BuccaneersFan.com • Advisory Board • VIP & Valued Friend
Solomon Brannan is BuccaneersFan.com family. A valued friend, VIP and member of our Advisory Board, he holds a special place in W.P. Rader’s life as a football fan. Solomon never played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His welcome here comes through friendship, shared experiences and the character of a man Rader describes as a class act who shined on and off the field.
AFL player • Coach • Mentor • Friend
A place of honor in our football family
Solomon “Sol” Brannan
- Hometown
- Savannah, Georgia
- High school
- Tompkins High School • Savannah
- College
- Morris Brown College • Graduate, 1964
- Playing roles
- Defensive back and returner
- AFL regular season
- Kansas City Chiefs, 1965–1966
New York Jets, 1967 - Super Bowl connection
- Member of Kansas City’s Super Bowl I team
- Cincinnati milestone
- First franchise touchdown • 1968 preseason
- Our connection
- BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board • VIP • Valued friend
Sources: Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame, Morris Brown’s archived coach biography and the career records linked below. Friendship, VIP and BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board details are supplied by W.P. Rader.
Career and game sources appear with the corresponding sections. The 2017 viewing-room memory is Rader’s personal recollection.
From Atlanta NFLPA meetings to a lasting friendship
The man Rader came to know
Rader met Solomon through NFLPA meetings while Solomon was serving as the Atlanta chapter’s president. Rader hosted those meetings at the venue he managed in Atlanta, Georgia, and assisted the association with numerous events, including its Super Bowl watch party and fundraisers.
Those occasions gave their friendship room to grow. The former player became someone Rader knew through shared time and common interests, and today Solomon is a valued member of the BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board. His experience and perspective are part of the family surrounding this site.
Personal account: W.P. Rader. A February 2016 Georgia Bulletin introduction also identifies Solomon as the Metro Atlanta NFLPA chapter president at that time.
February 5, 2017 • A father, a son and a friend who knew the game
A Super Bowl memory that belongs to the family
The game they watched
34–28
NEW ENGLAND • ATLANTA
Super Bowl LI • Overtime
Played at NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
One of Rader’s treasured NFL fan memories is sitting in a private VIP viewing room with his son, Daniel, and Solomon as they watched Atlanta play New England in Super Bowl LI. Sharing the evening with Daniel was special in its own right. Having a member of Kansas City’s first Super Bowl team beside them gave the conversation a connection to football history that Rader still values.
Rader remembers Solomon observing that Atlanta’s defense had been on the field too long and was beginning to tire. As the game turned and the Falcons’ lead slipped away, that observation stayed with him. The evening became a lasting memory of hearing an experienced player and coach read the game while it was unfolding.
Atlanta had led 28–3; New England ultimately won 34–28 in overtime. The official game summary records 93 offensive plays for New England and 46 for Atlanta, with possession times of 40:31 and 23:27. Those figures add context to Solomon’s observation about the defensive workload. The official Super Bowl LI record.
The viewing-room setting, conversation and personal significance are Rader’s recollection. The date, Houston game location and final statistics come from the official team record; no exact clock time or score is assigned to Solomon’s remark.
Kansas City • New York • The AFL years
The first Super Bowl and the Joe Namath connection
Kansas City and Super Bowl I
Solomon was a member of Kansas City’s 1966 AFL championship team, which advanced to the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game. The Chiefs met Green Bay at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on January 15, 1967; the Packers won 35–10. Kansas City’s quarterback was Len Dawson. Solomon’s team connection; the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Super Bowl history.
New York and Joe Namath
In 1967, Solomon played for the Jets alongside quarterback Joe Namath. The 1967 Jets roster.
The Jets’ official all-time roster records his New York season as 1967. His connection with Namath belongs to that later chapter of his career, following his time with Kansas City. The Jets’ historical record.
Solomon’s connection to Super Bowl I is described here as membership of Kansas City’s team. The available original gamebook does not establish an individual game appearance for him, so no Super Bowl playing statistic is assigned.
August 3, 1968 • Nippert Stadium • Preseason
The first touchdown in Cincinnati Bengals history
Cincinnati’s first touchdown
75 YDS
FUMBLE RETURN • SOLOMON BRANNAN
Bengals vs. Chiefs
Inaugural preseason game • August 3, 1968
Solomon holds a place at the very beginning of Cincinnati’s football story. In the Bengals’ first game, he recovered a fumble by Kansas City halfback Bert Coan and returned it 75 yards for the franchise’s first touchdown. A contemporary UPI report identifies both the play and its historic distinction. The original August 6, 1968 report, page 5.
The game was played at Nippert Stadium on August 3, 1968, with Kansas City winning 38–14. Cincinnati had selected Solomon from the Jets in its January expansion draft. His touchdown therefore belongs to the club’s inaugural preseason, before its first regular-season game. The Bengals’ official inaugural-season history; the expansion-draft record.
