Josh Banderas (born February 22, 1995) 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, ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Early life and education

Banderas was born on February 22, 1995, in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...

. He attended

Lincoln Southwest High School Lincoln Southwest High School is a Lincoln Public high school which is located on 74 acres adjacent to Wilderness Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. Academics Southwest offers dual enrollment education through three local tertiary education institut ...

, where he was a two-way starter in football. Although originally focusing on

in his first two years, he played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

as well in his final season. Despite playing in just five games as a sophomore, Banderas made 30 tackles. In his junior season, Banderas made a total of 127 tackles. As a senior, he ran 189 times for 1,237 and scored 18 touchdowns on offense, while making 119 tackles and two interceptions on defense. For his performance, Banderas was named honorary captain of the ''

Omaha World-Herald The ''Omaha World-Herald'' is a daily newspaper in the midwestern United States, the primary newspaper of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. It was locally owned from its founding in 1885 until 2020, when it was sold to the newspaper ch ...

'' and ''

Lincoln Journal-Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in N ...

'' all-state teams. Banderas was a four-star prospect and committed to the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

over offers from

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, Vanderbilt, and

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, among others. As a freshman, he played in every game and was a starter in four games, making 28 tackles and two sacks. As a sophomore, he appeared in 12 games and started six, making 50 tackles. Against USC, Banderas made a career-high 14 tackles. As a junior in 2015, Banderas was a starter at middle linebacker in nine games and ranked among the team's top tacklers with 61 stops. He led the school with 93 tackles as a senior and earned honorable mention all-conference honors.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

, Banderas was signed as an undrafted free agent by 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 was released in July. After spending 2018 out of football, Banderas signed with the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team i ...

of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) in 2019. He appeared in eight games with the team and made seven tackles before the league folded. In , Banderas was signed by the

Edmonton Football Team The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL), but the season was cancelled. In 2021, Banderas played for the Generals of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

. Banderas was selected in the 21st round of the 2022 USFL draft by the Philadelphia Stars. He was transferred to the team's inactive roster on April 30, 2022. He was moved back to the active roster on May 5. Banderas finished the 2022 season with six games played, 45 tackles and 2.0 sacks.

Coaching career

In 2021, Banderas was an assistant football coach at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...

Personal life

His father Tom also played college football at Nebraska.

Early life and education

Professional career

Coaching career

Personal life

References

Further reading