Eddie Goldman (born January 6, 1994) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Washington Commanders The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

and was selected by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in the second round of the

2015 NFL draft The 2015 NFL draft was the 80th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football, football players. It took place in Chicago at the Auditorium Theatre and in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park ...

. Goldman has also played for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Early life

A native of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, he attended

Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School is a public high school in Washington, D.C. Established in 2000, the school serves students in grades 9–12 and is part of the Friendship Public Charter School network. History Friendship Coll ...

, where he played

with

Yannick Ngakoue Yannick Ngakoue ( ; born March 31, 1995) is an American professional football linebacker who last played for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins and was selected by ...

and Teez Tabor, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

. In football, he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

. Considered a five-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

and Rivals.com, Goldman was listed as the second best

in his class, behind only Mario Edwards Jr., who later on attended Florida State with Goldman.

College career

Goldman attended

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

from 2012 to 2014. During his career, he had 262

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and six sacks. After his junior season, Goldman decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Goldman was drafted 39th overall by the

in the 2015 NFL Draft. In his rookie year, he played fifteen games, recording 39 tackles and six tackles for a loss, while being ranked fourth among rookies with 4.5 sacks. For his season, he was named to Mel Kiper Jr.'s All-Rookie Team and the

Pro Football Writers of America The Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA), sometimes known as Pro Football Writers Association, is an organization that purports to be " heofficial voice of pro football writers, promoting and fighting for access to NFL personnel to best serve t ...

's All-Rookie Team. Goldman played in six games with five starts in 2016. He suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2 and missed the next six games. He returned in Week 10 but was bothered by the ankle injury and was placed 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 ...

on December 23, 2016. Goldman played in 15 games with 14 starts in the 2017 season. He recorded 1.5 sacks, 44 combined tackles, five

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

hits, and one

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

recovery. On September 7, 2018, Goldman signed a four-year contract extension with the Bears worth $42 million with $25 million guaranteed. In week 14 against the

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

, Goldman sacked

Jared Goff Jared Thomas Goff (born October 14, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the California Golden Bears, setting Pac-12 Conference single- ...

in the end zone for a safety. The Bears won the game 15–6. He finished the 2018 season with three sacks, 40 combined tackles, three quarterback hits, and one fumble recovery. He received an overall grade of 89.2 from

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

in 2018, which ranked as the 12th highest grade among all qualifying interior defenders. Goldman played in 15 games with 15 starts in the 2019 season. He recorded one sack and 29 combined tackles with two tackles for loss. At the end of the season Goldman was selected as

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

alternate. On July 28, 2020, Goldman informed the Bears he would opt out of the season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He received a $350,000 stipend for the season, and his original base salary of $4.75 million will be his salary for the following season. Goldman returned to the Bears for the 2021 season. In 14 games, he netted half a sack with 22 total tackles. On March 14, 2022, Goldman was released by the Bears.

Atlanta Falcons

Goldman signed with the

on July 6, 2022. Thirteen days after signing with the team, Goldman announced his retirement from the NFL. On March 21, 2023, Goldman came out of retirement and the Falcons reinstated him back to their active roster. He was placed on the exempt/left squad list on July 29. On April 2, 2024, Goldman was released off of the Falcons reserve list. However, the same day, he resigned with the team. In the 2024 season, Goldman played in all 17 games for Atlanta with 10 starts at defensive tackle. He recorded 16 total tackles and one sack.

Washington Commanders

On March 15, 2025, Goldman signed a one-year contract with the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Washington Commanders profileFlorida State Seminoles profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Eddie 1994 births 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American football defensive tackles Atlanta Falcons players Chicago Bears players Florida State Seminoles football players Living people Players of American football from Washington, D.C. Under Armour All-American football players Washington Commanders players