Jared Veldheer

Jared Veldheer (born June 14, 1987) is an American football offensive tackle, who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Hillsdale.

Jared Veldheer
Veldheer playing for the Cardinals in 2015
Free agent
Position:Offensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1987-06-14) June 14, 1987
Grand Rapids, Michigan
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
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
  • AFCA first-team All-America honors (2009)
  • AFCA first-team All-Region honors (2009)
  • Sporting News Division II Preseason All-American honors (2009)
  • First-team All-GLIAC honors (2008)
  • Hillsdale's Offensive Lineman of the Year (2008, 2007)
  • Second-team All-GLIAC honors (2007)
  • Offensive Freshman of the Year honors (2006)
  • All-Conference honors (2005)
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Games played:120
Games started:113
Player stats at NFL.com

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 with the Raiders in 2010.

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] 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.[11] He was reinstated from the reserve/retired list on November 29, and the team received a roster exemption for him.[12] He was activated on December 9, 2019.[13] 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.[14]

References
  1. "#66 Jared Veldheer". Hillsdale College. Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  2. Corkran, Steve (September 4, 2010). "Jared Veldheer gets call as Raiders' starting center". Mercury News. Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  3. 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.
  4. Corkran, Steve (October 22, 2010). "Raiders notebook: Injured quarterback Bruce Gradkowski misses seventh straight practice". Mercury News. Retrieved November 2, 2010.
  5. Gantt, Darin. "Cardinals land their left tackle in Jared Veldheer". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
  6. Urban, Darren (October 31, 2016). "Jared Veldheer To IR; Tyrann Mathieu Also Hurt". AZCardinals.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017.
  7. Urban, Darren (December 11, 2017). "Jared Veldheer Headed To Injured Reserve". AZCardinals.com.
  8. Swanson, Ben (March 23, 2018). "Broncos acquire T Jared Veldheer in trade with Cardinals". DenverBroncos.com.
  9. "Patriots Sign WR Dontrelle Inman and OL Jared Veldheer". Patriots.com. May 13, 2019.
  10. Reiss, Mike (May 21, 2019). "OT Veldheer tells Patriots that he's retiring". ESPN.
  11. Alper, Josh (November 27, 2019). "Packers claim Jared Veldheer off waivers". Pro Football Talk. NBC Sports.
  12. "Packers claim T Jared Veldheer off of waivers". Packers.com. November 29, 2019. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  13. "Packers activate T Jared Veldheer". Packers.com. December 9, 2019.
  14. "Packers' Bryan Bulaga: Dealing with head injury". Rotowire. CBSSports.com. December 29, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2019.

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