Justin Herron (born November 27, 1995) 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 ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

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

Wake Forest Demon Deacons The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Wake Forest University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Assoc ...

. He was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in the sixth round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

, and has also played for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

Early life

Herron attended

Bullis School Bullis School is a private, co-educational college preparatory day school for grades K-12. The school is located in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. History Bullis School was founded in Washington D.C. in 1930 by Commander Wil ...

Potomac, Maryland Potomac () is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 47,018. It is named a ...

, where he played as an

offensive 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 ( ...

. In addition to football, he played baseball and basketball and was a trumpeter in the jazz band. A 3-star recruit, Herron committed to Wake Forest over offers from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, Old Dominion,

Rutgers Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College and was aff ...

, and Villanova.

College career

Herron tore his ACL in Week 1 of the 2018 season. After coming back for another year as a

graduate student Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have ...

, he was named a

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

and earned third-team All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

honors. He set the Wake Forest record with 51 games played.

Professional career

New England Patriots

Herron was selected by the

in the sixth round, with the 195th overall pick of the

. 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 ...

on October 31, 2020 with an ankle injury. He was activated on November 28.

Las Vegas Raiders

On September 21, 2022, the Patriots traded Herron and a 2024 seventh-round draft pick to the

in exchange for a 2024 sixth-round pick. He suffered a

torn ACL An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

in practice and was placed on injured reserve on October 7. After having played in 7 regular season games across two seasons with the team, between suffering a knee injury and a concussion, Herron was waived on December 27, 2023.

New Orleans Saints

On April 29, 2024, Herron signed with the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. He was placed on injured reserve on July 28, ending his season.

Detroit Lions

On August 2, 2025, Herron signed with the

Personal life

His father Reggie played basketball at Villanova. His uncle Keith was a second-round selection in the

1978 NBA draft The 1978 NBA draft was the 32nd annual NBA draft, draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1978, at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York, before the 1978–79 NBA season, 1978–79 season. In this dr ...

by the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

and played five seasons in the NBA. On March 22, 2021, Herron and another citizen were given "Outstanding Service" awards by the Tempe, Arizona, Police Department for helping save a woman from a violent sexual assault.

References

External links

Detroit Lions bioWake Forest bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herron, Justin 1995 births Living people American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles New England Patriots players Las Vegas Raiders players Players of American football from Silver Spring, Maryland Wake Forest Demon Deacons football players Bullis School alumni New Orleans Saints players Detroit Lions players