Douglas O'Neal Middleton Jr. (born September 25, 1993) 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 wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly di ...

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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

, and signed with the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2016.

Early years and college career

Middleton attended Parkland High School in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the Li ...

, and

Appalachian State University Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

, where he played

for the

Appalachian State Mountaineers The Appalachian State Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, United States. The Mountaineers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and wer ...

. As a junior in 2014, Middleton was named First-team All-

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams particip ...

Professional career

New York Jets

Middleton signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 5, 2016. He was waived on September 3, 2016 and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on December 8, 2016. He scored his first career NFL touchdown in Week 17 against the Buffalo Bills, recovering a kickoff in the endzone. On August 16, 2017, Middleton was waived/injured by the Jets after suffering a torn pectoral and placed on injured reserve. Middleton entered the 2018 season slated as the backup free safety to

Marcus Maye Marcus Maye (born March 9, 1993) is an American football free safety for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played for the New York Jets. He played college football at Florida. Maye is a native of Melbourn ...

. He played in seven games with four starts in place of the injured Maye, before suffering another torn pectoral in Week 7. He was placed on injured reserve on October 23, 2018. On September 1, 2019, Middleton was released by the Jets.

Miami Dolphins

On September 18, 2019, Middleton was signed by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

. He was released on October 12, and re-signed to the practice squad on October 31. He was released on November 12.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On November 26, 2019, Middleton was signed to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 18, 2019. On August 8, 2020, Middleton was released by the Jaguars.

Tennessee Titans

Middleton had a tryout with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

on August 18, 2020, and with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

on August 23, 2020. He signed with the Titans on September 2, 2020, but was released three days later.

Jacksonville Jaguars (second stint)

On September 18, 2020, Middleton was signed to the Jacksonville Jaguars practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 3, 2020. He was released on October 5 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was placed on the practice squad/

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 identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

list by the team on October 17, 2020, and was activated back to the practice squad on October 22. He was promoted to the active roster on November 7. He was waived on November 9, and re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was promoted to the active roster again on November 14. He was waived again on November 21, and re-signed to the practice squad again three days later. He was promoted to the active roster again on November 25. He was released after the season on May 4, 2021.

Carolina Panthers

On August 4, 2021, Middleton was signed by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. He was waived on August 28, 2021. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 13, but released the next day.

San Francisco 49ers

On December 1, 2021, Middleton was signed to the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

practice squad. He was released on January 26, 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middleton, Doug 1993 births Living people American football safeties Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Carolina Panthers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Miami Dolphins players New York Jets players San Francisco 49ers players Tennessee Titans players Players of American football from Winston-Salem, North Carolina