Jordan Brailford

BIOGRAPHY

Jordan Brailford was born on October 9th, 1995, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He plays outside linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL.

In his early years, Brailford attended Booker T. Washington High School where he finished his senior year with 105 tackles and nine sacks while as a junior he logged 98 tackles, 11 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one fumble return for a score. His senior honors included participant in the Semper Fidelis All-American Game, first-team all-state honors from The Oklahoman and the Tulsa World while as a junior, he was Tulsa World second-team all-state and The Oklahoman honorable mention all-state team selection. 

After he finished high school, Brailford committed to the University of Oklahoma State where as a freshman in 2015, he played in 10 games and finished with 23 tackles, including 18 solo stops. Brailford saw his first significant action vs. Texas Tech, logging five tackles and a quarterback hurry. He also had 3.5 tackles for loss, including one against Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl, was second on the team with three quarterback hurries, trailing only All-American Emmanuel Ogbah and sacked Heisman hopeful Trevone Boykin in the fourth quarter of OSU’s 49-29 win over the then-unbeaten TCU. As a sophomore in 2017, Brailford was a second-team All-Big 12 honoree by the coaches and the Associated Press. He played in every game, including nine consecutive starts to end the season and recorded 57 tackles with 34 solo stops. Both of those numbers led all of OSU’s defensive linemen in 2017. He finished second among the Cowboys with 10.5 tackles for loss, including a career-high three against Oklahoma and he recorded his first career interception at Texas Tech. He also logged six tackles, including four solo stops, during the Camping World Bowl win over Virginia Tech and was named OSU’s Defensive Player of the Game after the Cowboys’ week three win at Pittsburgh. As a junior in 2018, Brailford earned first-team All-Big 12 honors for the first time in his career, was The Big 12 leader with 0.69 sacks per game and was team captain as selected by his teammates. He ranked sixth on the team and led all Cowboy defensive linemen with 54 tackles and was one sack shy of becoming only the sixth Cowboy to post a season with 10 sacks or more. His seven quarterback hurries ranked fourth in school history. Brailford earned Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording eight tackles, three sacks and five tackles for loss as part of OSU’s win over Kansas.  He also helped the Cowboys rank in the top 20 nationally in the red zone defense, sacks and tackles for loss.

After he graduated from college, Brailford entered the 2019 NFL Draft where he was selected in the seventh round by the Washington Redskins. He signed his rookie contract with the team on May 2nd, 2019, and was placed on injured reserve on September 1st.

On October 13, 2020, Brailford was signed by the Minnesota Vikings off Washington's practice squad.