Never See Jayvees," Ocala Star-Banner, p. 2B (October 12, 1972). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  4. ^ Jim Smith, "Boston, Auburn: Forest's Nichols In Driver's Seat," Ocala Star-Banner, p. D1 (June 9, 1976). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  5. ^ "FHSAA unveils '100 Greatest Players of First 100 Years' as part of centennial football celebration," Florida High School Athletic Association (December 4, 2007). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  6. ^ a b c 2012 Florida Football Media Guide Archived May 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 76, 87, 95, 101, 106, 144, 158, 176 (2012). Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  7. ^ Jack Hairston, "Scot Brantley's Career Is Over," Sarasota Herald-Tribune, p. 1C (September 26, 1979). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  8. ^ Norm Carlson, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia, p. 95 (2007).
  9. ^ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  10. ^ "Sports Briefs: UF Lettermen's Hall will induct four April 6," The Gainesville Sun, p. 4C (March 15, 1990). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  11. ^ Gary Smits, "Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame to induct four players," Florida Times-Union (June 10, 2010). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  12. ^ Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "No. 25 Scot Brantley," The Gainesville Sun (August 9, 2006). Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  13. ^ Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 1980 National Football League Draft. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  14. ^ National Football League, Historical Players, Scot Brantley. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  15. ^ a b Sharon Ginn, "Local radio brings aboard well-known voices," St Petersburg Times, p. 8C (June 23, 2006). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  16. ^ a b Antonya English, "McGriff replaces Brantley as UF color analyst," St. Petersburg Times (February 26, 2004). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  17. ^ a b Joanne Korth, "Nickerson rejoins Bucs as color analyst," St. Petersburg Times (May 17, 2006). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  18. ^ Alan Schwarz, "Ex-Gator's Concussion Sheds Light on Tebow's," The New York Times (October 8, 2009). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  19. ^ Pat Dooley, "Gator Nation showing support for Scot Brantley," The Gainesville Sun (June 20, 2009). Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  20. ^ Laine, Jenna (May 22, 2018). "Scot Brantley diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease". May 23, 2018. ESPN. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  21. ^ Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel 254 HBO.com. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Jon Mahoney, "Gator genes: John Brantley will continue a great tradition at Florida," Sports Illustrated (January 25, 2007). Retrieved August 26, 2011.

Bibliography

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  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
  • Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
  • Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
  • McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
  • Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.
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