The exhibition touchdown is separate from AFL regular-season statistics. Cincinnati’s first regular-season touchdown was scored by Paul Robinson. The team’s regular-season review.
Savannah beginnings • Morris Brown • A coach’s example
Education, mentorship and giving the game back
From Tompkins to Morris Brown
Solomon’s path began at Tompkins High School in Savannah, where he played for Joseph Turner. A football scholarship took him to Morris Brown College. The Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame remembers his college work as a halfback and recognizes his place in the Morris Brown Athletic Hall of Fame. His hometown Hall of Fame profile.
He graduated from Morris Brown in 1964; his archived school biography lists studies in sociology and psychology. He later returned to his alma mater as a coach and became its head football coach in 2001, after years of college coaching that included service at Morehouse. The school’s archived coaching biography. Morris Brown also includes him among its notable alumni.
A game connected to service
A 2001 Georgia Bulletin profile described a coach whose approach linked football with faith, fairness, education and volunteer service. The publication’s 2016 introduction to that story reported that Solomon and other former players had begun international youth-football outreach in 2010. Those activities reflect his continuing interest in what young people can gain from the game. The original profile and later introduction.
His hometown honored him with induction into the Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000. For this spotlight, that recognition sits alongside the personal regard of friends who have come to know him through football and community events. Rader’s own description remains direct: Solomon is a class act, on and off the field. The Hall of Fame’s record of his induction.
Professional playing record • AFL regular season
The Chiefs and Jets years
Solomon’s 25 AFL regular-season appearances and one start came with Kansas City and New York. The annual figures below were cross-checked across Pro Football Reference, Pro Football Archives and Football Database.
AFL appearances and starts
| Season | Team | G | GS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Kansas City Chiefs | 10 | 0 |
| 1966 | Kansas City Chiefs | 3 | 0 |
| 1967 | New York Jets | 12 | 1 |
| AFL career | Chiefs and Jets | 25 | 1 |
G = games played; GS = starts. These figures cover regular-season appearances in the American Football League. Cincinnati’s 1968 preseason game is outside this count.
Sources: Pro Football Reference and Pro Football Archives.
AFL kickoff returns
| Season | Team | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Kansas City Chiefs | 9 | 226 | 25.1 | 32 | 0 |
| 1966 | Kansas City Chiefs | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 | 0 |
| 1967 | New York Jets | 9 | 204 | 22.7 | 47 | 0 |
| AFL career | Chiefs and Jets | 19 | 454 | 23.9 | 47 | 0 |
RET = kickoff returns; YDS = return yards; AVG = yards per return; LNG = longest return; TD = return touchdowns. Career AVG is 454 ÷ 19, rounded to 23.9. The longest return is a maximum, not a sum.
Sources: Football Database and Pro Football Archives.
Other AFL contributions: all five of his punt returns came with Kansas City in 1965, for ten yards, a 2.0 average and an eight-yard long. With the 1967 Jets, he recovered two fumbles with ten return yards. The historical statistical record.
Other professional leagues: his playing journey also included the Springfield Acorns in 1964, Michigan Arrows in 1968 and Jacksonville Sharks in 1974. Those stops are outside the AFL totals shown here. The broader career record.
With appreciation from Professor Jam, Daniel and the Krewe
Always part of the BuccaneersFan.com family
Rader remembers the NFLPA meetings, the association events and fundraisers, and an evening when he and Daniel watched a remarkable Super Bowl with Solomon beside them. Those shared experiences are the heart of this page. We are proud to honor Solomon Brannan as a valued friend, VIP and Advisory Board member, and grateful for his place in our football family.
Sources & acknowledgments
Personal memories and the historical record
- W.P. Rader’s personal recollection: Solomon’s friendship, current BuccaneersFan.com Advisory Board and VIP status, Atlanta NFLPA meetings, association events and fundraisers, and the Super Bowl LI viewing-room experience with Daniel.
- BuccaneersFan.com archive: the football collage, Herndon Stadium coaching photograph and 2017 group photograph.
- Greater Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame, Morris Brown’s archived school biography and its notable-alumni page: education, coaching and recognition.
- The Georgia Bulletin: Michael Alexander’s September 27, 2001 feature, republished with a February 4, 2016 introduction. This page presents an original summary of that material.
- Contemporary UPI reporting preserved by Michigan State University Libraries and official Bengals history: the first franchise touchdown and its preseason setting.
- Official Super Bowl LI record: the Houston game’s date, result and workload statistics.
- Official Jets all-time roster, the 1967 Jets roster, the original Super Bowl I gamebook and the historical statistical databases linked with the tables: professional career and team connections.
Updated November 3, 2026. Historical coaching and association roles are dated; the current BuccaneersFan.com connection is confirmed by Rader. Preseason milestones and team membership are distinguished from individual regular-season playing statistics.