Brandon Bolden

Brandon Bolden (born January 26, 1990 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana), is an American football running back for the New England Patriots.

Early life
Bolden attended Scotlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge. As a Senior, Bolden rushed for 886 yards and 12 touchdowns in route to being named First Team All-District 5-5A. He also caught 12 passes for 256 yards. SuperPrep named him SuperPrep All-Region and ranked him the No. 34 best player in Louisiana. Bolden was named the No. 93 best running back in the nation by Scout.com. He was heavily recruited by Les Miles and LSU, but ultimately decided to play for Houston Nutt at Ole Miss.

College career
Although fellow running back Enrique Davis was much more regarded as a recruit, by his sophomore year, Bolden had gained the starting role for the Rebels. In the disappointing 2010 season, Bolden was one of the Rebels' bright spots, averaging nearly six yards a carry. Against BYU in the first game of the 2011 season, Bolden suffered a broken ankle. Although the fracture was a minor one and he only missed a few games, he never returned to his previous form. He was not selected in the 2012 NFL Draft, although some sites predicted he might be drafted in one of the later rounds. Although Bleacher Report reported on April 30, 2012, that he had agreed to a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins, Bolden later tweeted that the report was false. On May 2, 2012, a New York Times blog reported that he had signed a free agent deal with the New England Patriots.

2012 season
During the preseason, Bolden had 36 carries for 128 yards and caught four passes, but fumbled the ball twice, losing one. Nevertheless, at the end of training camp, the Patriots elected to keep Bolden on their 53-man roster, rather than try and place him on their practice squad.

Bolden made his first start against the Buffalo Bills in Week 4. He scored his first touchdown in the Patriots' Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens; in Week 4, he led the Patriots with 137 yards on just 16 carries—an average of 8.6 yards per carry. He scored one touchdown and also added an 11-yard reception. He and Stevan Ridley, who had 106 yards on 22 carries with two touchdowns, became the first Patriots running backs to accrue 100 rushing yards in the same game since 1982. Moreover, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski had 100-yard games that day as well, making the four only the second such quartet of two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers in a single game for the same team.

For his efforts, Bolden was named the NFL's FedEx Ground Player of the Week for Week 4.

On November 9, 2012 Bolden was suspended four games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Personal
Brandon's grandfather Frank Pitts was a wide receiver who played for the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowls I and IV.