 Braunecker with theChicago Bears in 2018 | |||||||||
| No. 84, 82 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Tight end | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1994-02-07)February 7, 1994 (age 32) Ferdinand, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 247 lb (112 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Forest Park (Ferdinand) | ||||||||
| College | Harvard | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 2016: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Ben Braunecker (born February 7, 1994) is an American former professionalfootball player who was atight end in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theHarvard Crimson. He was signed by theChicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2016, and played for the team through 2019.
Braunecker attendedForest Park High School inIndiana, where he played for the football team on offense, defense andspecial teams. He started for three years and wasteam captain for his senior year. In his high school career, Braunecker recorded 51receptions for 1,254 yards and 16touchdowns. As areturn specialist, he had 29kickoff returns for 1,005 yards, while on defense, he recorded 101tackles and seveninterceptions. He was twice named All-State (Honorable Mention); he was the Southwestern Indiana MVP and twice All-Conference.[1]
He was also aIHSAA State Finalist in thediscus andshot put.[2]
In his senior year, Braunecker was named a consensusAll-American as he was selected to theAssociated PressFootball Championship Subdivision (FCS) All-America first-team, theWalter Camp FCS All-America team, the STATS FCS All-America first-team,American Football Coaches Association FCS Coaches' All-America team and the College Sporting News Fabulous Fifty FCS All-America team. He was also honored on the College Sports Madness All-America first-team and the InstantScouting FCS All-America team.He was also named first-team All-Ivy League when he recorded 48 catches for 850 yards and eight touchdowns. He finished his college career with 68 receptions for 1,168 yards and 10 touchdowns. Harvard won 3 Ivy League titles during his career, compiling a 24–4 conference record and an overall record of 36–4.[3]
Braunecker majored inmolecular andcell biology.[4]
Braunecker attended theNFL Combine and was the fastest in the 60-yard shuttle, was ranked second in thevertical leap,broad jump,three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle and had the third-highest repetitions in thebench press of alltight ends.[3] He was projected by many analysts to be a fourth to sixth round draft selection. NFLDraftScout.com ranked him the sixth best tight end out of the 102 available. He attended Harvard'sPro Day and was able to beat his combine time and numbers. Braunecker chose to stand on his combine numbers for his 3-cone drill, short shuttle, and bench press.[5]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+3⁄8 in (1.91 m) | 250 lb (113 kg) | 32+3⁄4 in (0.83 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | 4.73 s | 1.63 s | 2.74 s | 4.20 s | 6.90 s | 35+1⁄2 in (0.90 m) | 10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) | 20 reps | |
| All values fromNFL Combine[6] | ||||||||||||
Braunecker went undrafted in the2016 NFL draft and was signed by theChicago Bears after the draft.[7]
He enteredtraining camp battling for a backup tight end position withKhari Lee,Tony Moeaki,Rob Housler, andGreg Scruggs. Braunecker struggled with a severe ankle injury during the 2016 offseason and missed the entire preseason.[8] He was released on September 3,[9] but was signed to thepractice squad the following day.[10] Going into the regular season, he was the Bears' third option at tight end, behindZach Miller andLogan Paulsen. On October 1, 2016, he was promoted to the active roster and was officially named the Bears' third tight end on their depth chart behind veterans Miller and Paulsen.[11] He made his first NFL start against theGreen Bay Packers on October 20.[12]
On September 3, 2017, Braunecker was waived by the Bears and was signed to the practice squad the next day.[13][14] He was promoted to the active roster on November 7, 2017.[15]
In 2018, Braunecker played in 15 games with two starts, recording three receptions for 42 yards and threespecial teams tackles.[16]
On March 11, 2019, Braunecker signed a two-year contract extension with the Bears.[17] On November 10, 2019, he scored his first career NFL touchdown on an 18-yard touchdown pass fromMitchell Trubisky against theDetroit Lions.[4] He was placed oninjured reserve on December 15, 2019.[18]
Braunecker was released by the Bears on July 23, 2020.[19]
Braunecker is married to formerUniversity of Notre Dame swimmer Sydney Golic; she is the daughter of former NFL playerMike Golic.[20]