Meet the 'Survivor 44' Cast! Former NFL Player Brandon Cottom Gives His Own Take on the "Meat Shield" Strategy

The 30-year-old from Newton, Pennsylvania and former Seahawk is pulling on his athletic background, as well as his people skills as a security specialist.

Brandon Cottom is no stranger to intense competition, playing across numerous professional football leagues for five years. But the 30-year-old is now under the Wednesday Night Lights, hoping his most recent career as a security specialist can help him separate fact from fiction. The former fullback is hoping to slow play his early down work, avoiding the hunt for advantages in lieu of making bonds and recruiting “meat shields” to his side.

Read on for my interview with Brandon, and check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other tidbits. Survivor 44 premieres on March 1 with a special two-hour premiere on CBS.

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 44

Interview with Brandon from Survivor 44

To start, tell us about yourself.
My name is Brandon Cottom. I’m 29. And I currently am an account manager for a family security firm. I’m also a speed coach. So I work with young children and coach them to get faster and stronger.

Why are you here on Survivor?
I’m here on Survivor because it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and adventure. For me, it’s about trying to not only learn more about myself, but create a better future for myself and my family. It’s very rare that we have the opportunity to kind of detach ourselves from civilization. Taking away all distractions of social media and everything, there’s no chance you get to really detach from everything and focus on yourself and who you want to be. And I think that Survivor kind of pulls that out of everybody, whether they like it or not. I mean, that’s really the reason I’m here. I want to see what I’m made of and see what I’m capable of because I’ve never put myself in a position like this. And also Fiji is beautiful! So it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, honestly.

What’s your history with watching Survivor?
So I actually started watching Survivor when I was a young kid with my father starting in season one. And through that time, it became like a bonding moment for us. And then, when I actually moved out to go to college, I kind of detached from the show a little bit. Not for any particular reason, just because I was busy with other adventures. And then, when I moved back to Pennsylvania and got close to my father again, that was one of our bonding moments again. We got right back into it and started watching like we never fell off. So it was more so a bonding experience for me than anything, really. That was our opportunity to come together, watch something, and enjoy together.

Give me one Survivor winner and one non-winner who you identify with the most.
I think one winner that I identify with is Jeremy. The reason I say that is because I think when he came into the game, he understood that he was going to be a physical threat. And he played his game as such. He had other people that he kept around, not necessarily as allies, but as people that he used, as we call it, “meat shields.” And personally, I feel like that’s kind of the situation that I’m going to be in. I think that people are going to look at me as a physical threat because of my size and stature. So I need to always have that in the back of my head and find ways to combat that. Whether that’s going out and letting them see who I really am and understand my personality, and then also having a couple of other big guys that I try to keep around so the pressure’s not necessarily on me.

And I think one non-winner that I really do identify with is Danny. Danny played in the NFL; I also played in the NFL for the Seattle Seahawks. And I love the way that he went throughout the show without anybody seeing that side of him. And I think that’s something I definitely want to carry into the show as well. Because, again, that’s something that I feel puts an unnecessary target on my back. Everybody feels like, “You played in the NFL. You made these millions of dollars and signed these huge contracts.” When in reality, that’s only a small percentage of people who actually play in the league. So I don’t want to put any unwanted or unnecessary attention on myself than need be.

What’s your favorite moment in Survivor history?
Honestly, I love the change of pace of the game. Perfect example, in the season with Danny, they had won one of the challenges. And the next thing you know, Erika had the opportunity to go off and change the whole course of the game. And I think that, on the one hand, yeah, it’s rough, and it sucks being on the winning side of it. And I can see why people were upset about that. But on the other side, I think that just shows the beauty of Survivor. This is not a predictable game; there’s nothing about this game that you can anticipate. It really keeps you on your toes and really sees what you’re made of and how you react to what’s going on in front of you. So personally, that was one of my favorite moments, just because it really was a complete switch-up from anything that anybody’s really experienced in the game.

What’s one life experience you feel has prepared you most for the game?
Just dealing with people on a daily basis. At work, since I do manage security guards, they’re always trying to pull the wool over my eyes, trying to tell me things that aren’t necessarily true. So it comes as a matter of trying to weed out what’s the truth and what’s not and kind of taking the context clues into account.

In Survivor, people are going to try and pull the wool over my eyes. They’re going to try to tell me lies, and they’re going to try to set you up in ways that I might not necessarily see coming unless I’m paying attention to everything, the whole big picture of it. So I think, dealing with the people that I’ve dealt with and being exposed to so many different people who have been raised in so many different races and cultures, and religions, it helps me also to relate with people a lot better. It’s not like I’m just speaking from a place of similar experience. So I feel like that helps me to connect with people.

