Nathaniel William Herbig (born July 10, 1998) 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 ...

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for the

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

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

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the college athletics in the United States, athletic teams that represent Stanford University. Stanford's program has won 138 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA team championships, the List of NCAA schools ...

and signed with 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 ...

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 ...

in 2019. Herbig has also been a member of 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 ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Herbig was born on July 10, 1998, in

Lihue, Hawaii Līhue () is an unincorporated community, census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Līhue is the second-largest town on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, following Kapaa. As of the 2010 census, th ...

. He grew up in Kalaheo, Hawaii, before moving from

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

after his freshman year of high school so that he could attend Saint Louis School in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. He was named first-team All-State as a senior. Herbig committed to play

at Stanford after his junior year, but de-committed and re-opened his recruitment shortly after the end of his senior season. He ultimately re-committed to Stanford after considering offers from California and Washington.

College career

Herbig played three seasons for the Stanford Cardinal. He played in all 13 of Stanford's games with six starts at left guard and was named a freshman All-American by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. He moved to right guard as a sophomore, making 13 starts and was named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference. Herbig was named second-team All-Pac-12 as a junior after making six starts at right guard and one start at right tackle while missing six games due to injury. Following his Junior season, Herbig announced that he would forgo his final year of college to declare for the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Professional career

Although initially projected to be a mid-round pick, Herbig's draft stock fell significantly after a poor performance at 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 ...

that included a 40-yard dash time of 5.41 seconds, the slowest run of all 260 participants. He ultimately went unselected in the

Philadelphia Eagles

Herbig signed with the

as an

on April 28, 2019. Herbig made his NFL debut on December 15, 2019, against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

. Herbig played in two games in his rookie season. Herbig made his first career start on September 13, 2020, in the Eagles' season opener against the

Washington Football Team The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

. In the 2020 season, he appeared in 15 games and started 12. After the team suffered injuries to both of their starting guards, Herbig started five games and appeared in five other games at guard for the Eagles in 2021. He was placed on the COVID list on January 3, 2022. In the 2021 regular season, Herbig played in 16 games and started five. He was activated one week later on January 10, missing just one game where the Eagles did not play their starters. On March 15, 2022, the Eagles placed a restricted free agent tender on Herbig. After signing the tender, he was waived by the team on May 4, 2022.

New York Jets

On May 5, 2022, Herbig was claimed off waivers by the

. In the 2022 season, Herbig played in and started 11 games for the Jets. On January 7, 2023, Herbig was placed on injured reserve.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 16, 2023, Herbig signed a two-year contract with the

. On April 28, 2023, the Pittsburgh Steelers coincidentally drafted Herbig's younger brother, Nick Herbig, in the fourth round (128th overall) of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. His brother plays linebacker and played for Wisconsin. On August 18, 2024, it was announced that Herbig had suffered a torn rotator cuff and was ruled out for the season.

Washington Commanders

On March 20, 2025, Herbig signed with the

on a one-year contract.

Personal life

Herbig's father, Bruce, played football and basketball at

Lewis & Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adjac ...

and his grandfather played football at Wheaton College in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. His younger brother

Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...

was his teammate with the Pittsburgh Steelers and played linebacker at Wisconsin.

References

External links

Washington Commanders profile

Stanford Cardinal profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbig, Nate 1998 births 21st-century American sportsmen American football offensive guards American people of German descent Living people New York Jets players Pacific Islander American players of American football Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from Hawaii Saint Louis School alumni Sportspeople from Kauai County, Hawaii Stanford Cardinal football players Washington Commanders players