Early life
A native of Tawas City, Michigan, Janis attended Tawas Area Schools, Tawas Area High School. He was a member of both the high school football, football and basketball teams, and was an all-conference wide receiver who also played as a running back following an injury, and ended up leading his team in rushing.College career
Janis attended Saginaw Valley State University from 2009 to 2013, and played for the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals football, Cardinals. After redshirt (college sports), red-shirting in 2009, he caught 9 passes for 130 yards and one touchdown in 2010. In 2011, he appeared in all 11 games, starting eight and posted a team-high 968 receiving yards on 48 receptions (20.2 avg.) and 14 touchdowns. In 2012, he started all 11 games and was second in the nation with 106 receptions and led all DII players with 1,635 receiving yards, both of which set new SVSU single season marks. He caught 17 touchdown passes and was named a first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, GLIAC selection. In 2013, he caught 83 passes for 1,572 yards and 14 touchdowns. He earned himself first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, GLIAC honors, and was a first-team American Football Coaches Association, AFCA Div. II College Football All-America Team, All-American. For his collegiate career, Janis finished second in the history of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, GLIAC with 4,305 receiving yards. Janis was invited to play in the 2014 Senior Bowl.College statistics
Professional career
Green Bay Packers
Janis was selected in the seventh round (236th overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFL draft. Janis was the first Saginaw Valley State Cardinal drafted since offensive guard Todd Herremans in 2005 NFL draft, 2005, and the first wide receiver in school history to be drafted, though his early role on the team was more on the special teams rather than taking snaps at wide receiver. Janis made his NFL debut on September 28, 2014, against the 2014 Chicago Bears season, Chicago Bears, but he recorded no official statistics. He appeared in one more game, which was against the 2014 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins, in the 2014 season. In the 2015 season, Janis appeared in all 16 games in the regular season as a kick returner and backup receiver. His two receptions for 79 yards against the 2015 San Diego Chargers season, San Diego Chargers were his only receiving statistics for the regular season. He had a breakout game in the NFC Hail Larry, Divisional Round game on January 16, 2016, against the 2016 Arizona Cardinals season, Arizona Cardinals. He caught seven passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns, including a 41-yard Hail Mary pass from Aaron Rodgers on the final play of regulation to bring the game into overtime. The Packers, however, lost 26–20 in overtime. 101 of these yards came on the game-tying drive to end regulation; he also caught a 60-yard pass on 4th and 20 from the Packers' 4-yard line to set up the tying score. On August 10, 2016, Janis fractured at least one of the bones in his right hand during a ball-security drill at Packers training camp. He remained in a backup role in the 2016 season. He had a receiving touchdown against the 2016 Atlanta Falcons season, Atlanta Falcons in a 33–32 loss. Overall, in the 2016 season, he recorded 11 receptions for 93 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in addition to a 19-yard rushing touchdown, which occurred against the 2016 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks. In the 2017 season, he mainly had a special teams role. He recorded two receptions for 12 yards and three kick returns for 43 net yards.Cleveland Browns
On March 30, 2018, Janis signed with the Cleveland Browns. On August 31, he was released.NFL career statistics
Regular season
Postseason
After-football career
In April 2019, Janis bought Timmy Tire Center in East Tawas, Michigan, East Tawas, Oscoda, Michigan, Michigan, where he had been employed in high school and college, and renamed it Janis Tire and Auto.References
External links