Anthony Glenn Herron (born September 24, 1979) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

commentator and former

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. Originally from

Bolingbrook, Illinois The village of Bolingbrook is a southwest suburb of Chicago in Will and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 73,922. As of 2010, it is the 17th largest incorporated place in Illinois and the sta ...

, Herron played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. Following the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

, Herron signed with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

as an undrafted free agent and spent three seasons with the team, in addition to short stints with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. Although Herron played in only one NFL game, he had a more productive career in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

with the

Indiana Firebirds The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The team was based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Home games were played at the Conseco Fieldhouse, also the home of the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association and Indiana ...

in 2004 and

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

in 2006 and 2007. A regular starter for the Kats in 2006, Herron played a total of 26 games in the Arena Football League. After his playing career, Herron was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

from 2008 to 2009, helping the Vipers win the

ArenaCup IX The 2008 AF2 season was the ninth season of the AF2. It was preceded by 2007 and succeeded by 2009. The regular season began on Friday, March 28 and ended on Saturday, July 26. The league champions were the Tennessee Valley Vipers, who beat the S ...

title in 2008. Herron also became a college football and NFL commentator on Chicago-area and national TV and radio, including the

Big Ten Network Big Ten Network (BTN) is an American sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The channel is dedicated to coverage of collegiate sports sanctioned by the Big Ten Conference, including live and recorded event telecasts, news, analysis programs, ...

Pac-12 Network The Pac-12 Network (P12N; also sometimes referred to as Pac-12 Networks) is an American sports-oriented digital cable and satellite television network owned by the Pac-12 Conference. The network's studio and production facilities are headquart ...

, and

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

Early life and college career

Born and raised in

, Herron graduated from

Bolingbrook High School Bolingbrook High School or The Brook is a public four-year high school located in Bolingbrook, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Bolingbrook High School is the second high school in the Valley View Community U ...

in 1997. He played football, basketball, and track in high school. At the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, Herron played at defensive end from 1997 to 2000 and was a regular starter in his last two seasons. As a senior in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, Herron had an honorable mention All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

season after making 64 tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles. In his college career, Herron had 172 tackles (including 19 for loss), 10 sacks, and one blocked kick. Herron completed his bachelor's degree in English at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

during the 2006 offseason while playing for the

of the

Pro football career

NFL

After the

, Herron signed as an undrafted free agent with the

on April 27, 2001 and was released on September 2 following the preseason. On September 4, Herron signed with the

. He was released on October 5 but re-signed with the Packers practice squad two weeks later on October 19. The Lions signed Herron to its active roster off the Packers practice squad on November 27. Herron made his NFL debut coming off the bench during the Lions' 2001 season finale, a 15–10 win over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

on January 6, 2002 that also marked the last NFL game played at the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known simply as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, ...

. That game would be Herron's only career game in the NFL. Due to a foot injury, Herron was on the Lions' physically unable to perform list throughout the 2002 season. The Lions released Herron on August 26, 2003. In 2004, Herron signed with the

on August 9 but was cut on August 27. Later that year, he signed with the

practice squad on November 10. He was released on December 14 but re-signed with the practice squad on January 5, 2005. Following the 2005 preseason, Herron was waived during final roster cuts on September 3.

Arena Football League

In 2004, Herron played in eight games for the

of the

, recording 10 tackles, defending one pass, and making eight quarterback hurries. From 2006 to 2007, Herron played at both offensive and defensive line for the

, wearing jersey #99. Starting 11 games in 2006 and playing four games off the bench in 2007, Herron had 20.5 total tackles and four sacks in two seasons. He had one seven-yard touchdown reception in 2006.

Coaching career

In 2008 and 2009, Herron was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the

of the Arena Football League's minor league

. He helped the Vipers win the

title.

Broadcasting career

Herron has worked for the

as a game and studio analyst,

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NFL ...

as an analyst for Arena Football, and

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

as a college football analyst. Since 2013, he has been a college football analyst for the

. Herron is a college football commentator for Chicago sports radio station

WSCR WSCR (670 AM) – branded as 670 The Score – is a commercial sports radio station licensed to serve Chicago, Illinois, servicing the Chicago metropolitan area and much of surrounding Northern Illinois, Northwest Indiana and parts of the Milwa ...

"670 the Score" and Chicago Bears commentator for Chicago TV station

WFLD WFLD (channel 32) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Gary, Indiana–licensed MyNetworkTV ...

. In addition, he is also a host for the

Big Ten Radio channel.

Personal life

In 2003, Herron married Katherine Druley in

East Falmouth, Massachusetts East Falmouth is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located at the base of Massachusetts' "fishhook" peninsula (''see map at right''). The population was 6,038 at the ...

. He lived in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

while playing for the Lions.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herron, Anthony 1979 births Living people American football defensive linemen Arena football announcers College football announcers Detroit Lions players Iowa Hawkeyes football players People from Bolingbrook, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois ArenaBowl broadcasters Indiana Firebirds players Nashville Kats players Tennessee State University alumni Alabama Vipers coaches