Brandon George: ‘I feel like I’m meant to play in the NFL’
Brandon George didn’t get on the field for a single play during his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs, but he has no doubt he soon will.
“I felt like I belonged,” the Berks Catholic grad says of his first NFL season.
George, an undrafted free agent out of the University of Pittsburgh, turned heads during his impressive pro day workout and continued through the spring and summer, especially during the Chiefs’ three preseason games.
Andy Reid and the Chiefs staff appreciated his athleticism and the fact that he continued to play on without complaint despite early summer injuries that affected his mobility.
He suffered a bilateral sports hernia, which eventually required surgery, but he put it off long enough to make an impression that led the Chiefs to keep him around. Even knowing he wouldn’t be able to return until December, at the earliest, they placed him on injured reserve in order to retain his rights. They had the option to release him at the end of camp.
“I was upset that I was hurt,” George told MikeDragoSports.com, “(but) it was comforting that they put me on IR. It means they like what they saw and they have a plan going forward. As an athlete, you like to see that. (It showed me there) was definitely a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Undrafted free agents generally have a small window. Few ever make a roster; even fewer step on the field. The 6-3, 248-pound George – who earned All-State honors in both football and track for the Saints – showed the Chiefs he has the potential to fill a linebacker spot at some point in the near future.
He did that by running a 4.63 in the 40 and with his 42-inch vertical leap. The average NFL linebacker has an RAS (Relative Athletic Score) of about 9.2 (out of 10). George checked in at an astonishing 9:98. That was the seventh-highest among more than 3,200 pro linebackers over the last 38 years.
No wonder George said he felt comfortable chasing around future Hall of Famers Pat Mahomes and Travis Kelce during camp.
“This is the one percent of the one percent,” he said of the NFL player pool. “Every day you’re going out there competing. Every day is a time to win a job or lose a job. I went out there with that mentality, and I feel it paid off. I feel like I’m meant to be out there. I feel like I’m meant to play in the NFL.”
Had he not been injured, George feels strongly he had a shot to crack Kansas City’s 53-player active roster. His performance in the preseason backed that up.
“Obviously, you make rookie mistakes here and there but the key is to not make the same mistake twice, or make the same mistake someone else makes,” he said. “I feel I did a pretty solid job with that, well enough that they decided I was worth keeping. A team only gets so many spots on IR; to take up one of those spots, it was definitely a compliment.”
NFL rules did not permit him to practice with the team while on injured reserve, but he was a part of the team in every other way, attending film sessions and meetings. He interacted on a regular basis with Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the rest of the defensive staff.
That, he said, will help him when he participates in OTAs come spring, and then camp in July.
“It was invaluable, to say the least, to be able to sit there and go through all that,” George said. “You really start to fully understand the defense and what they want, how things operate on a day-to-day perspective.
“I have a year with the defense under me. I understand the calls, I understand what communication to make on the field. It means I’m not going to be a rookie next year. Now I know the ebbs and flows of everything.”
George has no doubt he can earn a spot on the roster in 2026. His experience on special teams at Pitt will prove invaluable. That’s often the best pathway to a roster spot for emerging players.
“Special teams is a huge part of (my game),” he said. “That’s massive. I just need to be healthy again. The best ability is availability. As long as I go in and do what I know I can do in a healthy manner I think I’ll be alright.”
George appeared in more games (65) than any player in Pittsburgh Panthers history, and much of that time was spent on the punt and kickoff return and coverage units.
George, a stalwart on special teams since his freshman season in 2019, began to emerge as a team leader at Pittsburgh before the 2022 season. His hopes of creating a foothold at linebacker were dashed when he suffered torn ligaments in his ankle on the first day of contact drills. That required surgery and a month of rehab.
He returned at midseason only to reaggravate the injury his third game back and was sidelined for the remainder of the regular season. He didn’t become a full-time starting linebacker until his sixth and final season.
George was all-everything at Berks Catholic, where he was Berks football Player of the Year as a senior, a two-time All-State pick, and scored 41 touchdowns. He also played on the basketball team and won a PIAA silver medal in the discus.
George will spend time this month working out at X3 Performance in Fort Myers, Fla., then report to Kansas City in April. The season can’t come fast enough for him.
“I’ve been anxious since late August,” said. “You know how I am. I just want to go out there and play football. It doesn’t matter if you put me out there in an old leather helmet, I’m still gonna go out there and play. That’s the mentality I have right now. I’m really excited to get back and show what I can do now that I’m healthy.”
When people around the Chiefs’ complex ask George how he’s doing he gives them the same answer every time:
“I tell them I’m living the dream every day,” he said. “This is something you dream about since you’re 6, 7 years old. Now the only difference between then and now is now I get paid to do it.
“It’s exhilarating knowing every day I wake up and get to go play football like I’ve done since I was (a kid). That’s something I look forward to every day.”
