Elijah Esaias Holyfield (born November 30, 1997) is an

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 wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

who is a free agent. He played college football at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. He is the son of former heavyweight world champion boxer

Evander Holyfield Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1984 and 2011. He reigned as the undisputed champion at cruiserweight in the late 1980s and at heavyweight in the early 1990s, and is the o ...

Early years

Holyfield attended high school at Riverside Military Academy in Gainesville, GA and

Woodward Academy Woodward Academy (also known as Woodward or WA) is an independent, co-educational college-preparatory school for pre-kindergarten to 12th grade on two campuses located in College Park and Johns Creek, Georgia, United States, within the Atlanta m ...

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton and Clayton counties, Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,930. Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is par ...

. As a junior, he rushed for 1,735 yards and 25 touchdowns and as a senior he rushed for 1,069 yards and 21 touchdowns. He was ranked as a 4-star recruit coming out of high school. He committed to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

to play college football.

College career

Holyfield played in five games as a true freshman at Georgia in 2016, rushing six times for 29 yards. As a sophomore in 2017, he rushed for 293 yards on 50 carries and two touchdowns. Splitting time with

D'Andre Swift D'Andre Tiyon Swift (born January 14, 1999) is an American football running back for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia and was drafted by the Lions with the third pick of the second r ...

in 2018, Holyfield rushed for 1,018 yards on 159 carries with seven touchdowns. After the season, Holyfield decided to forgo his senior year to pursue a career in the NFL.

Professional career

Carolina Panthers

Following the conclusion of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April ...

, Holyfield signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2019. He was waived on September 1, 2019 and was re-signed to the practice squad.

Philadelphia Eagles

After his contract expired with the Panthers, Holyfield was signed to 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 ...

active roster on December 31, 2019, ahead of their wild card game against the Seahawks. He was waived on September 3, 2020, and re-signed to the team's practice squad three days later. He was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's week 11 game against 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 ( ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Eagles on January 4, 2021. On August 29, 2021, Holyfield was waived by the Eagles.

Cincinnati Bengals

On October 12, 2021, Holyfield was signed to 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

practice squad. On February 15, 2022, Holyfield signed a reserve/future contract. On July 28, 2022, he 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 th ...

after suffering a significant knee injury during team practice the day before.

Personal life

He is the son of former professional boxer

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holyfield, Elijah 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from College Park, Georgia Players of American football from Fulton County, Georgia American football running backs Georgia Bulldogs football players Carolina Panthers players Philadelphia Eagles players Cincinnati Bengals players