Slade Bolden (born January 26, 1999) 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 ...

wide receiver 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 ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2022.

Early life and high school

Bolden grew up in

West Monroe, Louisiana West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the Ouachita River, across from the neighboring city of Monroe. The two cities are often referred to as the Twin Cities of northeast Louisiana. Its population ...

and attended

West Monroe High School West Monroe High School is a high school in West Monroe, Louisiana, United States. It is administered by the Ouachita Parish School Board. WMHS is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school's mascot is The R ...

, where he played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. He played quarterback and receiver during his junior year and rushed for 1,370 yards and 24 touchdowns with 906 passing yards and nine touchdown passes while also catching 15 passes for 248 yards and four touchdowns. As a senior, Bolden passed for 1,622 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,460 yards and 20 touchdowns and was named the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year. He was rated a three-star recruit and committed to play college football at Alabama over offers from TCU and

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

College career

Bolden played in Alabama's 2018 season opener against

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

as a true freshman before opting to redshirt the year. As a redshirt freshman in the 2019 season, he caught two passes for 34 yards and rushed four times for 10 yards as a wildcat quarterback while also completing a six yard pass for a touchdown, which came against

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. As a redshirt sophomore, Bolden became a starter at wide receiver after

Jaylen Waddle Jaylen Waddle (born November 25, 1998) is an American football wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama and was drafted sixth overall by the Dolphins in the 2021 NFL Draf ...

suffered a broken ankle. Bolden caught a five-yard pass from

Mac Jones Michael McCorkle "Mac" Jones (born September 5, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at University of Alabama, Alabama, where he set the Nationa ...

in the

2021 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game played to determine a national champion in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the 2020 season. ...

for his first career touchdown reception as the Crimson Tide won 52–24 over

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. He finished the season with 24 receptions for 270 yards and one touchdown and returned seven punts for 29 yards. As a redshirt junior, Bolden caught 42 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns. In the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Cotton Bowl, he had a receiving touchdown against

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. After the season, Bolden announced that he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Baltimore Ravens

Bolden signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 30, 2022. He was waived/injured on August 23, and placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 18, 2022.

Atlanta Falcons

On May 15, 2023, Bolden signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

References

External links

Collegiate statistics at Sports-Reference.comAlabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolden, Slade 1999 births Living people People from West Monroe, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana West Monroe High School alumni American football wide receivers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Baltimore Ravens players Atlanta Falcons players