Jeffrey Ronald "Jeff" Janis (born June 24, 1991) 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 Saginaw Valley State, and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL Draft.

Early years

A native of

Tawas City, Michigan Tawas City is a city in and county seat of Iosco County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,834 at the 2020 census. The city is mostly surrounded by Tawas Township, but the two area administered automously. History Tawas City ...

, Janis attended Tawas Area High School. He was a member of both the football and basketball teams, and was an all-conference wide receiver who also played as a

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 ...

following an injury, and ended up leading his team in rushing.

College career

Janis attended

Saginaw Valley State University Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) is a public university in University Center, Michigan in Saginaw County. It was founded in 1963 as Saginaw Valley College. It is located on in Saginaw County's Kochville Township, approximately north of ...

from 2009 to 2013, and played for the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. After red-shirting in 2009, he caught 9 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown in 2010. In 2011, he appeared in all 11 games, starting eight and posted a team-high 968 receiving yards on 48 receptions (20.2 avg.) and 14 touchdowns. In 2012, he started all 11 games and was second in the nation with 106 receptions and led all DII players with 1,635 receiving yards, both of which set new SVSU single season marks. He caught 17 touchdown passes and was named a first-team All-

GLIAC The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is a competitive college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The GLIAC was founded in June 1972. Its ele ...

selection. In 2013, he caught 83 passes for 1,572 yards and 14 touchdowns. He earned himself first-team All-

honors, and was a first-team AFCA Div. II

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. For his collegiate career, Janis finished second in the history of the

with 4,305 receiving yards. Janis was invited to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl.

College statistics

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Janis was selected in the seventh round (236th overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFL Draft. Janis was the first Saginaw Valley State Cardinal drafted since offensive guard

Todd Herremans Todd Herremans (born October 13, 1982) is a former American football offensive guard who played 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Herremans was selected in the fourth round (126th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia ...

in 2005, and the first wide receiver in school history to be drafted, though his early role on the team was more on the special teams rather than taking snaps at wide receiver. Janis made his NFL debut on September 28, 2014 against the Chicago Bears, but he recorded no official statistics. In the next game against the Minnesota Vikings, he recorded two receptions for 16 yards. He appeared in one more game, which was against the Miami Dolphins, in the 2014 season. In the 2015 season, Janis appeared in all 16 games in the regular season as a kick returner and backup receiver. His two receptions for 79 yards against the San Diego Chargers were his only receiving statistics for the regular season. He had a breakout game in the NFC divisional playoff game on January 16, 2016, against the Arizona Cardinals. He caught 7 passes for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 41-yard Hail Mary pass from Aaron Rodgers on the final play of regulation to bring the game into overtime. The Packers, however, lost 26-20 in overtime. 101 of these yards came on the game-tying drive to end regulation; he also caught a 60-yard pass on 4th and 20 from the Packers' 4-yard line to set up the tying score. On August 10, 2016, Janis fractured at least one of the bones in his right hand during a ball-security drill at Packers training camp. He remained in a backup role in the 2016 season. He had a receiving touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in a 33–32 loss. Overall, in the 2016 season, he recorded 11 receptions for 93 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in addition to a 19-yard rushing touchdown, which occurred against the Seattle Seahawks. In the 2017 season, he recorded two receptions for 12 yards and three kick returns for 43 net yards.

Cleveland Browns

On March 30, 2018, Janis signed with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. On August 31, 2018, he was released.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

After-football career

In April 2019, Janis bought Timmy Tire Center in East Tawas,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, where he had been employed in high school and college, and renamed it Janis Tire and Auto.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers bioSaginaw Valley State Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Janis, Jeff 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Michigan People from Iosco County, Michigan American football wide receivers Saginaw Valley State Cardinals football players Green Bay Packers players Cleveland Browns players