Jared Veldheer
Jared Veldheer (born June 14, 1987) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hillsdale.
Veldheer with the Arizona Cardinals in 2015 | |||||
| No. 65, 66, 68 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Offensive tackle | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born: | June 14, 1987 Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. | ||||
| Height: | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | ||||
| Weight: | 321 lb (146 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school: | Forest Hills Northern (Grand Rapids, Michigan) | ||||
| College: | Hillsdale | ||||
| NFL Draft: | 2010 / Round: 3 / Pick: 69 | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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| Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||
Early life and college
Veldheer was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Jim and Mary Veldheer. He has two siblings, one older brother (Aaron Veldheer) and a younger sister (Meghan Veldheer). Jared graduated from Forest Hills Northern High School in 2005. In high school, Veldheer was named Most Valuable Lineman and played two years of varsity basketball, and his high school football coach Brent Myers graduated from Hillsdale College, the NCAA Division II college that Veldheer would attend. In 2008, Veldheer was co-captain of the Hillsdale Chargers football team. After the 2009 season, the American Football Coaches Association named him First-team All-American. Veldheer is an alumnus of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.[1]
Professional career
Oakland Raiders
Veldheer was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the third round (69th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft. At the conclusion of the 2010 preseason, he was named Oakland's starting center, beating out veteran Samson Satele.[2] However, after the first game, Veldheer was moved back to offensive tackle, replaced at center by Satele for the rest of the season, and began sharing time with veteran Mario Henderson.[3] By midseason, Veldheer had supplanted Henderson to become the Raiders' full-time starting left tackle.[4] On opening day of the 2011 NFL season, he started at left tackle next to rookie Stefen Wisniewski and the offensive line cleared the way for 190 rushing yards and a victory over the Denver Broncos.
Arizona Cardinals
On March 11, 2014, Veldheer signed a five-year, $35 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.[5] On October 31, 2016, Veldheer was placed on injured reserve after tearing his right triceps in Week 8.[6]
In 2017, Veldheer started the first 13 games at right tackle before being placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2017 with an ankle injury.[7]
Denver Broncos
On March 23, 2018, Veldheer was traded to the Denver Broncos for a 2018 sixth round pick.[8] He started 12 games at right tackle, missing four games with a knee injury.
New England Patriots
On May 13, 2019, Veldheer signed with the New England Patriots on a one-year deal.[9] On May 21, 2019, just a week after signing with the Patriots, Veldheer announced his retirement from the NFL;[10] the Patriots used his roster spot to sign Gunner Olszewski.[11] He was subsequently placed on the reserve/retired list by the team, but was waived from the list on November 26, 2019, after expressing interest in playing again.
Green Bay Packers
On November 27, 2019, Veldheer was claimed off waivers by the Green Bay Packers.[12] He was reinstated from the reserve/retired list on November 29, and the team received a roster exemption for him.[13] He was activated on December 9, 2019.[14] He saw his first action as a Packer on December 23 during a Week 16 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. On December 29, during a Week 17 victory over the Detroit Lions, Veldheer stepped in at right tackle when starter Bryan Bulaga left the game with a concussion and did not return.[15]
On September 21, 2020, Veldheer announced his retirement again despite receiving a contract offer from the Dallas Cowboys.[16]
Indianapolis Colts
Veldheer had a free agent visit with the Indianapolis Colts on December 28, 2020[17] He was signed to their practice squad on December 31.[18] He was elevated to the active roster on January 2 and 8, 2021, for the team's week 17 and wild card playoff games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills, and reverted to the practice squad after each game.[19][20]
Green Bay Packers (second stint)
On January 12, 2021, the Green Bay Packers signed Veldheer off of the Colts' practice squad.[21] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list one day later.[22]
On May 27, 2021, Veldheer was suspended for six games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy.[23] After his suspension was announced, he said the positive drug test resulted from taking Clomifene and he would subsequently retire from the NFL.[23] In August 2021, Veldheer became a cook for schoolchildren in Grand Rapids.[24]
References
- ^ "#66 Jared Veldheer". Hillsdale College. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
- ^ Corkran, Steve (September 4, 2010). "Jared Veldheer gets call as Raiders' starting center". Mercury News. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ^ Corkran, Steve (September 22, 2010). "Raiders notebook: Coach Tom Cable will continue to rotate Mario Henderson, rookie Jared Veldheer at left tackle". Mercury News. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
- ^ Corkran, Steve (October 22, 2010). "Raiders notebook: Injured quarterback Bruce Gradkowski misses seventh straight practice". Mercury News. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (March 11, 2014). "Cardinals land their left tackle in Jared Veldheer". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
- ^ Urban, Darren (October 31, 2016). . AZCardinals.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017.
- ^ Urban, Darren (December 11, 2017). "Jared Veldheer Headed To Injured Reserve". AZCardinals.com.
- ^ Swanson, Ben (March 23, 2018). "Broncos acquire T Jared Veldheer in trade with Cardinals". DenverBroncos.com.
- ^ "Patriots Sign WR Dontrelle Inman and OL Jared Veldheer". Patriots.com. May 13, 2019.
- ^ Reiss, Mike (May 21, 2019). "OT Veldheer tells Patriots that he's retiring". ESPN.
- ^ Andrew Callahan | acallahan@masslive. com (September 5, 2019). "The inside story of how Patriots rookie Gunner Olszewski became the NFL's unlikeliest underdog". masslive. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
- ^ Alper, Josh (November 27, 2019). "Packers claim Jared Veldheer off waivers". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ "Packers claim T Jared Veldheer off of waivers". Packers.com. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
- ^ "Packers activate T Jared Veldheer". Packers.com. December 9, 2019.
- ^ "Packers' Bryan Bulaga: Dealing with head injury". Rotowire. CBSSports.com. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (September 21, 2020). "Jared Veldheer retires rather than sign with Cowboys". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
- ^ @FieldYates (December 28, 2020). "With their current issues at OT, the Colts are bringing in veteran Jared Veldheer for a workout. Intriguing name after finishing last season and playing well in spot duty for the Packers" (Tweet). Retrieved December 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
- ^ "Colts Sign T Jared Veldheer to Practice Squad". Colts.com. December 31, 2020.
- ^ "Colts Activate TE Noah Togiai From IR; Waive WR Marcus Johnson; Elevate S Ibraheim Campbell, T Jared Veldheer To Active Roster". Colts.com. January 2, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
- ^ "Colts Elevate RB Darius Anderson, T Jared Veldheer To Active Roster". Colts.com. January 8, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
- ^ "Packers sign T Jared Veldheer off of the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad". packers.com. January 12, 2021.
- ^ "Packers place T Jared Veldheer on reserve/COVID-19 list". packers.com. January 13, 2021.
- ^ a b "Veteran offensive lineman Jared Veldheer retires from NFL following six-game suspension". CBSSports.com. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ Weinfuss, Josh (December 15, 2021). "Meet Jared Veldheer: Former Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman turned lunch man". ESPN. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
External links
Media related to Jared Veldheer at Wikimedia Commons
- Hillsdale Chargers bio