Dwayne Hollis (born July 7, 1989) 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 wi ...

defensive back for the Albany Empire of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

(NAL). He played college football at

North Carolina Wesleyan College North Carolina Wesleyan University (NCWU) is a private Methodist university in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was founded in 1956. North Carolina Wesleyan also offers evening courses at its main Rocky Mount campus, as well as satellite locations ...

and attended Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia. He has also been a member of the

Helsinki Roosters Helsinki Roosters is an American football team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team plays in the Vaahteraliiga in Finland and their home field is the Helsinki Velodrome. History Roosters were founded in 1979 and the club is a founding member of ...

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Steelhawks began play as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the Professional Indoor ...

Trenton Freedom The Trenton Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The Freedom were a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The Freedom began play in 2014 as an expansion member of the PIFL. The Freedom ...

Shanghai Skywalkers The Shanghai Skywalkers are a professional arena football team based in Shanghai, China. They are members of the China Arena Football League The China Arena Football League (), often abbreviated as the CAFL, was a professional arena football l ...

, and Atlanta Legends.

Early life

Hollis attended Denbigh High School.

College career

Hollis played for the North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops from 2009 to 2012 and helped the Battling Bishops to 20 wins. As a sophomore, Hollis was named First Team All-

USA South Athletic Conference The USA South Athletic Conference (formerly the Dixie Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or the Dixie Conference) is an athletic conference which competes in the NCAA's Division III. Member schools are located in North Carolina and Virginia. H ...

as a Defensive Back. As a junior and senior, Hollis was named First Team All-

as both a kick returner and as a defensive back. Hollis was also named an All-American at defensive back by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

Professional career

Helsinki Roosters

Hollis signed with the

Vaahteraliiga The Vaahteraliiga (Maple League) founded in 1980 is the highest level of American football in Finland played under American Football Association of Finland. The winner of the Vaahteraliiga is the Finnish champion. The Vaahteraliiga season is play ...

in 2013.

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks

Hollis returned to the United States in 2014 when he signed with the

of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foo ...

. Hollis was named First Team All-League as both a defensive back and kick returner. Hollis was also named the PIFL's Special Teams Player of the Year. Hollis was the only defensive player in the PIFL to lead his team in all-purpose yardage.

Trenton Freedom

Hollis signed with the

for 2015, but he placed on the other league exempt list before the season began.

Philadelphia Soul

On October 6, 2014, Hollis was assigned to the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...

. On October 9, 2015, Hollis had his rookie option exercised by the Soul. Hollis was named Second Team All-Arena following the 2016 season. Hollis helped lead the Soul to an

ArenaBowl XXIX ArenaBowl XXIX was the championship game of the 2016 Arena Football League season. It was played between the American Conference Champion Philadelphia Soul and the National Conference Champion Arizona Rattlers. The game was played at Gila River A ...

championship. Hollis was once again assigned to the Soul for the 2017 season. He earned AFL Defensive Back of the Year and First Team All-Arena honors in 2017. On August 26, 2017, the Soul beat the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

ArenaBowl XXX ArenaBowl XXX was the championship game of the 2017 Arena Football League season. The game was broadcast on AFLNow, Twitter and WPVI-TV. It was played between the Philadelphia Soul and Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional ar ...

by a score of 44–40.

Shanghai Skywalkers

Holllis was selected by the

in the third round of the

2016 CAFL Draft Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film d ...

. He was named an All-Pro South Division All-Star. He is listed on the Skywalkers' roster for the 2018 season.

Atlanta Legends

In 2019, Hollis joined the Alliance of American Football's Atlanta Legends.

Philadelphia Soul (second stint)

Hollis was placed on the league suspension list as a member of the

on March 20, 2019, after he signed with the Legends of the AAF. After the AAF suspended football operations, he was activated from league suspension by the Soul on April 6, 2019.

Albany Empire

On November 26, 2021, Hollis signed with the Albany Empire of the

(NAL). On December 5, 2022, Hollis re-signed with the Empire.

References

External links

North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollis, Dwayne Living people 1989 births Players of American football from Newport News, Virginia American football defensive backs North Carolina Wesleyan Battling Bishops football players Lehigh Valley Steelhawks players Trenton Freedom players Philadelphia Soul players Shanghai Skywalkers players Atlanta Legends players American expatriate sportspeople in Finland American expatriate sportspeople in China American expatriate players of American football