Four-star offensive lineman Branson Bragg signs with Stanford in the most Stanford way possible: by playing with his jazz band

You may have already known of Branson Bragg, Crandall's four-star offensive lineman who committed to play college ball at Stanford.

But did you know of Branson Bragg, self-taught pianist and member of Crandall's jazz band?

If you didn't before, now you do.

With friends, family, teachers and teammates watching on, Bragg performed a few pieces with his jazz band in Crandall's band hall as part of his signing day ceremony.

The group's performance, which Bragg said was initially suggested by his band director, was even more impressive considering that Bragg played despite being in the process of recovering from a shoulder surgery that he had only last week.

But Bragg ditched his sling, determined to play regardless. He wasn't going to give up an opportunity to show people what matters to him, including but not limited to football.

"[Music has] just grown into this really big part of my life," Bragg said. "I figured I'd showcase it."

Growing up, Bragg got into music from watching his father, a classically trained concert pianist, play around on the piano. Despite never taking lessons, Bragg watched YouTube videos and bought music books so that he could teach himself how to play.

He first joined a jazz band in middle school and even did a year of marching band his freshman year of high school, when he was on the JV football team, before focusing solely on jazz band.

Middle school was also when Bragg started playing tackle football. Since then, he has developed into a six-foot-five, 315-pound offensive lineman who is ranked as the third-best center in the nation in the Class of 2019 by 247Sports.com. Bragg is also No. 14 in SportsDay's Area Top 100 recruiting rankings and the first Crandall player since 2003 to sign with an FBS program, according to 247 Sports.

Bragg may love to pancake opposing defenders on the football field as part of Crandall's 'Roach Patrol', but playing jazz music is his release, he says. He has his teammates, and he has his bandmates. It all may seem contradictory from afar, but, just like Wednesday's performance, Bragg makes it work.

"It's cool," Bragg said. "You can look at me when I'm around my team and me when I'm around my band. [You can see] the contrast between [me] being really violent football player on the field and soft-spoken piano player off the field."

On Twitter: @alexaphilippou