Robert Herron ( ; born June 2, 1992) 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 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

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

and was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in the sixth round of the

2014 NFL draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

Early life

Herron was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. He was raised by his fathers cousin because his father was in prison and his mother was not a "consistent presence". He attended

Susan Miller Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School, commonly referred to as Dorsey High School, is a Secondary school, secondary State school#United States, public school located in the Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California. It is ...

. As a senior, he caught 24 passes for 600 yards and six touchdowns, while adding 15 carries for 171 yards and three touchdowns. He earned him first-team all-city and all-league honors, and helped guide his team to an appearance in the semifinals of the state playoffs. Along with playing football, Herron also ran

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He lettered as a sprinter in his final two years. He posted a career-best time of 10.5 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, while also running the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

in 20.99 seconds.

College career

Herron attended the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

from 2010 to 2013. Upon arriving at Wyoming, he signed so late in the process that he missed all of the summer camps and workouts. Despite this, he split time at

and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, as he appeared in 10 of 12 games as a freshman in 2010. He carried the ball 40 times for 235 yards (5.9 avg), and caught 6 passes for 57 yards. In 2011, predominantly playing wide receiver, he started the season catching seven passes for 104 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left in the fourth quarter vs.

Weber State Weber State University (pronounced ) is a public university in Ogden, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1889 as Weber Stake Academy and earned its current name in 1991. As of fall 2023, the student population reached 30,536 students, cons ...

. Herron finished his season second on the team with 43 receptions for 379 yards and three touchdowns. In 2012, Herron established himself as a deep threat receiver, averaging 21.2 yds per reception. Opening the season vs #15

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 ...

, he had a breakout performance, totaling five catches for 173 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the National Receiver of the Week. He went on to catch 31 passes for 657 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior. In 2013, as a senior, Herron set career highs in receptions (72), receiving yards (937), and touchdowns (9). In Wyoming's final home game, Herron recorded 11 catches, 141 receiving yards and four touchdowns in a 59–56 overtime win over

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. His four TD receptions in the game tied the school record set by

Marcus Davis Marcus Paul Davis (born August 24, 1973), is an American professional mixed martial artist and former professional boxer who is perhaps best known for competing in the UFC. A professional MMA competitor from 2003 until 2014, Davis also compete ...

in 1995. He earned honorable mention All- MWC honors. During his career he played in 42 games, finishing with 152 receptions for 2,030 yards and 20

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 ...

. After his senior season he was invited to the

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 ...

and

NFL 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 ...

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Herron was taken in the sixth round with the 185th overall pick of the

by the

. Herron was waived by Buccaneers on September 1, 2015.

Miami Dolphins

The

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

signed Herron to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on October 14, 2015. On January 6, 2016, Herron signed a reserve/future contract with the

. On April 28, he was waived.

Oakland Raiders

On May 24, 2016, Herron signed to 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 ...

. He was waived on May 26, 2016.

References

External links

Wyoming Cowboys bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herron, Robert Living people Players of American football from Los Angeles American football wide receivers Wyoming Cowboys football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players 1992 births Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni Miami Dolphins players Oakland Raiders players