Kenny Golladay (born November 3, 1993) is an American former 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. He has previously played in 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) 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 ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. 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 North Dakota Fighting Hawks and

Northern Illinois Huskies The Northern Illinois Huskies are the athletic teams that represent Northern Illinois University (NIU). The Huskies are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I and the Mid-American Conference (M ...

and was selected by the Lions in the third round of the

2017 NFL draft The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

. He led the NFL in receiving

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

with the Lions in 2019.

Early life

Golladay attended and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's St. Rita High School. He earned first-team Blue Division All-Catholic League honors for his senior season.

College career

North Dakota

Golladay began his collegiate career at

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

in 2012. As a freshman, Golladay had 30 catches for 429 yards and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. In his sophomore season in 2013, Golladay had a breakout year with a team-high 69 catches for 884 yards and eight touchdowns.

Northern Illinois

After two seasons at North Dakota, Golladay transferred to

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. His transfer coincided with North Dakota's firing of head coach Chris Mussman. He had to sit out one season per

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

transfer rules. As a junior, Golladay had 73 catches for 1,129 yards and 10 touchdowns in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. In his final collegiate season, Golladay had 87 catches for 1,156 yards and eight touchdowns in

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 ...

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

On December 23, 2016, it was announced that Golladay had accepted his invitation to play in the 2017 East–West Shrine Game but was not able to play after he suffered an elbow injury during

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

practice. He was one of 58 collegiate

wide receivers A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense, WR gets its name from the player being spli ...

to attend the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Golladay had a mediocre performance as he finished 20th among all wide receivers in the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a he ...

and 26th in the three-cone drill. On March 10, 2017, Golladay attended Northern Illinois' pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. He performed well and caught every pass as scouts and team representatives from 18 NFL teams attended. Although 13 other prospects attended, Golladay was the featured prospect at the Huskies' pro day. He attended private workouts and visits with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, and

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 ...

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Golladay was projected to be a fourth or fifth round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the 21st best wide receiver in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Detroit Lions

2017

Golladay was selected in the

by the Lions with in the third round with the 96th overall pick. On June 19, 2017, Golladay was signed to a four-year, $3.19 million

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

that included a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $718,824. Throughout

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

, Golladay competed against T. J. Jones, Keshawn Martin, Jared Abbrederis, and Ryan Spadola for the third wide receiver role. Golladay made his NFL debut in the Lions' first preseason game at the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

and caught three passes for 53 receiving yards and two touchdowns in their 24–10 victory. His first preseason touchdown came on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterback

Jake Rudock Jacob Michael Rudock ( ; born January 21, 1993) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for five seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was a starting quarterback playing college football for the 2013 ...

in the first quarter. Head coach Jim Caldwell named Golladay the third wide receiver on the depth chart, behind

Golden Tate Golden Herman Tate III (born August 2, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish footb ...

and Marvin Jones. He made his professional regular season debut in the Lions' season-opener against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

and made four receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions' 35–23 victory. His first career touchdown came on a 10-yard pass from

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georg ...

in the fourth quarter and he also caught a 45-yard reception to seal the game. Golladay missed five games (Weeks 3–9) after suffering a strained hamstring. On December 3, 2017, Golladay earned his first career start and caught two passes for 44 yards in the Lions' 44–20 loss at the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

. In Week 17, Golladay caught two passes for a season-high 80 yards and scored a 54-yard touchdown during a 35–11 victory at the Packers. Golladay finished the season with 28 receptions for 477 receiving yards and three touchdown receptions in 11 games and five starts. The Lions finished second in the

NFC North The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and toug ...

with a 9–7 record and fired head coach Jim Caldwell at the end of the season.

2018

With new head coach Matt Patricia, Golladay started his second professional season off strong with seven receptions for 114 yards in a losing effort to the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

in the season opener on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

''. After the loss to the Jets, he scored a receiving touchdown in three of the following four games. In Week 11, against 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

, he had eight receptions for 113 yards and a touchdown in the 20–19 victory. In Week 15, against the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, he had seven receptions for 146 yards in the 14–13 loss. He finished the season as the Lions' leading receiver with 70 receptions for 1,063 yards and five touchdowns.

2019

In Week 2 against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, Golladay caught eight passes for 117 yards and a touchdown as the Lions won 13–10. In Week 4 against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, Golladay caught five passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns in the 34–30 loss. In Week 6 against the Packers, Golladay caught five passes for 121 yards in the 23–22 loss. In Week 8 against the

, Golladay caught six passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the 31–26 win. In Week 9 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Golladay caught four passes for a season high 132 yards and a touchdown in the 31–24 loss. During the Thanksgiving Series against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in Week 13, Golladay finished with 158 receiving yards on only four receptions, with one of them being a 75-yard touchdown. The Lions lost 24–20. Golladay was selected to his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

at the end of the season. He finished the 2019 season with 65 receptions for 1,190 receiving yards and a league-leading 11 receiving touchdowns.

2020

Golladay was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list by the Lions on July 29, 2020, and was activated a week later. Golladay missed the first two games due to a hamstring injury. He made his return in Week 3 against the Cardinals. During the game, Golladay caught six passes for 57 yards and his first receiving touchdown of the season during the 26–23 win. In Week 6 against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

, he had four receptions for 105 receiving yards in the 34–16 victory. In Week 7 against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, Golladay recorded six catches for 114 yards during the 23–22 win. Golladay suffered a devastating hip injury in the Week 8 game against Indianapolis that kept him out of the rest of the 2020 season and derailed his future career. He finished the 2020 season with 20 receptions for 338 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

New York Giants

2021

On March 20, 2021, Golladay signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the

. In Week 4, against the Saints, he had six receptions for 116 receiving yards in the 27–21 overtime victory. With the effects of the hip injury that he had suffered from the previous season lingering and affecting his production, Golladay finished his first season with the Giants with highly disappointing stats, totaling 37 receptions for 521 yards and no touchdowns in 14 games played.

2022

In the 2022 season, Golladay was criticized for a lack of production, including having drops in games against 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 ...

, and

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, and missing four games due to injury. Through Week 13, Golladay only had four catches for 51 yards, and had fallen out of favor for Isaiah Hodgins and Marcus Johnson. In Week 18 against 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, Golladay recorded his first touchdown of the season on a 25–yard pass from

Davis Webb Davis Matthew Webb (born January 22, 1995) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the offensive pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He play ...

. Many NFL analysts have ranked Golladay's contract one of the NFL's worst free agent signings. On March 15, 2023, the Giants released Golladay.

Personal life

On October 8, 2024, Golladay was arrested in

Elmhurst, Illinois Elmhurst is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Cook County, Illinois, Cook counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a western suburb of Chicago. The population was 45,786 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History M ...

and charged with driving under the influence, stopping in the roadway, improper lane usage, speeding, and possession of open alcohol by a driver.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

*
Northern Illinois Huskies bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golladay, Kenny 1993 births Living people American football wide receivers Detroit Lions players New York Giants players North Dakota Fighting Hawks football players Northern Illinois Huskies football players Players of American football from Chicago National Conference Pro Bowl players