Who is Brandon Cottom? Meet the ex-NFL fullback competing in Survivor 44

With five years of experience playing at several professional football levels, Brandon Cottom is no novice to fierce competition. The Seattle Seahawks acquired him in May 2015 after he graduated from Purdue University. However, by August 2015, the organization had released him.

The Seahawks picked him up and released him on two more occasions before eventually cutting him loose in 2017.

Cottom left the NFL, temporarily played for the Alliance of American Football's (AAF) Salt Lake Stallions, then the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League before the AFL's dissolution due to insolvency in 2019.

A family security company currently employs Cottom as a security professional after he ended his football career. He also disclosed to Parade that he is a "speed coach."

"I work with young kids and train them to become stronger and faster," he claimed.

Cottom is also set to compete in the 44th season of "Survivor" which premieres on CBS on Monday at 8 p.m. The reality TV program features a group of strangers in an isolated location, where they compete in challenges that test their physical ability. They must also provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. Considering the nature of the show, it is not surprising that a number of professional sportsmen have dabbled.

Cotton told Parade that despite spending a large portion of his life watching "Survivor," he stopped once he entered college. Yet, he and his father resumed watching once he returned to Newtown after school.

In the 44th season of Survivor, Brandon Cottom is set to compete against 17 other candidates for $1 million.

He joins an extensive list of former NFL players who have appeared on the show, notably Tyler Fredrickson, Alan Ball, Brad Culpepper, Danny McCray, Gary Hogeboom, Grant Mattos, and Steve Wright.