A Special Bond Helped Forge Linebacker TJ Brunson's Path to the NFL
At first, Giants linebacker TJ Brunson was like any other student-athlete looking to carve out his niche in the game of football.
But rather than blend into the pack, Brunson was determined to stand out. And through hard work and in showing that he could become a trusted leader, Brunson accomplished just that.
It wasn't easy--it rarely is. But Brunson, born determined and confident in himself, made it happen.
Rough Beginnings
A serious hip injury suffered in his junior year at Richland Northeast High School (Columbia SC), didn’t look very promising for his future, but Brunson had other ideas. He rehabbed the injury, working harder than ever, and bounced back with a stellar senior season in which he recorded 140 tackles to help the Cavaliers qualify for the Class 3A state playoffs.
Once his high school career was done, Brunson faced the critical choice of selecting a college program. He initially committed to Louisville, intent on playing for the Cardinals, but when he took a visit to the school, something was off.
“I took my official visit there in December,” he recalled during a call with reporters Wednesday. “And it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel like home for me.”
Acting on his instincts, Brunson changed his mind about Louisville and instead headed to the University of South Carolina, where he would get an unexpected honor that showed just how much he was valued in that program.
Gamecocks head coach Will Muschamp, who had just been hired to steer the football program to prominence, wasted little time after his introductory press conference in reaching out to Brunson, who had been one of the school’s top recruits that year. That move by Muschamp not only convinced Brunson that he had made the right choice to shun Louisville for South Carolina, it also set him on a path in which he vowed to deliver leadership to go along with production.
“It was big to know that someone, especially a coach like that in the SEC, felt like I was important enough to go out and get to help start a team for his inaugural season,” Brunson said. “It’s crazy looking back at it knowing all of our stories and how we got there and things like that.”
On the Path to Success
Brunson has always wanted to be successful in whatever he did, but sometimes when it comes to athletics, young people need a little nudge it the right direction.
Brunson got that nudge from Muschamp, who sat him down and spelled out what Brunson had to do if he wanted to grow as a student-athlete in the Gamecocks program.
“Those things were just you get in here, work hard, keep your head down, and you’ll see what you’re working for,” Brunson said.
“Over the years, our relationship grew. I understood him and what he wanted in the program. It made it easier for me.”
Including his path to the NFL, of which Brunson added, “Everything he told me from day one has pretty much come to fruition.”
Among the other advice Brunson accepted was to be flexible, something he did for defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson. Brunson fulfilled a variety of roles, including the middle linebacker, weak-side linebacker, and as a single-high safety, and no matter what his specific assignment was on the field, his objective was simple: bring energy to the field.
He did just that while adding production. At South Carolina, he finished his career with 282 tackles, 21 tackles for a loss, six sacks, one interception, six passes defensed, one forced fumble and four fumble recoveries.
As a junior, Brunson led the defense with 106 takes, including 10.5 for a loss, and had four sacks and a pass defensed. Last year, he finished second on the defense last year with 77 total tackles, tying teammate Javon Kinlaw, drafted in the first round by the 49ers, with six tackles for a loss.
Brunson also delivered over 2,500 snaps over the last three years of his college stint, proving himself a durable sort, which was something he also took pride in delivering.
A Born Leader
The production helped get Brunson noticed by NFL teams, but for all the awards and honors he won, perhaps none had more of an impact than those he won for being recognized by his peers as a team leader.
Brunson was selected as a two-time team captain and won the team’s Leadership Award on defense during his final season. The year prior, he was a co-recipient of the Joe Morrison Award (named after one-time Giants legend Joe Morrison) as the MVP with Kinlaw and was also voted as one of three Unselfish Teammate Award winners.
“Being a two-time captain is big just for the simple fact that I was voted on by my peers,” he said. “It just made me feel as if I had a stronger role to play on the team. I was definitely a guy that had to come out every day and prove myself and prove why I had those titles.”
A Diamond in the Rough
When one is a seventh-round draft pick, the odds of making the 53-man roster out of camp aren't exactly favorable.
But all that Brunson has done to get to this point certainly gives him more than a passing chance of bucking that trend given that head coach Joe Judge is looking for solid, smart football players ready to hit the ground running.
Judge believes they have that in Brunson.
“Muschamp’s scheme down there isn’t the simplest,” Judge noted. “Guys have been challenged mentally being down there. They’ve been coached hard. … He’s a guy that was out there making a lot of calls so you can see the communication element with him on the field as well as the productivity on the field.”
In addition to being football smart, Brunson knows that he'll have to earn his place in the Giants locker room hierarchy.
“My only focus is getting in and doing what I’m supposed to do to help the team,” he said. “I don’t have any predictions, or I don’t plan on going in there being that guy. I want to go in there and do my job and do it to the best of my capabilities. Whatever is asked of me, I plan on doing it at full speed and just doing it the way that it should be done.”
