Michael Wayne Daniels Jr. (born May 5, 1989) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who is a free agent. He 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 ...

for the

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

and was drafted by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

in the fourth round of 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 ...

Early years

Daniels was born in

Stratford, New Jersey Stratford is a borough in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2010 census, the borough's population was 7,040, He attended

Highland Regional High School Highland Regional High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Blackwood, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Gloucester Township in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. The school is part of th ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

where he played running back and defensive tackle. During his second year, he had 41 tackles and six sacks. In his junior year he had 84 tackles and nine sacks. During his senior year, Daniels had 97 tackles and 12 sacks, which earned him first-team all-conference honors. He was also twice named a team captain and rushed for 2,203 yards in his career while scoring 25 touchdowns. Daniels was also a three-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

and state qualifier in the discus (43.77m or 143’06) and threw the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

(17.95m or 58’09) at the New Jersey Meet of Champions.

College career

Daniels was considered a two-star prospect by Rivals.com. His height was listed at six feet one inches and 230 pounds. His

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

was listed at 4.6 seconds; he bench-pressed a maximum of 300 pounds and squatted 600 pounds. Daniels was not highly recruited out of high school and only received scholarship offers from Iowa and Temple. When he was asked about why no one knew about him coming out of high school, he replied, "honestly, I don't know". Daniels chose to play football at Iowa and was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his first year. When the redshirt expired the following year, he was not listed on the depth chart after spring practice but still managed to get the first sack of his college career in a game against the Florida International University Golden Panthers, in which he also had two solo tackles and an assisted tackle. During his second year, Daniels played in all 13 games, and had 10 tackles including 1.5 for a loss. In his junior year with the Hawkeyes, Daniels played in every game and started eight of them. During a game against Ball State, he was awarded a career-best six tackles (four solo), as well as four more tackles for a loss and a sack. His performance earned him Big Ten co-Defensive Player of the week honors. At the end of the season, he earned a spot on the honorable mention All-Big Ten team by the coaches and media. During the final season of his college career, Daniels was named to the Pony Express Award preseason watch list. Additionally, he was named a third-team All-Big 10 by Phil Steele. During the season, he started all 13 games at defensive tackle and led the team in tackles for loss and sacks. He also recorded 32 solo tackles. During the season opener against

Tennessee Tech Tennessee Technological University, commonly referred to as Tennessee Tech, is a public research university in Cookeville, Tennessee, United States. It was formerly known as Tennessee Polytechnic Institute, and before that as University of Dixie ...

, he recorded one solo tackle and one assist. When the Hawkeyes competed against

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 southwe ...

, Daniels matched his career high of nine tackles. His performance in his final year earned him a spot on the second-team all-Big Ten team by the coaches and media. Daniels graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

Professional career

Green Bay Packers

Scouts praised Daniels for being "quick off the ball" and using "his small frame to work between blockers". They also stated that he had good instincts and could understand offensive schemes and beat them. His size was often criticized because he was often beaten by larger blockers. Daniels was selected in the fourth round (132nd overall) of the 2012 draft by the

who first noticed him a year before when looking at other defensive linemen from Iowa. Defensive coordinator

Dom Capers Ernest Dominic Capers (born August 7, 1950) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Carolina Panthers and ...

commented that "The thing that jumps out at me is the way he plays the game." He scored his first touchdown on December 9, 2012 against the Lions after recovering a fumble by

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia, where he was a first-team All-American, and was selected f ...

. During his rookie season in 2012, Daniels played 14 games with 12 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defended, and 2 fumble recoveries. In 2013, Daniels appeared in 16 games making 28 tackles and 6.5 sacks. In 2014, Daniels started all 16 games with 47 tackles and 5.5 sacks. On December 14, 2015, Daniels signed a 4-year contract extension worth $42 million. On December 27, 2015, despite the Packers' bad performance on the offensive line and being blown out 38–8 by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, Daniels snagged his first interception from

Carson Palmer Carson Hilton Palmer (born December 27, 1979) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals and Arizona Cardinals. He played college football at ...

. Daniels finished the 2015 season with 49 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 interception, 2 passes defended, and 1 forced fumble. Daniels was ranked 95th by his fellow players on the

NFL Top 100 Players of 2016 The NFL Top 100 Players of 2016 was the sixth season in the series. It aired on May 4, 2016. It ended with reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton being ranked #1. The Kansas City Chiefs had the most players selected with nine, while the Chicago Bears Th ...

, and 84th on the

NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 The NFL Top 100 Players of 2017 was the seventh season in the series. It ended with reigning Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady being ranked #1. This made Brady the first player to be voted #1 more than once. It was also just the second time the #1 ranked ...

after starting all 16 games both seasons. In Week 1 of the 2017 season, Daniels recorded seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble off of quarterback

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

in a 17–9 win over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. Daniels's forced fumble was vital as it helped set up a

Ty Montgomery Ty Anthony Montgomery II (born January 22, 1993) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford. Montgomery was drafted as a wide receiver by ...

rushing touchdown. Daniels was named to his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

after the 2017 regular season. Having been an alternate three previous occasions in his career, on January 9, 2018, the

NFL 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 major ...

announced that Daniels would replace

Aaron Donald Aaron Charles Donald (born May 23, 1991) is an American football defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he received unanimous All-American honors, and w ...

in the 2018 Pro Bowl due to an undisclosed injury. He was ranked 93rd by his peers on the

NFL Top 100 Players of 2018 The NFL Top 100 Players of 2018 was the eighth season in the series. It ended with reigning National Football League Most Valuable Player Award, NFL MVP Tom Brady being ranked #1, making him the only player to be voted #1 three times, already bein ...

. In 2018, Daniels played in 10 games, recording 18 tackles and two sacks before suffering a foot injury in Week 11. He was placed on injured reserve on December 1, 2018. On July 24, 2019, Daniels was released by the Packers after seven seasons.

Detroit Lions

Two days later, Daniels signed a one-year, $9.1 million contract with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. He played in nine games before being placed on injured reserve on December 16, 2019.

Cincinnati Bengals

Daniels signed with the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

on August 12, 2020. He was placed on injured reserve on October 3, 2020, with an elbow injury. He was activated on October 24. He was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

list by the team on January 2, 2021, and activated on January 12. Daniels re-signed on a one-year contract with the Bengals on March 31, 2021. He was released on August 31, 2021. He was signed to the practice squad on September 6.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Daniels is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Daniels is married to Heaven Daniels. They have five children. Daniels is the older brother of

Sean Daniels Sean Daniels (born November 13, 1991) is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Temple University. Early life Daniels attended Highland Regional High School. College career Daniels pla ...

. He has been noted for his interest in

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

References

External links

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Iowa Hawkeyes bioPackers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Mike 1989 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Cincinnati Bengals players Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players Iowa Hawkeyes football players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Gloucester Township, New Jersey People from Stratford, New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey Sportspeople from Camden County, New Jersey Ed Block Courage Award recipients