Orson Charles (born January 27, 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 with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

and fullback. 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 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

High school career

Charles attended Riverview High School before transferring to

Henry B. Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named in honor ...

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

for his senior year, where he was a teammate of Aaron Murray. During a recruiting visit to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in 2008, Charles accidentally dropped the school's 2006 National Championship Trophy, breaking the

Waterford Crystal Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the ...

football. He played in the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Charles was named a finalist for the 2011

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, a ...

on November 21, 2011.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Charles was drafted by 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 ...

in the fourth round, 116th overall, of the 2012 NFL Draft. In his rookie season, he played all 16 games, starting 6 of them, accumulating 8 receptions for 101 yards. In 2013 Charles played primarily at fullback; He played 13 games but started none and recorded one catch for eight yards.

New Orleans Saints

On September 23, 2014, Charles was signed to the

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 ...

practice squad.

Detroit Lions

On June 16, 2016, Charles was signed by 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 was released on October 4, 2016.

Kansas City Chiefs

On May 31, 2017, Charles signed with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. He was waived on September 2, 2017 and was signed to the Chiefs' practice squad the next day. He was released on October 7, 2017. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 25, 2017. He was promoted to the active roster on November 28, 2017. He was waived by the Chiefs on May 3, 2018.

Cleveland Browns

On July 30, 2018, Charles 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 ( ...

. He made the Browns final roster as the team's fourth tight end. Despite being listed as a tight end, Charles had lined up primarily as a fullback throughout the 2018 season. He appeared on the 2018 Pro Bowl ballot as a fullback, and Browns coaches have signaled they view him as such. The Browns placed Charles on injured reserve with an ankle injury on December 13, 2018. On April 3, 2019, Charles re-signed with the Browns. The Browns waived Charles on August 11, 2019.

Denver Broncos

On August 21, 2019, Charles signed with 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 headquart ...

. He was released on August 31, 2019. He was re-signed on November 19, 2019, but was released three days later. Charles was drafted in the 6th round of the 2020 XFL Draft by the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

, but did not sign with the team.

Legal troubles

Shortly before the 2012 NFL Draft, Charles was arrested for a DUI. On March 31, 2014, Charles was arrested for wanton endangerment in

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

. Charles was pulled over by a police officer after another driver called in a complaint that Charles had shown a gun multiple times. In February 2015 Charles pleaded guilty to wanton endangerment and will enter a

diversion program A diversion program, also known as a pretrial diversion program or pretrial intervention program, in the criminal justice system is a form of pretrial sentencing that helps remedy behavior leading to the arrest. Administered by the judicial or ...

. On July 16, 2022, Charles was arrested for pulling a gun on off-duty police officers in

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Orson 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Tampa, Florida American football tight ends Georgia Bulldogs football players Cincinnati Bengals players New Orleans Saints players Detroit Lions players Kansas City Chiefs players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players