NFL kickers typically aren’t elected team captains and are likely to stay in the shadows. However, Brandon McManus is not like most kickers.  

Currently in his third season as the Broncos’ special teams captain, McManus is one of the most vocal members of the team, which isn’t common for any member of the special teams.

He has never shied away from sharing his opinions on issues like Covid-19, coaching decisions, and social issues.

That nature isn’t costing him yet on the field either. Three weeks into the season, McManus has yet to miss a kick.

After already taking a deeper dive into the lives of Von Miller and Tim Patrick, let’s better acquaint ourselves with one of Denver’s longest-tenured Broncos.

Journey to the NFL

McManus grew up in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and played football at North Penn High School. He was the first freshman ever to make the varsity football team in the school’s history. 

Several top colleges recruited McManus. Kicking scholarships have always been rare, but he was flooded with offers. 

McManus, who’s always been close to his family, decided to stay close to home and attend Temple University.

To this day, he still holds the Temple University career records for points scored (338), field goals made (60), field goals attempted (83), and punting average (45.3).

McManus went on to graduate college in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in biology.

His original plan and was to go to medical school, however, he decided to pursue a career in the NFL instead. 

Proving his worth

After going undrafted in the 2013 NFL Draft, McManus signed with the Indianapolis Colts but was waived before the start of the season, as Indianapolis already had the legendary Adam Vinatieri.

In 2014, he started the preseason with the New York Giants before being traded to the Denver Broncos, to fill their newfound need at the position. Denver’s kicker at the time was Matt Prater, who began the regular season with a four-game suspension.   

Three days before Prater was to be reinstated from his suspension, the Broncos decided to release him and named McManus their official starter. Then head coach John Fox admitted the team took a “leap of faith” by keeping McManus over the proven Prater.

Over the next eight years, they would be rewarded for that leap.

Despite starting the first four games with a near-perfect record, McManus struggled in the remaining games. This resulted in the Broncos deciding to sign Connor Barth and waiving McManus. However, McManus was quickly re-signed by the Broncos, thanks to Barth’s weak leg, and spent the rest of the season as the team’s kickoff specialist.

Going into the 2015 season, the Broncos brought back both Barth and McManus for training camp. McManus won the job, proving more consistent than in 2014, and the Broncos cut Barth.

Finding Success

McManus proved that the Broncos made the right choice with how he performed in 2015.  

In the very first game of the season, he became just the third kicker in NFL history to make multiple field goals of 56 or more yards in the same game.

He also finished the regular season with an 85.7% field goal percentage.  

Denver would go on to make it to Super Bowl 50, thanks to multiple close victories that McManus aided in. Denver’s kicker played a crucial role in that Super Bowl by making three field goals on three attempts, and an extra point, in the 24–10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

In 2020, he was extended once again. He signed a $17.2 million contract extension with the Broncos, that will keep him in Denver through the 2024 season.

The pricy extension was sensible considering McManus has cemented himself as one of the best kickers in the history of the Broncos’ franchise.

McManus currently holds the title for the second-most accurate kicker and has the second-most field goals made in franchise history.  

Off The Field

McManus has become a Broncos Country fan favorite for his personality and off-the-field behavior.

In 2015, McManus and Von Miller struck up what they call a life-long friendship. They got so close that McManus and his wife, Nadia, asked Miller to be the godfather to one of their twin boys.  Miller called it “one of the dopest things I’ve ever been a part of.”

That friendship stays strong to this day. During Miller’s Thursday media session, Brandon McManus decided to run off to the side and start jumping up and down while wildly flailing his arms and making a funny face, in a lighthearted attempt to distract Miller during the presser and throw him off his game.

In 2018, McManus announced that he was collaborating with a local Colorado clothing company called Shinesty to create The Brandon McManus Collection. Since the launch, his clothing line has consistently been a part of the “Be Beautiful, Be Yourself” fashion show, which helps raise funds and awareness for the Global Down Syndrome Foundation.

In May of this year, McManus showed up to the Colorado Senate floor to speak in support of a bill to help children in Colorado receive mental health services. The bill, HB21-1258, proposed the creation of a rapid-response program through a web portal or app to support mental health care become more accessible to Colorado youth. 

That bill later passed on June 18, 2021, and McManus’s testimony likely held an impact given his importance to the Denver community.  

McManus and the Broncos will welcome the Baltimore Ravens in Denver on Sunday at 2:25 PM MT.