Hjalte Froholdt (; born August 20, 1996) is a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

professional

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 ...

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for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He was drafted by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in the fourth round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. He 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 ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Early years

Froholdt began playing football in his native Denmark for the Svendborg Admirals. After spending his sophomore year as an exchange student at Warren G Harding high school in

Warren, Ohio Warren is a city in and the county seat of Trumbull County, Ohio, United States. Located in northeastern Ohio, Warren lies approximately northwest of Youngstown and southeast of Cleveland. The population was 39,201 at the 2020 census. The his ...

, he returned to Denmark and played for the U-19 youth team of the

Søllerød Gold Diggers The Søllerød Gold Diggers are an american football team from Rudersdal, Denmark. The club was founded in 2003. Søllerød Gold Diggers are members of the Danish American Football Federation (DAFF) and compete in the National Ligaen, the highes ...

. He then attended

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. IMG Academy is set across over 600 acres and features programs consisting of sport camps for youth athletes, adult camps, a board ...

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698. History Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...

, his senior year before signing to play with the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

College career

Froholdt was recruited to Arkansas by then–head coach

Bret Bielema Bret Arnold Bielema (; born January 13, 1970) is currently the head American football coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Bielema served as the head football coach at of the University of Wisconsin–Madison from 2006 to 2012 ...

, who in 2019 was the defensive line coach for the

. In 2015, Froholdt played as a defensive lineman for the Razorbacks before switching to the offensive line in 2016. He played 13 games at left guard in 2016 and another 12 in 2017, not allowing a sack in 2017. He played three games at

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in 2018 before moving back to left guard. In 2019, Froholdt worked

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

as a broadcaster for the Danish media.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Froholdt was drafted by the

in the fourth round (118th overall) of the

. He is only the second native of Denmark to be drafted by an NFL team (the first was kicker

Morten Andersen Morten Andersen (born 19 August 1960), nicknamed the "Great Dane", is a Danish former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 25 seasons, most notably with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. F ...

in 1982). On August 31, 2019, he was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

as a result of a shoulder injury he sustained in Week 4 of preseason against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. On November 21, 2020, Froholdt was waived by the Patriots.

Houston Texans

On November 23, 2020, Froholdt was claimed off waivers by the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on December 17, 2020, and activated on January 13, 2021. On August 31, 2021, Froholdt was waived by the Texans and re-signed to the practice squad.

Cleveland Browns

On October 5, 2021, Froholdt was signed by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

off the Houston Texans' practice squad. He was waived on November 27 and re-signed to the practice squad. Froholdt was elevated to the Browns' active roster as a COVID-19 replacement player on December 24, 2021. The Browns signed Froholdt to a reserve/futures contract on January 10, 2022.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 15, 2023, Froholdt signed a two-year contract with the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froholdt, Hjalte 1996 births Living people American football offensive linemen Arizona Cardinals players Arkansas Razorbacks football players Cleveland Browns players Danish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Danish players of American football Houston Texans players New England Patriots players People from Svendborg Sportspeople from the Region of Southern Denmark