Brandon Mears

Brandon Mears is a firefighter from the Chicago area. Mears works with firefighter/competitor Dan Polizzi, who together have created a duo known as the "Towers of Power".

American Ninja Warrior 5
Brandon Mears first competed on American Ninja Warrior 5 in Baltimore, where he completed the qualifying course. In the semi-finals, he failed the Salmon Ladder, not moving on to Vegas.

American Ninja Warrior 7
He returned in Kansas City for his second season on American Ninja Warrior 7, where he completed the qualifying course again. In the semi-finals, he failed the Body Prop but still advanced to Vegas. In Vegas, he became the tallest competitor to clear stage 1 that season, at 6’5. In stage 2, he failed the Unstable Bridge.

American Ninja Warrior 8
He returned for his third season in Indianapolis of American Ninja Warrior 8, completing the qualifying course for the third time in a row. In the city finals, he shockingly failed the Salmon Ladder, just like his first season, once again not moving on to Vegas. He placed 17th overall.

American Ninja Warrior 9
Mears returned in American Ninja Warrior 9, with major news that his wife, Erika, is pregnant with his first child. It is also worth noting that Mears has formed a group known as the "Windy City Warriors", with Dan Polizzi, Ethan Swanson, and Tyler Yamauchi, who all live in the same city. Mears dominated the qualifying course with the second-fastest time.

However, he failed to make it to Vegas for the second consecutive year when he fell on the third obstacle, the Broken Pipes, failing the dismount. Even worse, Dan Polizzi and Ethan Swanson both fell there as well, with Tyler Yamauchi being the only "Windy City Warrior" to clear the Broken Pipes and eventually move on to Vegas. He placed 28th overall in the Kansas City finals.

American Ninja Warrior 10
In American Ninja Warrior 10, he returned to compete in Indianapolis. However, he shockingly failed on Block Run, making it the first time that he didn't complete a qualifying course, let alone making the top 30.

He was later shown supporting the other Windy City Warriors during the city finals. Since the other three made the top 15, he was the only Windy City Warrior to not advance to Vegas that season. However, he was shown on FaceTime supporting Dan Polizzi, who made it all the way to Stage 2 in Vegas.

American Ninja Warrior 11
In American Ninja Warrior 11, he returned to compete in Cincinnati, with his son Ashton on the sidelines. His qualifying run was digested, but it was shown that he failed Slingshot, making it the second consecutive year in which he failed on a qualifying course. This time, however, he still made the top 30 by placing 25th overall.

During the city finals, he officially confirming having another child, Joelle, being born. Running for his family, he got redemption on the balance obstacle, this time being the Spinning Bridge and the Salmon Ladder and, for the first time in his career. he completed the city finals course. He then placed 4th and advanced to the national finals for the first time since American Ninja Warrior 7. Even better was that Dan Polizzi also finished, so both of the Towers Of Power would compete together in Vegas for the first time ever.

In Vegas, his run was digested, but it was shown that he failed the Diving Boards, making it the third consecutive year he failed on a balance obstacle. However, he was shown on the sidelines supporting Dan Polizzi in his later runs.

American Ninja Warrior 12
In American Ninja Warrior 12, he returned to compete in the third qualifying round along with his buddy Dan Polizzi again. However, despite his run being digested, his balance obstacle nightmares continued as he fell at the Spinning Bridge, an obstacle he cleared twice last year. He failed to make it into the Top 12. However, he was shown on the screens supporting Dan Polizzi during the semifinals and finals.

American Ninja Warrior 13
Brandon returned in the third round of qualifying of American Ninja Warrior 13 where he was hoping to once again get redemption on the balance obstacle where it showed his previous failed attempts: Broken Pipes (Kansas City Finals, S9), Block Run (Indianapolis Qualifying, S10), Diving Boards (Stage 1, S11), and Spinning Bridge (Qualifying Round 3, S12).

He got through the Shrinking Steps and Overpass easily enough before getting to Split Decision, choosing Spinning Log where he missed on his second step then was sent tumbling into the water afterwards.

In the post-run interview, he seemed to be very emotional and told Zuri that with more responsibility from his firefighter and family that he was considering pulling the plug and passing the torch over to the next generation. Then Zuri was trying to convince him not to pull the plug yet.