Joel Lanning (born November 18, 1994) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

who is currently a graduate assistant for the

Iowa State Cyclones football The Iowa State Cyclones football program is the intercollegiate football team at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. The team is coached by Matt Campbell. The Cyclones compete in the Big 12 Conference, and are a Division I Football Bowl Subdi ...

team. 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 ...

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

Early life

Lanning was a multi-sport star at

Ankeny High School Ankeny High School is a public high school located in Ankeny, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Ankeny Community School District, and serves grades 10 through 12. History AHS opened in 1913 and graduated six seniors in the spring of 1914 ...

, earning all-state selections in football, baseball, and wrestling. As a sophomore, he tallied 1,230 passing yards and 669 rushing yards, receiving second-team All-Conference honors. As a junior, he passed for 1,723 yards and rushed for 636 yards, receiving All-Conference honors. As a senior in 2012, he led the team to a 14-0 record and the state championship, while setting school records in total yards (3,384), passing yards (2,315), rushing yards (1,082) by a quarterback and had 39 total touchdowns (22 passing and 17 rushing). He received All-Conference, Elite All-State and the Des Moines Register Class 4-A Player of the Year. As a three-year starting quarterback at Ankeny, he recorded 7,642 all-purpose career yards. In

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, he was a two-time first-team All-State selection and contributed to the team winning the 2012 state championship. In

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 received all-state honors as a senior.

Recruiting

After high school Lanning was very lightly recruited for football. His only two offers were

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

and

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State be ...

; he ultimately picked the Cyclones.

College career

2014 season

As a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

freshman, he only played one game on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

2015 season

Lanning played in 11 games and started at quarterback for the final five. He finished the season with 1,247 passing yards and 10 passing touchdowns in addition to 330 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. His season highs included 162 passing yards on 11 of 22 attempts and 130 yards rushing and two rushing touchdowns against

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 ...

as well as throwing for three touchdowns and 210 yards against

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

2016 season

His junior season, Lanning was a threat through the air as well as on the ground. In addition to throwing for 1,290 yards and nine touchdowns he ran for 518 yard and led the team with 11 rushing touchdowns, this was the 10th most by FBS quarterbacks. He was responsible for 20 of the Cyclone's 39 offensive touchdowns and ended the season with a streak of 121 consecutive passes without an interception. Against Baylor he threw for 261 yards and two scores on 17 of 23 passes as well as running for 57 yards and an additional touchdown. Lanning had a career day against

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

tying the school record for five rushing touchdowns in a game in addition to breaking the school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 171 yards on 17 carries.

2017 season

At the end of the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

season Jacob Park took over as the full-time starting quarterback. In an unheralded move during the off-season, head coach Matt Campbell asked Lanning to switch positions from quarterback to middle linebacker. He was able to work up the depth chart and was the starting middle linebacker for the Cyclones opening game against UNI. Despite starting on defense, Lanning continued to play special teams as well as wildcat quarterback in short yardage and goal line situations. He finished the season leading the team in tackles, second in tackles for a loss, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns. His highlights included eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, and an interception against

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

as well as 20 tackles against

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Lanning was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week after a standout performance against #3

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

that included eight tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, nine rushing attempts for 35 yards and two passes for 25 yards. In the match-up against

, Lanning had five tackles, half a sack, in addition to throwing a touchdown to Allen Lazard. At the conclusion of the season he was selected as a first-team

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 ...

and named to the first-team All-Big 12.

College statistics

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Lanning was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

after the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

on April 30. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

San Antonio Commanders (AAF)

On October 12, 2018, Lanning signed with the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home games a ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Personal life

In 2019, Lanning was hired as a defensive quality control assistant for the football team at

. In 2020, he was named a graduate assistant on defense.

References

External links

Iowa State Cyclones bioWill You Know No. 43’s Name By Time The Season Begins?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanning, Joel 1994 births Living people People from Ankeny, Iowa Sportspeople from Polk County, Iowa Players of American football from Iowa American football linebackers American football quarterbacks Iowa State Cyclones football players Dallas Cowboys players San Antonio Commanders players