Mike Horton (born October 7, 1997) is an American football offensive guard 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

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

and has also been a member of the Carolina Panthers.

Early life

Horton was born in Atlanta, Georgia on October 7, 1996, or 1997. He attended Lakeside High School and was ranked a three-star prospect. He was a two-way player at tackle in

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and also played basketball and competed in track and field. Horton was named a first-team all-region player, was selected to the Semper Fi All-American Bowl, and was ranked by

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as one of the top-60 prospects in the state, additionally being ranked the 23rd-best nationally at his position by ESPN. He received interest from numerous NCAA Division I FBS teams and initially committed to play for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

, but later flipped to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

at Auburn in 2015, Horton redshirted. The following year, he appeared in 12 games, seeing extensive action as the sixth offensive lineman on the depth chart, often playing as an extra blocker in run formations. He started seven games in 2017, mainly as a

left guard In gridiron football, a guard (G), otherwise known as an offensive guard (OG), is a player who lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team on the line of scrimmage used primarily for blocking. Right g ...

. Horton moved to right guard in 2018 but didn't have a great transition, ranking 627th out of 836 college lineman according to Pro Football Focus' rankings. He started 12 games as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 2019, finishing his stint at the school with 32 career starts.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

After going unselected in the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

, Horton was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent. He was released at the final rosters cuts and was afterwards re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was elevated to the active roster as a COVID-19 replacement for their game against the New Orleans Saints, but did not play and returned to the practice squad afterwards. He was elevated again for the team's following game against the

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, but was inactive. He was signed to a reserve/future contract on January 4, 2021. Horton was released at roster cuts again in 2021, being re-signed to the practice squad soon after. He was released from the practice squad on September 14, but was brought back on September 27. He was elevated to the active roster for their week 10 game against the

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, and made his debut in the game, appearing on six special teams snaps, 24% of their total special teams snaps. He received another elevation for their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 16 and appeared on two snaps. Horton was elevated for a final time against the New Orleans Saints one week later and played three snaps. He thus played in a total of three games in the 2021 season, appearing on 11 snaps. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2022. Horton was released by the Panthers following the 2022 preseason and was not re-signed to the practice squad.

Arlington Renegades

Horton was selected in the third round (18th overall) of the offensive line phase of the

2023 XFL Draft The 2023 XFL Draft, is the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL, and the second draft in that league's history following the 2020 draft. The draft was held on November 15–17, 2022, with ...

by the Arlington Renegades. He made the team's final roster and appeared in all 10 games as a starter, helping them win the

2023 XFL Championship Game The 2023 XFL Championship Game was an American football game on May 13, 2023, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The contest determined the champion of the 2023 XFL season and was played between the South Division title winners Arlington Ren ...

over the

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. He was not part of the roster after the

2024 UFL dispersal draft The 2024 UFL dispersal draft was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2024 UFL season and disperse the rosters from the eight teams from its component conferences, the XFL and USFL, that were not retained i ...

on January 15, 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Mike 1997 births Living people American football offensive tackles American football offensive guards Players of American football from Atlanta Auburn Tigers football players Carolina Panthers players Arlington Renegades players