Beau Gardner

Beggs Barnum Gardner (born December 26, 2001) is an American professional football long snapper for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCLA Bruins and the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the 2025 Patrick Mannelly Award as the nation's top long snapper in college football. Gardner was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bears in 2026.

Early life Beau Gardner was born on December 26, 2001, and raised in San Francisco, California, where he attended the local St. Ignatius College Preparatory and played football. Gardner played as a center his freshman and sophomore years of high school and moved to tackle his junior and senior years. Gardner was then named to the third-team All-Bay Area Preps HQ team by The Mercury News in his senior year. After his senior year, Gardner committed to play football as a walk-on at UCLA over USC and California.

College career The day before his first game in the 2020 season, Gardner broke his foot, causing him to miss the entire season due to surgery.

Before 2024, Gardner announced he would transfer to the University of Georgia, where he would continue playing football. Before the season started, Gardner was named to the Patrick Mannelly Award watch list. Gardner finished as a finalist for the award in 2024. Additionally, Gardner was named to the first-team All-SEC team. Coming into 2025, Gardner was again named to the watchlist for the Patrick Mannelly Award. By the end of the season, Gardner was named a first-team All-SEC player again, along with being named a first-team All-American by the AFCA. Additionally, Gardner was announced as the winner of the 2025 Patrick Mannelly Award.

Professional career

Gardner signed with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent after the conclusion of the 2026 NFL draft. During training camp, Gardner won the competition against Luke Elkin to be the Bears' long snapper for the 2026 season.