Joe Holland (born August 20, 1988) 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 ...

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, p ...

who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

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) as an undrafted free agent in 2012.

High school career

Holland attended

Bishop Chatard High School Bishop Chatard High School is a Catholic co-educational preparatory high school located in the Broad Ripple district of Indianapolis, Indiana in the United States. It is named after Bishop Silas Chatard, who was the first Bishop A bishop is an ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, where he played football, basketball, and ran track. As a senior, Holland was named all-state, Indianapolis City Player of the Year and All-North Football Player of the Year after rushing for 2,048 yards on 239 carries and 35 touchdowns and added nine receptions for 153 yards (17.0 average) and one touchdown. He also returned nine punts for 137 yards (15.2 average) and returned three kickoffs for 124 yards (41.3 average) and one touchdown. He led his team to Class 3A state championship. His junior year, he totaled 2,257 rushing yards on 331 carries (6.8 average) and 32 touchdowns with 19 receptions for 239 yards (15.9 average). As a sophomore, he rushed for 961 yards on 144 carries (6.7 average) and 11 touchdowns. He set the school record for career rushing yards with 5,270 yards. He was named the 2007 city athlete of the year.

College

Holland 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 ...

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

from 2007 to 2011. After redshirting his first year, Holland moved from safety to outside linebacker during training camp in 2008. He started at outside linebacker for the Boilermakers in 48 of the possible 49 games amassing 324 tackles (14th in school history) and 23.5 tackles for a loss for his career. Also excelling in the classroom, Holland was a two time Academic All American and in 2011 was one of eighteen players in the nation chose as a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete. He was a captain of the 2011 team.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers (first stint)

On May 4, 2012, Holland signed with the

as an undrafted free agent. On August 31, 2012, he was released.

Miami Dolphins

On October 16, 2012, he was signed to the

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

practice squad. On October 23, he was released after team signed

Dominique Jones Dominique O'Neal Jones (born October 15, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Jilin Northeast Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). A noted scorer in college, Jones had the second-highest scoring average in th ...

to the practice squad.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On November 14, 2012, the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

signed Holland to their practice squad. On November 21, 2012, he was released from the practice squad. On November 28, 2012, he was re-signed to the Buccaneers' practice squad. On December 11, 2012, he was released from the practice squad for the second time. On December 18, 2012, he was re-signed to the practice squad. On January 3, 2013, Holland was signed to a reserve/future contract by the Buccaneers. On August 21, 2013, he was waived by the Buccaneers.

San Francisco 49ers (second stint)

On August 22, 2013, the

claimed Holland off waivers from the

Personal

Joe Holland attended dental school at IUPUI in Indianapolis. He currently owns his a practice in Indianapolis near the Indianapolis Colts practice facility. He has two sisters.

References

External links

San Francisco 49ers bio

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Joe 1988 births Living people American football linebackers Miami Dolphins players Purdue Boilermakers football players Players of American football from Indianapolis San Francisco 49ers players Bishop Chatard High School alumni Tampa Bay Buccaneers players