Brandon Zylstra

BIOGRAPHY

Brandon Zylstra was born March 25, 1993, in Spicer, Minnesota. He is a wide receiver in the NFL.

Zylstra played college football at Augustana University for a year and then Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. In 2013, during his first year at Concordia, he caught 41 passes for 774 yards with seven touchdowns. In 2014, while working a summer job on the grounds crew at Moorhead Country Club, he suffered a foot injury that required surgery which caused him to miss 1 game. He finished his college career with 1,932 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns in 29 games with the Cobbers. Zylstra was also an outstanding track and field athlete at Concordia. In 2015, Zylstra helped lead his team to a first-place finish at the Cobber Duals, clearing the bar at 6'8" (2.03m) to win the high jump, and traveling a distance of 21'6.75" (6.57m) to win the long jump. He posted a personal-best leap of 22'5.75" (6.85m) in the long jump at the Thundering Herd Classic on February 7. Later in the season, Zylstra came away with the only event win for Concordia at the Cobber Twilight Meet. His 6'9" high jump tied the indoor school-record mark set by Joe Schmidgall back in 2000. He also won the long jump competition with a mark of 21'10" (6.65m). Zylstra ultimately broke the outdoor record at the MIAC meet, clearing 6'10.75" Zylstra went on to compete for the Division 3 track nationals where he came in with the third-best height in 2015. (2.10m).

On January 3, 2018, Zylstra signed a standard rookie, non-guaranteed three-year deal starting at a $480,000 salary for 2018 with the Minnesota Vikings. He made the Vikings roster, playing in all 16 games primarily on special teams, and had one catch for 23 yards against the New York Jets in Week 7. On August 31, 2019, Zylstra was waived by the Vikings. On September 1, 2019, Zylstra was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers. Zylstra caught one of two targets for seven yards in a Week 14 40–20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. In Week 17, against the New Orleans Saints, Zylstra posted a career-high six catches on eight targets for 96 yards. On February 22, 2021, Zylstra signed a one-year contract extension with the Panthers.