Johnny Holton Jr. (born August 22, 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 wi ...

wide receiver. He played college football at

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 ...

and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2016. He was also a member of 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 play ...

, Pittsburgh Steelers, and New York Giants.

College career

Holton was recruited to play junior college football at the

College of Dupage College of DuPage is a Public college, public community colleges in the United States, community college with its main campus in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The college also owns and operates facilities in the Illinois communities of Addison, Illinois ...

. There, Holton excelled on the field at wide receiver over his two years at the school. After his time there, he had offers from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

, Florida State University,

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 ...

, TSU and Auburn but he chose Cincinnati to continue his college career.

Professional career

Oakland Raiders

On May 10, 2016, Holton signed with the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent following the conclusion of the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

. He played in 15 games his rookie season, recording two receptions for 34 yards while playing regular role on special teams. On September 3, 2018, Holton was waived by the Raiders and was later re-signed to the practice squad, with his position being changed from wide receiver to cornerback. He was promoted to the active roster on November 21, 2018, as a wide receiver. He was waived on November 26, 2018, and re-signed to the practice squad.

Philadelphia Eagles

On January 15, 2019, Holton signed a reserve/future contract with the

. He was waived on May 8, 2019.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On May 13, 2019, Holton signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was waived on August 31, 2019, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 7, 2019. The Steelers released Holton on March 16, 2020.

New York Giants

Holton was signed by the New York Giants on September 2, 2020. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was elevated to the active roster on September 26 for the team's week 3 game against 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 National ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game on September 28. He was released on October 5, 2020.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bearcats bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Holton, Johnny 1991 births Living people American football return specialists American football wide receivers Cincinnati Bearcats football players New York Giants players Oakland Raiders players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Miami