Adam Breneman

Breneman attended Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. At Cedar Cliff, he was ranked as the best tight end recruit in the country by ESPN and was rated a five-star recruit by Scout.com.[4] He received scholarship offers from more than 30 schools before committing to play collegiately at Penn State University.[5]

Breneman is the all-time leader in receiving by a tight end in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association history. He is also the all-time leading receiver in Cedar Cliff history, holding the school records for career yards, receptions, and receiving touchdowns, as well as every single-season receiving record. In his three seasons of varsity football at Cedar Cliff, he totaled 144 receptions, 2,244 yards, and 23 touchdowns.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	40‡	Commit date
Adam Breneman Tight end	Mechanicsburg, PA	Cedar Cliff High School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	230 lb (100 kg)	4.65	Mar 9, 2012
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:
Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 2 (TE)   Rivals: 3 (TE)  247Sports: 2 (TE)  ESPN: 1 (TE)
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2013 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved January 15, 2013.

Breneman enrolled early at Penn State in spring 2013 after graduating high school a semester early. During his true freshman season, he appeared in 11 games, earning the starting tight end job for the second half of the season. Breneman finished the season with 15 receptions for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns, earning him 247Sports.com True Freshman All-America honors. His biggest game of the season came in the season finale at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he caught 3 passes for 78 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown in the first quarter. His 68-yard touchdown is the longest touchdown by a tight end in Penn State football history.[1]

In August 2014, Penn State announced that Breneman would miss the season with a knee injury.[6]

Prior to the 2015 season, Penn State strength and conditioning coach told the media that Breneman was in top shape following his knee injury. He stated that Breneman ran a 4.62 40-yard dash in July, which would have been one of the best times by a tight end at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine. However, Adam battled injuries throughout the 2015 season, appearing in only two games. Breneman played against Ohio State, and was the starting tight end against Michigan State.

During the summer of 2016, news broke that Breneman would graduate transfer to the University of Massachusetts. During the 2016 season, Breneman was the best producing tight end in all of college football, leading the nation in receptions by a tight end. Breneman was named a John Mackey Award semi-finalist, the New England Player of the Year and a Campus Insiders All-American, among other awards. After contemplating declaring for the NFL Draft following his junior season, Breneman decided to stay in school for his final season.

During the 2017 season, Breneman once again led the country in receptions by a tight end. Despite missing a game with a minor ankle injury, Breneman finished the year with 64 receptions, 764 yards, and 4 touchdowns. He was once again a John Mackey Award semi-finalist and a USA Today, Athlon Sports, Pro Football Focus, and CBS Sports 2nd Team All-American. Following the season, he was considered one of the top tight ends in the 2018 NFL Draft.[7]

Breneman finished his college football career with 149 receptions, 1,758 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Despite just two seasons at the University of Massachusetts, he finished his career as the all-time leader in receiving by a tight end in school history. After his senior season ended, Breneman signed with Octagon Sports for his professional representation. His agent was Casey Muir.[8]

On March 13, 2018, Breneman released a letter on the blog site Medium officially announcing his retirement from football due to a knee injury. In the letter, Breneman wrote: "After additional medical evaluations and creative treatments, my doctors and I have come to the realization that there is no solution that will allow me to continue to play football. It hurts me to share that at just 22 years old, I am officially retiring from the game of football. Football has given me so much in my life and I am very proud of all my accomplishments both on and off the field."

During his senior year of high school, Breneman started Catch The Cure, a fundraiser to raise awareness and money to fight Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.[13] Catch The Cure raised over $200,000 for A.L.S. research, with all funds benefiting New York based research organization Project ALS[14]

Breneman served as the Vice President and a member of the board for the Penn State football chapter of Uplifting Athletes during his career at Penn State.[15]

In 2017, Breneman was named a finalist for the Jason Witten Man of the Year Award. This award is "presented annually to the Division I college football player who has demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field."[16]

In 2019, Breneman joined the board of directors of The Peyton Walker Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based organization which provides free heart screenings for youth in order to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

Breneman also serves on the Board of Directors of Project ALS.

After graduating from Penn State's Smeal College of Business in December 2015, Breneman was hired by Mike Regan to serve as his campaign manager for his 2016 Pennsylvania Senate run. In April 2016, Regan won the primary election for Pennsylvania Senate, District 31 with over 52% of the vote in a four-person race. After the victory, Regan offered Breneman the job of his chief of staff. Breneman briefly accepted, but then instead opted to return to football at the University of Massachusetts and pursue his MBA.[17]

Immediately following his retirement in 2018, Breneman took a job as a consultant with Harrisburg-based consulting firm Red Maverick Media. In late March 2018, Breneman became the campaign manager for John Joyce, who was elected to U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district.[18] Joyce won the 8-way primary and now serves in the United States Congress. After the win, Breneman returned to Red Maverick Media.

Breneman also launched a broadcasting and media career. Beginning in September 2018, Breneman began hosting his own weekly Penn State Football show on Pennlive.com, the website for popular newspaper The Patriot-News. On his show, Breneman and Patriot News Penn State beat writer Bob Flounders analyze the Penn State football team. Breneman was the color commentator for the 2019 Big 33 Football Classic all-star game which aired on Stadium Network. He has also commentated college football games produced by FloSports and ESPN+.

In July 2019, CBS Sports Radio announced that Adam will be hosting a sports talk show during the fall. The show features analysis on Penn State Football and air live on WHGB in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 2019, Adam launched a podcast titled "Next Up with Adam Breneman." On it, he interviews college and NFL football players about overcoming adversity and their careers.