Jacob Owen Ballard (born December 2, 1987) is a former

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 ...

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 ...

who played in 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) for the

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

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 ...

and

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He played college football at

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 ...

and was signed by the Giants as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2010 and won

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

with them against the Patriots.

Early years and college career

Ballard grew up in

Springboro, Ohio Springboro is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. A suburb of Cincinnati and Dayton, it is located mostly in Warren County in Clearcreek and Franklin Townships; with a small portion in Miami Township in Montgomery County. The city is part of the ...

. He went to

Springboro High School Springboro High School is a public high school in Springboro, Ohio, United States, with a total of over 2,000 students and 120 teachers. The Springboro Community City School District serves the city of Springboro and parts of Franklin, Clearcreek ...

and started on both sides of the ball in football and started on the basketball team. He attended

Ohio State University 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 publ ...

, where he caught 34 passes for 377 yards, averaging 11.1 yards per catch, and 3 touchdowns.

Professional career

New York Giants

Ballard was signed by the

as an

following the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

on April 25, 2010. He was waived/injured after suffering a hamstring injury during training camp on August 19. He was re-signed to the team's

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, ...

on September 5. He was promoted to the active roster on November 20. He played in the game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

the following day, playing eights

snaps Snaps ( ) is a Danish and Swedish word for a small shot of a strong alcoholic beverage taken during the course of a meal. A ritual that is associated with drinking snaps is a tradition in Scandinavia, especially in Denmark and Sweden, where it ...

. He was waived on November 23, and re-signed to the practice squad the following day. He was promoted to the active roster again on December 16. Ballard played in the November 6, 2011 game against the New England Patriots (5-2) at

Gillette Stadium Gillette Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts, which is southwest of downtown Boston. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Footb ...

Foxborough, Massachusetts Foxborough is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, about southwest of Boston, northeast of Providence, Rhode Island and about northwest of Cape Cod. Foxborough is part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 18,618 at ...

, finishing the day with 67 receiving yards, including a 28-yard catch on 3rd and 10 with :51 left and the subsequent 1-yard touchdown catch with just 17 seconds to play. The Giants won the game 24-20 to maintain a 2-game lead in the

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Dallas Cowboys ...

and hand the Patriots their second straight loss for the first time since 2009 (and first in 21 consecutive games at home). Ballard played in

but left in the second half with a torn ACL in his left knee. After leaving the field, he attempted to run and cut on the sideline, but collapsed unable to reach full speed. Replacing Ballard was teammate

Bear Pascoe McKenna Sean "Bear" Pascoe (born February 23, 1986) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at Fresno State. Early life Born and r ...

, who finished the game with 4 catches for 33 receiving yards. The Giants defeated the Patriots in the Super Bowl 21-17.

New England Patriots

While Ballard was recovering from his ACL injury, the Giants decided to place him on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. Because they decided to do so during the offseason, NFL rules required that he be exposed to waiver claims before they could do so. While Ballard and his agent expected that he would clear waivers, New England claimed him off waivers on June 12, 2012. He spent the entire 2012 regular season on the

Physically Unable to Perform Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

list. On August 30, 2013 Ballard was informed of his release.

Arizona Cardinals

After cutting rookie tight end D. C. Jefferson due to his arrest, the Cardinals agreed to terms with Ballard on November 4, 2013. Ballard was expected to split time with tight ends

Jim Dray James Russell Dray (born December 31, 1986) is an American football coach and former tight end who is currently the tight ends coach for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was dr ...

and

Rob Housler Robert Gregory Housler Jr. (born March 17, 1988) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Florida Atlantic and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He has also played fo ...

. On December 15, 2013, Ballard caught his first touchdown pass in two years in a win against 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 h ...

. He played in eight games and caught seven passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns. On August 6, 2014, Ballard announced his retirement from the NFL because "after sustaining a serious knee injury while playing for the New York Giants in the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

, my body never felt the same. Having a quality of life after football is very important to me and I have witnessed it taken away from others."

Life after football

Ballard is a

real estate agent A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

with Howard Hanna Real Estate Services in

Upper Arlington, Ohio Upper Arlington, often known by its initials U.A., is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The Old Arlington neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

References

External links

New York Giants bioOhio State Buckeyes football bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballard, Jake 1987 births Living people American football tight ends Arizona Cardinals players New England Patriots players New York Giants players Ohio State Buckeyes football players People from Springboro, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Sportspeople from the Cincinnati metropolitan area