LARAMIE – Casey Bramlet isn't the most famous quarterback in the 2025 Wyoming Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame class.
 
However, the gracious Wheatland product – the most prolific passer the Pokes have ever had – says he doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with Buffalo Bills quarterback and reigning NFL most valuable player Josh Allen.
 
Bramlet and Allen will be inducted into brown and gold immortality on Sept. 5 along with Curt Jimerson (men's basketball, 1961-63), Hugh Lowham (wrestling, 1962-64), Mike Mulvaney (baseball, 1985-88), Lori Kline Waddell (women's basketball, 1979, 1981-83) and John Wendling (football, 2003-06).
 
"He's done so much for Wyoming, just with what he's done and continues to do," Bramlet said of Allen. "And the type of person he is, to be able to go in with him and John Wendling, another Wyoming guy, and then just be part of the legacy of the University of Wyoming with guys that I grew up coming over to watch like Randy Welniak and Mitch Donahue, it's something as a kid that you dream of not thinking it's a reality. All of a sudden when it's here, obviously it's pretty special."
 
Bramlet was a special QB1 for the Pokes from 2000-03. He still holds the UW career records for passing yards (9,684), attempts (1378) and completions (767) and his 56 career touchdown passes are second in program history behind Brett Smith's 76.
 
"It's been over 20 years, and it's still there," Bramlet said of having his name all over the UW record book. "Those are things that I saw to chase, to try to go after. Hopefully, somebody can do the same thing one day because if somebody does break those it's probably means that the program and the team are having success."
 
The humble Bramlet added that if Smith had returned for his senior season or if Allen had started 40 games, they might very well be the program's all-time passing leader.
 
"I had a lot of empathy for him," Kevin McKinney, the longtime UW administrator and radio color man for Cowboy football, said when asked to put in perspective Bramlet's brilliant individual career played during a forgettable era for the program. "He was just the right guy at the wrong time. Everyone wanted him to do well. He was a Wyoming guy; he has always been a wonderful guy and a tough guy obviously because he took some beatings."
 
After a redshirt season, Bramlet played 28 games from 2000-2002 under Vic Koenning. The Pokes were 5-29 overall during those three seasons.
 
"It was hard. Obviously, looking back, I think everybody would trade the individual honors and records for success as a team," Bramlet said. "Football is the ultimate team sport, and you share that with the rest of your teammates. You give up that other stuff to have some success on the field."
 
Bramlet said coming up agonizingly short in close games with a young roster – the Pokes had a three-game stretch in 2002 that includes a 49-48 overtime loss at UNLV, a 35-31 loss at BYU and a 23-18 loss to Utah – was the most difficult pill to swallow.
 
During his senior season in 2003, Bramlet led UW to victories over rivals BYU and Colorado State to help first-year head coach Joe Glenn get the program turned in the right direction.
 
"Winning that game against BYU and beating CSU there towards the end of the year, I think that did kind of help set the tone for moving forward and saying, OK, we're close, we're there, we can beat these guys and we know we can," Bramlet said. "Some of those younger kids that hadn't gone through some of the stuff that we had kind of took it and ran from there."
 
In 2004, Bramlet's younger brother, Corey, took over as the starting quarterback. The Cowboys finished 7-5 with a memorable win over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
 
"I get congratulated on Corey's big bowl win all the time," Bramlet said. "I used to correct people. Now I just tell them thanks."
 
Following his record-setting career at UW, Bramlet was selected in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he backed up Carson Palmer and Jon Kitna.
 
"It was a dream come true," Bramlet said. "Growing up it's a lot of kids dreams to be able to play in the NFL, and especially to get drafted. When I got that call from (then-Bengals coach) Marvin (Lewis), it was a pretty amazing moment. Then to get there, and it was a change, I mean, you're seeing guys you grew up watching that you're now teammates with.
 
"It's an adjustment mentally, probably more than anything else, to be able to get past that, and then to realize, I belong here."
 
The statuesque 6-foot-4 Bramlet also spent time with the Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens before finishing his professional career in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
 
"Throughout the journey, kind of bouncing around, I don't know if it was dumb, but I was like, I'm not giving up, I'm not quitting, I'm going to keep fighting until I get an opportunity," Bramlet said.
 
Bramlet did collect a championship ring along the way by leading the Hamburg Sea Devils to a 37-28 victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy in the 2007 World Bowl. He racked up 347 yards passing and four touchdowns to earn most valuable player honors in the NFL Europe championship.
 
"It doesn't quite have as many diamonds on it as a Super Bowl ring," Bramlet said with a laugh.
 
Bramlet's journey from Wheatland to Laramie, through all the NFL and international football stops, and now back to the middle of the state where he is a successful financial advisor still resonates with UW fans.
 
The mayor of Casper, Ray Pacheco, declared July 26 as "Casey Bramlet Day" and several hundred people celebrated his selection to the UW Athletics Hall of Fame during an event at the Boys & Girls Club of Central Wyoming.
 
Bramlet, 23 years after being featured on the cover of UWyo Magazine ahead of his junior campaign, will finally be enshrined on the eve of the Cowboys' home opener against Northern Iowa.
 
"Coming from a small town you have to prove yourself," Bramlet said before the 2002 season. "People didn't know who I was, so I just had to show them."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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