Robert Golden (born September 13, 1990) 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 ...

strong safety. He was signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers 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 2012. He played college football at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

Early years

Golden attended Edison High School in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

. He was named to the Tacoma News Tribune Western 100. He was selected to the 2007 PrepStar Dream Team. He was selected to the Second-team all-state by CalHiSports and was named to the All-Valley first-team. He was selected to the MaxPreps Division II All-State first team. He participated in the

U.S. Army All-American game The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...

College career

As a four-star recruit, Golden received multiple offers including

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

, USC,

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. He decided to begin attending

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in 2008. Golden began his first two seasons as a cornerback and was thought to be the heir-apparent to

Antoine Cason Antoine Brandon Cason (born July 9, 1986) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football at Arizona where he was recognized as a consensus All-American and won the Jim Thorpe Award. He was drafted by the San Diego Charger ...

. In the 2008 season, he recorded 13 total tackles and a forced fumble. In the 2009 season, he recorded 41 total tackles, two interceptions, one pick six (against Stanford), and three passes defensed. Following his sophomore season though, head coach

Mike Stoops Michael Joseph Stoops (born December 13, 1961) is an American football coach and former player, who is the inside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky. Stoops also served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona from 20 ...

switched Golden to strong safety. In the 2010 season, he recorded 60 total tackles, one interception, 13 passes defensed, and one forced fumble. In the 2011 season, he recorded 69 total tackles, one pick six (against Washington), six passes defensed, and two forced fumbles.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Golden entered the 2012 NFL Draft after graduating from

. Although he attended the NFL combine and worked out at Arizona's Pro Day, he went undrafted.

Pittsburgh Steelers

2012

On April 29, 2012, Golden was signed as an

by the Pittsburgh Steelers. His contract was for three-years, $1.44 million, a $5,000 signing bonus, and $5,000 guaranteed. Golden played in his first career game against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

, in the season opener his rookie season. On October 11, 2012, he made his first career tackle in a 23–26 loss to 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 ...

. He finished his first year playing in 15 games and made 6 tackles as a back-up free safety behind long-time Steelers veteran Ryan Clark.

2013

The following year, he began the season opener making two solo tackles against the Tennessee Titans. On November 10, 2013, Golden made a season-high 3 tackles in a victory over the Buffalo Bills. In Week 8, he caused his first career forced fumble in an 18–21 loss to the Oakland Raiders. During his second year he played in all 16 games and recorded 14 total tackles as the Steelers finished 8–8 for the second consecutive season.

2014

He opened the 2014 season as a back-up to new free safety Will Allen, after Clark's departure during the off-season. In the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, he completed a 25-yard pass to

Antwon Blake Valentino Antwon Blake (born August 9, 1990) is a former American football cornerback and special teamer. He was signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans ...

in the fourth quarter. Golden also played in his first career playoff game during the Steelers' 17–30 loss to the Ravens in the wild card game. He finished his season playing in all regular season games and finished with 10 tackles, with 5 being solo.

2015

On March 9, 2015, he was signed as a restricted free-agent to a one-year deal worth $1.54 million. On October 18, 2015, he received his first career start after Will Allen was injured the previous game. He ended the game with a career-high 8 total tackles and a pass deflection. He also received the next two starts in place of Allen. During a Week 14 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, he made his first career interception and returned it for 27 yards.

2016

On March 7, 2016, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Golden to a three-year, $4.95 million contract with a signing bonus of $1.25 million. Golden began the 2016 regular season as the Steelers' starting strong safety after they chose to not resign Will Allen during the off-season. On September 18, 2016, Golden made a career-high nine combined tackles and a pass deflection during a 24-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals He started the first nine games of the season but began rotating with rookie Sean Davis against 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 it ...

in Week 9. By Week 11, he had been benched in favor of the rookie Davis during the Steeler's victory over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. He was also benched the following game against the Indianapolis Colts.

2017

Golden started the regular season as the backup strong safety to Sean Davis. In Week 7, against the Cincinnati Bengals, he completed a 44-yard pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey on a fake punt. Overall, in the 2017 season, Golden recorded 15 total tackles, two passes defensed, and an interception. On March 14, 2018, Golden was released by the Steelers.

Kansas City Chiefs

On April 3, 2018, Golden signed with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

. He was released on August 15, 2018 at his request.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bioArizona Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golden, Robert 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Fresno, California Players of American football from California American football safeties Arizona Wildcats football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Kansas City Chiefs players