James Houston IV (born November 16, 1998) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for the Detroit Lions 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 played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before transferring to

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

Early years

Houston grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and attended the American Heritage School. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Florida over offers Wisconsin, South Carolina, Michigan, and Miami.

College career

Houston began his college career at

. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

his true freshman season after being suspended along with eight other players due to his involvement in a credit card fraud scheme. As a redshirt freshman, Houston played in all 13 of the Gators' games as a reserve linebacker and made 28 tackles with two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and one blocked punt. He had 38 tackles with six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in his redshirt sophomore season. Houston recorded 37 tackles, 3.5 tackles for a loss, one sack, and one forced fumble as a redshirt junior. Following the end of the season he entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool launched on October 15, 2018, to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member ...

. Houston ultimately transferred to

. In his only season with the Tigers, he recorded 70 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and an interception and was named first-team All- Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Professional career

Houston was selected in the sixth round, 217th overall, by the Detroit Lions in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and ...

. He was waived on August 30, 2022 and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on November 28. During a Thanksgiving Day matchup against the Buffalo Bills, Houston recorded 2 sacks, 2 solo tackles, and a fumble recovery in just five defensive snaps. He followed this up with a sack in each of his next 3 games, becoming only the third player in NFL history (along with

Terrell Suggs Terrell Raymonn Suggs (born October 11, 1982), nicknamed "T-Sizzle", is an American former professional outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous A ...

and Santana Dotson) to open his career with a 4 game sack streak. On September 19, 2023, Houston was placed on injured reserve after suffering a leg injury in Week 2. On January 18, 2024, the Lions reinstated Houston.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioFlorida Gators bioJackson State Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Houston, James 1998 births Living people Jackson State Tigers football players Players of American football from Fort Lauderdale, Florida American football defensive ends American football linebackers Florida Gators football players Detroit Lions players