John William Standeford (born April 15, 1982) is a former

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 ...

wide receiver. He played college football at Purdue, and signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2004. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions,

Florida Tuskers 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 th ...

, Cincinnati Bengals, and

Virginia Destroyers The Virginia Destroyers were a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They played their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The tea ...

. As a member of the Colts, Standeford won Super Bowl XLI, defeating the Chicago Bears.

Early years

Standeford started his football career at Monrovia High School in

Monrovia, Indiana Monrovia is a town in Monroe Township, Morgan County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 1,063 at the 2010 census. History Monrovia was laid out in 1834, Laid after Liberia's Capital Name. The town's name is derived from Monroe To ...

, near Indianapolis. He was an Indiana All-Star in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, but chose football as his profession.

College career

After high school, Standeford attended

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 mone ...

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

to play under head coach

Joe Tiller Joseph Henry Tiller (December 7, 1942 – September 30, 2017) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1991 to 1996 and Purdue University from 1997 to 2008, with a career record of know ...

. He graduated holding the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

's all-time career receptions record with 266 catches and had a career record of catches in a game with 14 against

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

during his senior season. He was teamed with current

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

, and both hold the conference record for most touchdown pass connections and following quarterback

Kyle Orton Kyle Raymond Orton (born November 14, 1982) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for Purdue, where he started four straight bowl games. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Dr ...

of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. He majored in Elementary Education and did his student teaching at Attica High School in Attica, Indiana. His brother, Jake, who was also a multiple sports star in high school, was a wide receiver at Purdue from 2004 to 2007. One season later after becoming the conference career receptions leader, John's teammate,

Taylor Stubblefield Taylor Evans Stubblefield (born January 21, 1982) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the wide receiver coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions. He is a former wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers and St. Louis R ...

, set it as a new NCAA record with 325. John was named a ''First-team-All Big Ten'' selection in 2002, while being a ''First-team Academic All-American'' in 2002 & 2003.

Professional career

Washington Redskins and Indianapolis Colts

Standeford went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

and was signed by the

. He was soon traded to the Indianapolis Colts, where he played for three seasons under head coach

Tony Dungy Anthony Kevin Dungy ( ; born October 6, 1955) is an American former football safety and coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Indianapolis Colts. Dungy's teams be ...

, mainly on the practice squad. Playing in a handful of preseason games, he never appeared in an official game as a Colt. He was a member of the Indianapolis Colts' Super Bowl XLI team.

Detroit Lions

After playing with the Colts primarily on the practice squad, he was traded to the Detroit Lions where he received some playing time. He appeared in nine games during the 2008 season, starting in four of them. He had 15 receptions for 244 yards. He averaged 16.3 yards per catch with a career long of 36 yards. Standeford signed a one-year contract with the Lions during the 2009 offseason, and was waived on November 7, 2009.

Virginia Destroyers

Standeford was signed by the

of the United Football League on June 28, 2011.

Cincinnati Bengals

Standeford was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals on August 11, 2011, but was waived on August 23.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Standeford, John 1982 births Living people People from Monrovia, Indiana American football wide receivers Purdue Boilermakers football players Washington Redskins players Indianapolis Colts players Detroit Lions players Florida Tuskers players Virginia Destroyers players Cincinnati Bengals players