Gerod Holliman (born May 6, 1994) is an American former professional football player who was a safety. He played college football for the Louisville Cardinals, winning the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's top defensive back and earning unanimous All-American honors in 2014. He set an NCAA record for most interceptions (14) in a season. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL draft.[1] Holliman has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Columbus Lions, High Country Grizzlies, Louisville Xtreme and Bismarck Bucks.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born: | May 6, 1994 Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight: | 218 lb (99 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Miami Southridge |
| College: | Louisville |
| Position: | Safety |
| NFL draft: | 2015 / round: 7 / pick: 239 |
| Career history | |
| |
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Pro Football Reference | |
Early life
editHolliman attended Miami Southridge High School in Miami, Florida, where he played football mainly as a safety.[2] As a senior, he led Dade County with 12 interceptions, returning five for touchdowns. In a game vs. Coral Reef, he recorded an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a 38-yard interception return for a score, caught six passes for 78 yards and rushed six times for 118 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown run. In track & field, Holliman posted personal-best times of 23.5 seconds in the 200-meter dash and 53.84 seconds in the 400-meter dash as a senior.[3]
After high school, Holliman attended Milford Academy for a year.[4]
Regarded as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Holliman was ranked as the second best safety in his class.[5] He was ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 10 safety according to Scout.com. He was considered one of the hardest hitters in the state of Florida, and was ranked 49th on ESPN.com's Top 150 and was viewed as the third-ranked safety. He was rated by 247Sports.com as the 107th-best prospect, the sixth-best safety and the 21st-ranked player in the state. He also ranked 193rd on Tom Lemming's list. Described as a safety prospect who seems to always be around the ball, great at diagnosing the run plays versus passes and quick to come up and hit a running back, he originally committed to the University of Mississippi to play college football, but changed it to the University of Louisville. He also received scholarship offers from Cincinnati, Miami, West Virginia, Tennessee and Nebraska, among others.[6]
College career
editAs a true freshman at Louisville in 2012, Holliman played in only three games due to a shoulder injury. As a redshirt freshman in 2013, he played in 11 games with two starts and recorded 16 tackles. Holliman became a first year starter as a redshirt sophomore in 2014.[7][8] He finished the season with an NCAA record-tying 14 interceptions.[9] He won the Jim Thorpe Award and was named a unanimous All-American.[10][11]
After his junior season, Holliman entered the 2015 NFL draft.[12]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11+3⁄4 in (1.82 m) |
218 lb (99 kg) |
32 in (0.81 m) |
9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) |
4.62 s | 1.58 s | 2.71 s | 4.37 s | 7.03 s | 27.0 in (0.69 m) |
9 ft 1 in (2.77 m) |
17 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine and Pro Day[13][14][15] | ||||||||||||
Pittsburgh Steelers
editHolliman was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL draft.[16] He was released on September 5, 2015.[17]
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
editHolliman was signed to the practice squad of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on December 30, 2015.[17] He signed a reserve/future contract with the team on January 5, 2016.[18][17] He was released by the Buccaneers on April 29, 2016.[17]
Columbus Lions
editOn August 15, 2017, Holliman signed with the Columbus Lions of the National Arena League for the 2018 season.
Bismarck Bucks
editOn May 4, 2022, Holliman signed with the Bismarck Bucks of the Indoor Football League (IFL).[19] On June 15, 2022, Holliman was put on the RTR list by the Bucks. In turn, making him a free agent.
References
edit- ^ "Steelers reduce roster to 53 players - sign cornerback Ross Cockrell". www.steelers.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
- ^ "HERALD SPOTLIGHT: Gerod Holliman – High School Sports Blog". typepad.com.
- ^ "Gerrod Holliman – Stats". flrunners.com.
- ^ "Louisville football safety Gerod Holliman had to take detour to follow his friends, become a Cardinal". The Courier-Journal. October 3, 2013.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman". yahoo.com.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman Bio - GoCards.com | Official Website of University of Louisville Athletics". Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman thriving in new role for Louisville Cardinals". ESPN.com. October 3, 2014.
- ^ Jeff Greer, @jeffgreer_cj (September 22, 2014). "Upon Review: Inside Louisville safety Gerod Holliman's ball-hawking". The Courier-Journal.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman ties national interception record in Louisville's win over Kentucky". The Courier-Journal. November 29, 2014.
- ^ "Louisville's Gerod Holliman wins Jim Thorpe Award". ESPN.com.
- ^ "Louisville football's Gerod Holliman named All-American and top defensive back". The Courier-Journal. December 11, 2014.
- ^ "Louisville safety Gerod Holliman entering NFL Draft". Sporting News. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ "2015 NFL Draft Scout Gerod Holliman College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ "Gerod Holliman, FS". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "2015 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "GEROD HOLLIMAN". foxsports.com. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
- ^ "Tampa Bay Buccaneers Transactions - 2016". ESPN. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Transactions". goifl.com. Retrieved May 23, 2022.