William Gholston (born July 31, 1991) 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 end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

of the

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL). 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 ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, and was drafted by the Buccaneers in the fourth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

Early life and education

A native of

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, Gholston attended

Mumford High School Samuel C. Mumford High School is a public high school located on the near-northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. It was operated by the Detroit Public Schools, and had been operated by the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan (EAA). DPS r ...

in Detroit, where he was a ''USA Today'' High School All-American in 2008. For his senior year, he transferred to Southeastern High School. He recorded a career-best 115 tackles as a senior, with 44 resulting in losses including 7 sacks, and also forced 10 fumbles and blocked two punts. Considered a five-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, he was rated as the third best strong side

in the nation. He accepted a scholarship from Michigan State University over offers from

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and

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 ...

College career

Gholston enrolled in

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

, and played for the

Michigan State Spartans football The Michigan State Spartans football program represents Michigan State University (MSU) in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Spartans are members of the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State claims a ...

team from 2010 to 2012. As a freshman in 2010, he saw action in the first 10 games of the 2010 season before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He recorded 13 tackles and five quarterback hurries. In 2011, he became a full-time starter for the Spartans. He led the Spartan defensive linemen with 70 tackles and finished tied for seventh in the

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

with 16.0 tackles for loss (50 yards); that total also ranks tied for seventh in MSU single-season history, and he also was tied for 11th in the Big Ten with 5.0 sacks (30 yards). He tied a Spartan-bowl record with 5.0 tackles for loss (16 yards), including a career-best 2.0 sacks (10 yards), in the 33–30 triple overtime win against No. 18

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 ...

in the

2012 Outback Bowl The 2012 Outback Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on January 2, 2012, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, as part of the 2011–12 NCAA Bowl season. It was the 26th edition of the Outback Bowl, and was tel ...

, and garnered all-conference second team honours. As a junior in 2012, he led the Spartan defensive linemen and ranked fourth on the team with 59 tackles. He also led the team and ranked eighth in the Big Ten with 13.0 tackles for loss (49 yards), and led the team with 4.5 sacks (24 yards).

Professional career

On January 3, 2013, Gholston announced he would forgo his final year of eligibility and enter the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. On April 27, 2013, William Gholston was drafted by the

in the fourth round with the 126th overall pick in the

. The Buccaneers previously acquired the pick used to select Gholston from the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

in a trade that sent

Aqib Talib Aqib Talib (born February 13, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at the University of Kansas, where he received consensus All-American honors, and was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first ro ...

to New England. Gholston signed his contract on May 14, 2013, and his four-year deal is worth $2,560,544; it included a $400,544 signing bonus. He finished his rookie season in 2013 as a rotational player earning 30 combined tackles (14 solo) and two quarterback sacks. In 2014, he became the team's starter at left end for the defensive line when an injury to

Adrian Clayborn Adrian Jarrell Clayborn (born July 6, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Iowa, and earned consensus All-American honors. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first r ...

put Clayborn on the IR list ending his season. He eventually lost the starting job to waiver wire pick up Jacquies Smith and was relegated to rotational duties for the remainder of the 2014 season. He finished the year with 41 combined tackles (27 solo) and two quarterback sacks. Gholston played in all 16 games while starting 11 in 2015. He amassed 67 tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble from his defensive end position. In 2016, he recorded 49 tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble. file:William Gholston (51684900052) (cropped).jpg, 225px, Gholston with the

in 2021. On March 6, 2017, Gholston signed a five-year contract extension with the Buccaneers. Gholston was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 4, 2020, and activated three days later. Gholston played in all four games in the Buccaneers' playoff run that resulted in the team winning

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

. On March 24, 2022, Gholston re-signed with the Buccaneers.

Personal life

He is a cousin of former

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree ...

defensive end

Vernon Gholston Vernon Gholston (born June 5, 1986) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football at Ohio State and was drafted sixth overall by the New York Jets in the 2008 NFL Draft. Gholston was also a member of the Chicago Bears a ...

. Just prior to the start of the 2021 NFL season, Gholston started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has used the martial art to help prepare for the season.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gholston, William 1991 births Living people American football defensive ends Michigan State Spartans football players Players of American football from Detroit Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Southeastern High School (Michigan) alumni Ed Block Courage Award recipients