Keith Brigham He has no roots in Tucson and only lived here the year before 2017.
He returned to Tucson to begin a career in sports fitness training after finishing his football career at the Division I level in Memphis in the 2019-20 school year.
He had the opportunity to return to Tucson in 2021 after signing with the Tucson Sugar Skulls, but chose not to play for the Indoor Football League team.
My 4-year-old daughter is the reason I moved back to Tucson Aliya live here and have the opportunity to participate bobby Rodriguez’s Coaching staff for jet sports training.
“I decided to make a living here in Tucson,” said Brigham. “I love Arizona. Why aren’t you here?
“I trained with Bobby at Pro Day 2021. I love the energy. I love his stories. His impact on the community and his goals for the community are similar to mine.We share similar goals.This is where I have to be.Here is me. It’s a place where you can make an impact.”
Rodriguez was a standout player for Sunnyside and later at the University of Arizona. Mike Stoop is a coach, and in a 2021 interview with AllSportsTucson.com said of his focus on the community:
“I have no plans to leave the south side of Tucson. This is where I was born and raised. I said I wouldn’t. That’s the worst thing you could say to me that I can’t do anything.”
Brigham’s adventure into football began when he played at Normal (Illinois) Community West High School, which took him on as a preferred walk-on for Illinois in 2016.
He came to Pima College in 2017 with former Illinois teammates. Demarco Corbinrunning back.
In his one season playing as coach Jim Monaconow Pima’s Athletic Director, Brigham earned second-team accolades at the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC).
He was third on the team with 79 total tackles (33 solo). He led the Aztecs in six sacks and suck yards (45 yards) and tied the team lead in tackles for loss yards (55) with 11 tackles. He recorded a total of 12 tackles in his four different games.
Brigham received an offer from a Division II school, but had faith that he could play at Division I level.
He was one of six Pima players signed by the Division I school in 2017. The rest were receivers. LeBron’s Allen (Bethune Cookman), Corbin (TN), defensive back Aaron Maddox (Colorado), linebacker Bryant Purtle Jr. (Utah) and defensive back Haki Woods (Oregon).
Brigham appeared in 25 games during his two-year qualification period with Memphis, and was part of the Tigers’ 12-2 team in the Cotton Bowl in 2019. Most importantly, he graduated with a Sports Management degree with his 3.0 GPA.
He said he sees himself living in Tucson for the long term.
“It almost feels like an underdog city here.
“High school students already had an idea of what was going well. …Many of them still ask me about my past playing college ball. I ask – I love you.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club awardee. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beats his reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won his 1996–97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for many publications including CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America.he is also writing a book “Best way to live”, available on Amazon. He became an educator five years before he was born and is currently a special education teacher at the Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
