Penn football's Brandon Copeland continues to chase NFL dream

It’s been a busy summer for Brandon Copeland.

Now almost three years removed from helping guide Penn football to its last Ivy League title, the former Red and Blue linebacker is still trying to make an NFL roster. But after stints on two different practice squads and spending last fall out of football after being cut from the Tennessee Titans’ roster, Copeland’s rejuvenated attitude could be key to his tenure with the Detroit Lions ... however much longer that may be.

After graduating from Penn, the Sykesville, Md., native spent parts of the next two offseasons with the Baltimore Ravens and Titans. The Titans cut Copeland — who went undrafted in 2013 — last September, leaving the three-time Ancient Eight champion without a job.

But after several months off, Copeland came back with a vengeance at the NFL Veteran Combine in Arizona in March, clocking in at 4.52 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He agreed to a one-year deal with the Lions a month later.

For someone trying to pursue his dream, it seems the break from football might have been a blessing in disguise.

“It was good for me,” Copeland told the Detroit Free Press. “Last year put that desperation in me that just makes me a nastier person on the field.

“I was always a good player, but now I had the chance to take a step back, reevaluate everything and now every time I step on the field, it’s really just nothing held back.”

Though he has yet to play a down in the regular season, Copeland has attempted to make an impact for the Lions both on special teams and as a backup linebacker this preseason.

Against the Jets on Aug. 13, Copeland led Detroit in special-teams snaps, yet failed to register any playing time on defense. But in the Lions’ last two contests, he managed to work his way into the squad’s front seven, compiling five total tackles for a team that made the playoffs a season ago.

Yet for a team like the Lions, playing time at linebacker likely will be hard to find for Copeland. Detroit already features Stephen Tulloch, DeAndre Levy and Tahir Whitehead as starters, with Kyle Van Noy entrenched as the crew’s backup.

The next week will be telling for the former three-time first team All-Ivy selection. All 32 teams are required to cut their roster sizes down to 75 players by Tuesday before finalizing their 53-man rosters on Saturday.

For Copeland, latching on with the Lions represents what may be his final chance to make a name for himself in the NFL. But despite his ambitions to play professionally, that’s not all he’s been working on of late.

On top of his effort on the field, Copeland has also made strides in developing an app that helps users generate quick randomized exercises for fitness. Alongside former Penn teammates Joe Holder and Scott Lopano, he has spent over a year working on FHiitLife, which is designed to help people with busy lives to find time to work out as efficiently as possible in small time periods.

The basis of the app was generated immediately after Lopano began working for UBS in 2013. While working extended hours at a chaotic rate, the former punter recognized that he no longer had as much time to dedicate to working out.

What began as a randomization spreadsheet eventually gave way to a website — one initially designed by Copeland that is now under construction with professional web developers — and, soon, a fully-functioning app. Copeland believes the platform should be ready for a Beta launch in the near future.

“It’s been ... slow, it’s been a baby step process and that’s how we’re taking it,” Copeland told ESPN. “We’re okay with that because we all have our own priorities, but we have helped some people individually — not through the app, but through other stuff, personal training stuff — and we’ve seen the benefits people have gotten from our work.”

While the results of both his app and pro career have not yet come to fruition, it’s undoubtedly been a breakthrough summer for Copeland. Now all that remains to be seen is whether his hard work — on and off the field — actually pays off.

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