Joe Huber (born May 2, 2002) 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 ...

guard for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

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

Cincinnati Bearcats The Cincinnati Bearcats are the college sports, athletic teams that represent the University of Cincinnati. The teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and the Football Bowl Subdivision as members of the Big 12 Conference. The Bearcats were pr ...

and the

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

Early life

Huber was born on May 2, 2002, and grew up in central

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He attended

Dublin Jerome High School Dublin Jerome High School is a public high school located in Dublin, Ohio, northwest of Columbus, Ohio. It is the newest of the three high schools in the Dublin City Schools district. Jerome opened for its first year during the 2004–2005 school ...

where he competed in

and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. He weighed only as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

and played for the

junior varsity A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

(JV) team, and as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

, remained on the JV squad, at . He then had a growth spurt and reached while standing at ; he made the varsity football team and was a two-way starter as a lineman. He helped the team compile a 9–3 record while winning the conference championship, and Huber was named an all-state

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

. Additionally, in wrestling, he competed at the state tournament as a senior. Huber was a no-star recruit and was an unranked prospect, receiving no

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offers. He walked-on to play for the

, one of only two teams to offer him a walk-on opportunity.

College career

Huber

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Cincinnati in 2020, being a member of the

scout team The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of ...

. He appeared in seven games during the 2021 season and was put on scholarship prior to the 2022 season. He started all 13 games for Cincinnati in 2022 at right tackle, being named honorable mention All-

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...

(AAC). In 2023, he transferred to the

, following coach

Luke Fickell Luke Joseph Fickell (born August 18, 1973) is an American college football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a position he has held since 2023. Previously he was the head coach at t ...

. He started all 13 games for Wisconsin in 2023 at left guard and then moved to right guard in 2024, starting 12 games and being named third-team All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

. He concluded his collegiate career with 37 starts, which came at three different positions, and accepted an invite to the 2025 East–West Shrine Bowl.

Professional career

Huber signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2025.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioCincinnati Bearcats bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huber, Joe 2002 births Living people Players of American football from Dublin, Ohio American football offensive linemen Cincinnati Bearcats football players Wisconsin Badgers football players Minnesota Vikings players