Joseph Aaron Banyard (born November 12, 1988) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

. He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He had been a member of the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings before returning to the Jaguars in 2015.

Early life

Joseph Banyard attended Sweetwater High School in

Sweetwater, Texas Sweetwater is a municipality in and the seat of Nolan County, Texas, United States. It is 123 miles southeast of Lubbock and 40 miles west of Abilene, Texas. Its population was 10,906 at the 2010 census. History The town's name "Sweetwater" is t ...

, where Joe played football and competed in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and powerlifting. In

, Joe earned Honorable Mention 3A All-State honors as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 2007, Joe switched to running back, totalling over 1,200 yards and 21 touchdowns. Also a top competitor in track and field, Joseph Banyard was a state qualifier sprinter. In 2005, as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, Joe went to the Texas State Meet as a member of Sweetwater's relay squads; in the 4 × 100m final, Banyard ran the third leg, helping them earn a second-place finish and setting a new school-record time of 41.98 seconds. Banyard and his teammates also placed third in both the 4 × 200m and 4 × 400m relays with times of 1:27.40 and 3:19.62, respectively. Joe ran the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

in 23.21 seconds in 2006, as a junior. As a senior, Banyard placed third in the long jump at the regional meet with a leap of 6.64 meters (21'9.5"). At the San Angelo relays, Banyard recorded a personal-best time of 50.51 seconds in the

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

. Regarded only as a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, Banyard committed to

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

on January 21, 2007.

College career

Banyard started his college career at

. Prior to his freshman season Joe transferred to

. Banyard saw his first playing time his junior season. He was UTEP's leader in rushing attempts with 109. He also had 623 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Banyard signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars after the

2012 NFL draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

as an undrafted free agent.

New Orleans Saints

On June 7, 2012, Banyard signed a contract with the New Orleans Saints. On September 13, 2012, he was waived by the team.

Minnesota Vikings

Banyard was signed by the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent the rest of the 2012 season on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was released by the Vikings on August 31, 2013 (along with 18 others) to get to a 53-man roster, signed to the practice squad the following day, released again on September 4, and then re-signed to the practice squad on September 10, 2013. On December 14, 2013, Banyard was added to the Vikings active roster. On December 16, 2013, the Vikings waived Banyard, only to re-sign him to the practice squad two days later. On August 30, 2015, Banyard was released by the Vikings.

Jacksonville Jaguars (second stint)

Banyard was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad on October 14, 2015, after running backs

Corey Grant Corey Grant (born December 22, 1976) is the head coach for the Carleton Ravens football team of U Sports. He is a former professional wide receiver in the Canadian Football League where he played for 11 years and won two Grey Cup championships. ...

and

Bernard Pierce Bernard Hayward Pierce (born May 10, 1990) is a former American football running back. He played college football for Temple University. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Early years Pierce atten ...

were 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 ...

for the remainder of the season. The following week, Banyard was re-signed to the active roster. After

Toby Gerhart Tobin Bo Gunnar Gerhart (born March 28, 1987) is a former American football running back. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for Stanford University, and was a unanimous ...

suffered an injury, Banyard was promoted to third string. Banyard was released by the Jaguars on September 4, 2016. He was re-signed on December 27, 2016.

Buffalo Bills

On March 17, 2017, Banyard signed with the

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

. He was released by the Bills on October 17, 2017, but was re-signed on October 28, only to be released three days later.

References

External links

UTEP Miners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Banyard, Joe 1988 births Living people American football running backs Players of American football from Texas UTEP Miners football players Jacksonville Jaguars players New Orleans Saints players Minnesota Vikings players Buffalo Bills players People from Sweetwater, Texas 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople