Trindon Holliday

Trindon Jerard Holliday (born April 27, 1986) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Louisiana State University.

He was a top-ranked American sprinter competing for Louisiana State University and is regarded as one of the fastest players in football. He demonstrated his sprinting ability in the 100-meter dash at the 2007 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he recorded 10.07 seconds in the final – ahead of Walter Dix and second only to Tyson Gay. This qualified him for the 2007 World Championships in Athletics but he opted to not compete, preferring to begin the football season with the LSU Tigers. He continued to race, however, and reached the semi-finals in the 100 m at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials the following year. Leading up to the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine, Trindon Holliday had hoped to set the record for the 40 yard dash, a feat that would have him eclipse Chris Johnson's record mark of 4.24. Furthermore, in training for the event Holliday had self-reported running times as fast as 4.21, which coupled with his extensive track background having already run the fastest 100m dash time of any football player in NCAA history, had many anticipating him achieving said feat. At the combine, reports of Holliday's 40 yard dash time ranged from between 4.22 seconds and 4.34 seconds. Adam Schefter, an ESPN reporter on hand at the event, had reported on Twitter that NFL scouts had clocked Holliday in as low as 4.22 during the workout. However, the NFL Network broadcast team record Holliday's two tries at unofficial times of 4.27 and 4.32, respectively, and pending processing the NFL combine would report Holliday's official 40 yard dash time coming in at 4.34 seconds.

College track career
In his first year at LSU in 2007, he broke Xavier Carter's school record and became the Southeastern Conference 100 m champion. At the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship later that year he set a personal record of 10.02 seconds in the semifinals and finished runner-up in the final to Walter Dix. The following year he took third in the 100 m NCAA final and anchored the 4×100-meter relay team to victory in 38.42 seconds – the fastest collegiate time that year.

Issues with size


Holliday had a difficult time getting started in football. His mother held him out of football until 7th grade, because she was afraid he would be injured. After several years of performing at a high level, his high school coaches finally let him start as a running back during his junior year. In his senior year he accumulated over 2,000 yards and over 30 touchdowns, leading Northeast High to back-to-back State Semi-Final appearances.

Fearing that college recruiters would not believe Holliday's actual running times, his high school coaches added to his recorded times before sending them in. Despite his speed records, several schools, including Duke and Louisiana-Lafayette, rejected Holliday due to his small size.

Holliday was never scheduled to appear at LSU's camp. LSU was interested in another Northeast player, (WR Aaron Brown) but that player didn't want to go to the camp alone. So David Masterson, Holliday's high school coach, took Holliday along also. After initial workouts, Holliday ran the 40 in 4.28 seconds wearing high top basketball shoes. The time was so outrageous that the LSU coaches began arguing if they had started their stopwatches on time. "They asked me if Trindon could run it again," Masterson said. "He didn't even get in a track stance. He ran the second 40 in 4.27. He's one of those little freaks of nature." Despite this, LSU coach Les Miles still considered canceling Holliday's scholarship offer until holdover offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher convinced Miles that Holliday could play at a college level.

Track personal bests


However, Track and Field News has Holliday recorded at 6.19 over 55 meters indoors in 2005, leading the nation.

Houston Texans
Holliday was drafted in the 6th round of the 2010 draft. Despite his speed Trindon struggled on kickoff returns in the preseason. He was placed on IR because of a fracture in his thumb. September 3, 2011 he was cut then placed on the practice squad. On October 5, his practice squad contract was terminated. He was later added to the active roster, but was waived on October 25. In the 2012 preseason week 1 match up versus the Carolina Panthers, he returned a kickoff return for a touchdown. The next week versus the San Fransisco 49ers, he returned a punt for a touchdown. In the final preseason game versus the Minnesota Vikings, Holliday recorded his third touchdown in four games; this touchdown was a 76-yard punt return. Following the 2012 preseason, Holliday made the Houston Texans 53-man roster and was the starting punt and kick returner. Holliday was waived from the Texans on October 10, 2012 in a move to bolster an injury-depleted defense.

Denver Broncos
On October 11, Holliday was claimed off of waivers by the Denver Broncos. On October 15, in his first game as a Bronco, Holliday fumbled and lost the ball on a punt return in the first quarter of the game. At 65 inches (165 cm), Holliday is the shortest player in the NFL. He returned a kickoff 105 yards for a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals on November 4, 2012, breaking the Broncos record for the longest play. On November 11, 2012, he returned a Carolina Panthers punt for 76 yards. The play was ruled a touchdown despite his fumbling of the ball on the 1 yard line. In 2012, Holliday's teams went undefeated during the regular season. He started the season with the Texans who were 5-0 when they cut him. He was the acquired by the Broncos who finished the regular season 13-3 with an 11 game win streak.

On January 12, 2013, Holliday returned a punt in the first quarter of the game versus the Baltimore Ravens for a 90 yard touchdown, the longest punt return in postseason history. During the third quarter of that game, he returned a kickoff for a 104 yard touchdown. He became the first player in NFL history with a punt return touchdown and a kick return touchdown in the same postseason game. He had 256 total punt and kick return yards but the Broncos lost, 38-35 in double overtime.