Justin Boren Justin Matthew Boren ( born April 28 , 1988 ) is an American football offensive guard for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played guard and center during his high school and college football career . In high school , he was widely regarded as one of the top offensive linemen in the country and one of the top football prospects in the state of Ohio . He was selected to play in the U . S . Army All - American Bowl and was a " Parade " All - American and an Associated Press All - Ohio selection . He was widely recruited by the nation ' s top schools including both his father ' s alma mater , University of Michigan and its archrival The Ohio State University , which was located near where he grew up . Boren matriculated at Michigan . He played in several games as a true freshman and started one . As a sophomore , he became a regular starter , earning 2007 All - Big Ten Conference honorable mention . When head coach Lloyd Carr retired and was replaced by Rich Rodriguez , Boren was unhappy and transferred to Ohio State . He played for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team after transferring from the Michigan Wolverines football team and sitting out the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season . He earned recognition as a selection to the 2009 and 2010 All - Big Ten team by both the coaches ( second - team ) and the media ( first - team ) . He was a 2010 College Football All - America Team second team selection by several selectors . He is the son of 1982 and 1983 Wolverines tackles leader , Mike Boren , and brother of teammate Zach Boren . In 2009 , he became the third player ( following Howard Yerges and J . T . White ) to play for both sides of the Michigan – Ohio State rivalry . He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2011 . He has played for the Ravens and the Detroit Lions of the National Football League . Early life and high school . Boren is Jewish , and was born in . He was a freshman starter at Pickerington High School Central before transferring to Pickerington High School North the following year . As a high school sophomore , Boren played guard and was an honors student . During his high school years , his father was his harshest critic . As a junior he was listed as a nose guard on defense and an offensive tackle . That season , he earned Division I Associated Press All - Ohio High School Football Team special mention . By the time he was a junior , he was being recruited by both Ohio State , the local school , and Michigan , where his father played . As a senior who bench press ed and squat ted , he was regarded as Central Ohio ' s most sought after high school football recruit . As a result , he was selected to participate as one of 78 players in the 2006 U . S . Army All - American Bowl where he started at left offensive guard for the East team . He was also selected to the Associated Press first - team Division I All - Central District and All - Ohio high school football teams as an offensive lineman . After committing to Michigan , he enrolled in classes at the University of Michigan in January of what would have been the end of his senior year in high school along with roommate Carlos Brown . Of all the football prospects from the state of Ohio , Boren was the only one that Ohio State was not able to lure . College career . Michigan . Having enrolled in January 2006 , Boren ( and roommate Brown ) were available to participate in 2006 Spring Football . Both players participated in spring practice , which was part of a national trend of more high schoolers enrolling early . Although early enrollment had been occurring for several years , Kevin Grady had been the first at Michigan in 2005 . As a freshman during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season for the 2006 Michigan Wolverines , Boren was injured during training camp , and he did not dress in the season opener . He had suffered a broken leg . Despite being injured through the entire month of September , Boren decided not to redshirt and debuted during the Paul Bunyan Trophy rivalry game against Michigan State on October 7 . Two weeks later , when Rueben Riley got injured against the Iowa Hawkeyes , he played the entire second half . On October 28 , with Riley still injured , he became only the fourth true freshman to start on the Michigan offensive line in the modern era during a victory against Northwestern . The following week against Ball State , Boren saw action after Jake Long got kicked in the helmet . Boren ' s final action of the season came against the Indiana Hoosiers on November 11 . During the 2006 season , all of his appearances were at guard . During 2007 Rose Bowl practices at the end of the 2006 season , Boren had practiced exclusively at center . Boren had been recruited as either a center or a guard , but he preferred to play guard . In spring practice the following year , Boren was moved to center . At the end of the National Collegiate Athletic Association - sanctioned 15 days of spring football practice , he was announced as the starting center , replacing Mark Bihl . This decision was confirmed when training camp started in the fall , even though Boren had never before played center . Thus , the starting offensive line was composed of veterans Long and Adam Kraus on the left and then Boren , right guard Jeremy Ciulla and right tackle Stephen Schilling neither of whom had ever started a game . The 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season was eagerly anticipated for the 2007 Wolverines with returning seniors Long , Mike Hart and Chad Henne in key roles , but the season quickly began to fall apart when the team lost to the two - time defending FCS champion Appalachian State Mountaineers in the opening game . When Ryan Mallett played in place of Henne during the September 15 , Notre Dame rivalry game , left - handed snapper Boren switched positions with right - handed snapper Kraus who otherwise played left guard . The switch occurred