What excites you the most about the new era of Survivor?
I think what excites me most is, like I said, not knowing what’s coming next. It’s scary. The unknown is always scary, but I think it’s exciting at the same time. On the one hand, it could affect you negatively. You could be at the top of the world, and the next thing you know, it’s snatched from underneath you. But on the other hand, you could be at the bottom and looking as though your time is up, and this is the end. And then, all of a sudden, you’re at the top. Something drastic happens, and the game changes. It’s one of those games where, if you make it through the night, there’s no telling what the next day is going to bring. It completely switches the whole game up. And I think that’s really exciting, honestly.

What do you think people will perceive you as?
I think that people will perceive me as somebody who is, yes, a physical player and wants to do well on the challenges, but also somebody who’s surprisingly intelligent, and also very strategic in his moves. I’m very aware of myself, and I’m very well aware of my surroundings. And I think that’s one of the mistakes that you see a lot of survivors make. They undermine other people’s games, or they put limits on other people. I’m going to be somebody who expects everybody. I’m going to be myself. No matter what’s going on, I’m always gonna be Brandon Cottom. That’s who I am; that’s the only person I can be. So I think people will see that I’m respectful. But at the same time, I play hard, and I’m here to win.

What type of player are you looking for in an alliance?
I’m looking for somebody who is predictable. It’s hard to say there’s somebody I can trust because you really can’t trust anybody in this game. But I think trying to align with the predictable player is better than trying to ally with a wildcard. Also, I’m just trying to make the most flexible relationships with people. So whether that’s somebody who I aligned with, or somebody who is similar to me, or somebody who’s completely opposite to me, I think the biggest thing for me is, like I said, finding somebody I can predict. Somebody who I know, if they say they’re going to do this, I can pretty much count that they’re probably going to do that. Someone I can guess what their next move will be. I think it’s the wildcards you have to watch out for, and they’re the ones that are a little bit spooky, honestly.

How eager will you be to look for advantages in the game?
So honestly, initially, I’m not gonna be very eager at all. I think that’s one of those kisses of death that a lot of people make, and they don’t even realize sometimes they’re making it. I mean, when I think of it from a numbers game, depending on how many people are in the tribe, especially starting off, you have a one in six chance of finding it, which is not that great. So I don’t feel like the risk necessarily outweighs the reward early in the game.

Now, the later in the game that I make it, that’s going to pick up, and I’m going to start looking for a lot more advantages. But initially, I think it’s gonna be more so about building my social relationships with people and also trying to figure out who I’m out there with, trying to figure out what makes them tick. What are their motivations? Because it’s much easier to play on somebody’s emotions when you understand what motivates them, as opposed to what you think.

What is the one thing you told yourself you wouldn’t do in this game?
One thing I told myself I wouldn’t do was lose myself in this game. At the end of the day, I have to look at myself in the mirror. I have a family back home. And I’m trying to represent myself and them well. So I did tell myself that I was not going to make my family look dumb, and I was not going to make myself look dumb. Now, what exactly does that mean? It’s kind of hard to say without knowing exactly what the game is. But I know how I want to carry myself and how I want to be perceived by others. I don’t want to make my family look stupid or make myself look stupid.

What’s the best advice you received before coming out to play?
I think the best advice that I received was from my dad. Pray every day and trust your instinct and be yourself. I think that’s important. I try to keep God close in my life. And especially when things are really out of my hands, I’ve tried to put in his hands. So just really staying true to who I am and true to what I feel, and not second guessing myself. I feel like another area where people kind of mess themselves up is when they second-guess their initial instinct. A lot of times, your instincts are more than likely right. So just not second guessing myself and not giving myself any reason to look back and say, “Oh, I wish I would have done this. I wish I would have done that.”

Can you come up with your own weird phrase that could be said at a challenge to unlock an idol?
“Monkey see, monkey do. But it’ll never get the best of you.” (Laughs.)

What celebrity or fictional character would you want to come out for a Loved Ones visit?
If I could choose any celebrity, it would be Dave Chappelle. Honestly, I feel like he’s somebody who is light-hearted and obviously funny. But at the same time, he has a lot of wisdom. I just feel like that’s kind of a picker-upper that I would need out there. 

Next, check out our interview with Survivor 43 winner Mike Gabler.