Charlie Kolar (born February 10, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the Iowa State Cyclones.

Early life

Kolar grew up in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

, and attended Norman North High School, where he played football and basketball. As a junior he caught 52 passes for 920 yards and 13 touchdowns. Kolar was named first-team All-State as a senior after recording 66 receptions for 1,240 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was a basketball teammate of NBA All-Star Trae Young at Norman North. Kolar committed to play

at Iowa State going into his senior year over offers from

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and Stephen F. Austin. Kolar signed with Iowa State despite a late recruiting push from

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

College career

Kolar redshirted his true freshman season. As a redshirt freshman, he played in all 13 of Iowa State's games and finished the season with 11 receptions for 137 yards and three touchdowns and was named second-team All-Big 12 Conference by the league's coaches. Kolar caught 51 passes for 697 yards and seven touchdowns as a redshirt sophomore and was named first-team All-Big 12. Following the end of the season he considered entering the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

, but opted to return for his redshirt junior season. Kolar was named first-team All-Big 12 for a second straight season after finishing his redshirt junior year with 44 receptions for 591 yards and a team-high seven touchdown receptions. Kolar graduated from Iowa State in the fall of 2020 with a 3.99 cumulative GPA in mechanical engineering, and in 2021, he was awarded with the William V. Campbell Trophy, known as the "academic Heisman".

Professional career

2022 season

Kolar was selected by the

in the fourth round, 128th overall, of the

2022 NFL draft The 2022 NFL draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual NFL draft, draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, Paradise next to Las Vegas. The first round ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2022. He was activated on November 8. Kolar made his NFL debut in Week 17 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, but played in only two snaps. In Week 18 against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, he recorded his first career catch as part of a day in which he caught four passes for 49 yards from Anthony Brown in a 16-27 loss.

2023 season

Kolar was the third tight end on the depth chart behind Isaiah Likely and Mark Andrews. He mainly played on special teams and did not see heavy usage on offense. Andrews would suffer a severe ankle injury in the Ravens' Week 11 34-20 win over the

and miss the rest of the regular season. Kolar saw increased playing time on offense as a result, recording three starts in the last six games. In Week 17 against the

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

, Kolar caught his first career touchdown on a 19-yard reception from

Tyler Huntley Tyler Isaiah Huntley (born February 3, 1998) is an American professional American football, football quarterback. Nicknamed "Snoop", he played college football for the Utah Utes football, Utah Utes, leading them to Pac-12 South Division titl ...

in the fourth quarter of a 56-19 blowout win. He finished the regular season with seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown.

2024 season

In a Week 12 victory over the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, Kolar suffered a broken arm and was ruled out for at least four weeks. He was activated from injured reserve on January 3, 2025, prior to the team's season finale against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Personal life

Kolar's older brother, John, played quarterback at Oklahoma State and graduate transferred to Iowa State for the 2019 season. His younger sister Katie is committed to play volleyball at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bioIowa State Cyclones bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolar, Charlie 1999 births Living people American football tight ends Iowa State Cyclones football players Players of American football from Norman, Oklahoma Baltimore Ravens players Norman North High School alumni William V. Campbell Trophy winners