after Mallett fumble d two snaps from Boren , whose left - handed snaps were foreign to the right - handed Mallett . The switch caused a little confusion with official starting lineups the following week when Mallett started . On September 22 against Penn State , both Boren and Kraus had casts on their snapping hands and Boren played center despite the fact that Mallett was starting . During Mallett ' s October 27 start in the Little Brown Jug game against Minnesota , Kraus started at center . The following week during the Paul Bunyan Trophy against Michigan State , the position switch was made permanent . After the regular season , Boren was recognized as an honorable mention All - Big Ten selection . Prior to the 2008 Capital One Bowl , Boren was expected to return to center because Henne had returned to full strength . However , during the game , Boren played guard and Kraus played center . After the season , both Boren and Kraus were named to " Jewish Sports Review " ' s 2007 College Football All - America Team . After the season , head coach Lloyd Carr was replaced by Rich Rodriguez . Rodriguez ' no huddle spread option offense , which used zone blocking , was a major adjustment for Boren . By the tenth day of spring practice Boren had left the team . Boren made a statement to the press regarding his decision , which included the following excerpt : " Michigan football was a family , built on mutual respect and support for each other from ( former ) Coach ( Lloyd ) Carr on down . We knew it took the entire family , a team effort , and we all worked together . . I have great trouble accepting that those family values have eroded in just a few months . . . That I am unable to perform under these circumstances at the level I expect of myself , and my teammates and Michigan fans deserve , is why I have made the decision to leave . " A month later , Ohio State coach Jim Tressel announced Boren would redshirt for the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season and become the first player to transfer from Michigan to play for arch rival Ohio State since at least World War II . According to Section 14 . 5 . 2 . B of the Rules of Eligibility in the Big Ten handbook , Boren is ineligible to be a scholarship athlete after transferring . A little more than a week after Justin announced his transfer , his younger brother Zach committed to Ohio State . Later that summer , " Detroit Free Press " writer Michael Rosenberg , backed up Boren ' s statement about family values : " Rodriguez ' s staff uses some of the foulest , most degrading language imaginable . I know coaches curse , and I ' m no prude , but this goes way beyond a few dirty words . He belittles his players . This is a big part of why offensive lineman Justin Boren left the team . He felt his dignity was at stake . " Ohio State . When Boren arrived at Ohio State at and , he was one of the smallest offensive linemen on the team . During his redshirt season , he wore the number 56 . In order to bond with his new teammates such as Alex Boone , he shaved lightning bolts into his head . While redshirtting , he stood out in practice where he performed on the scout team . In fact , during the week leading up to the final regular season game against Michigan , he wore the Winged Football Helmet that Michigan is known for as part of the scout team . The 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes football team included three seniors on the offensive line : Boone , Steve Rehring and Ben Person . A total of 28 seniors graduated from the football team leaving the 2009 Ohio State Buckeyes football team with five returning starters on offense for the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season . However , the team had the number one recruiting class in the nation according to the " Chicago Sun - Times " . Both Scout . com and Rivals . com agreed with this number one ranking prior to the final signing period and although the offensive line had been the team ' s problem in 2008 , the highly touted class included three tackles and a guard plus transfer Boren . In the spring of 2009 , Hope Boren spoke at signing day about her two sons prospects for at Ohio State : " As a parent , you always try to raise kids who are happy and successful . . . And I know my kids are happy and I think they ' ll be successful . " Zach Boren said , " Everyone in the whole family is an Ohio State fan now . . . No one cares about Michigan at all anymore . That was in the past and we ' re all looking forward to being Buckeyes and staying Buckeyes for the rest of our lives . " During spring practice , Boren impressed his coaches and teammates ; however , he refused all interview requests . During the summer , when asked about the impending Michigan – Ohio State game he said " My attitude is there are 11 games before that game . . . I can ' t let myself get worked up thinking about that game . I don ' t want to take a chance of being unprepared for any of the first 11 games . The week that game gets here , it will be my primary focus . " By then , he was projected to be the starting left guard , and he was expected to be an important part of the team . Prior to the 2009 season , Boren suffered a knee injury . The injury was not severe because of the knee brace that he was wearing . He recovered in time to be in the starting lineup at left guard along with his younger brother who started at fullback for the September 5 season opener against Navy . The media portrayed Boren as a nasty and intense player , which Boren downplayed . Early in the season , the offensive line struggled . But as the season progressed guards Boren and Bryant Browning teamed up with second - year linemen Michael Brewster , J . B . Shugarts and Mike Adams to form a unit that worked effectively . Boren missed the October 31 non - conference game against New Mexico State due to an unspecified foot injury . When he returned to Michigan Stadium for the season finale , Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham was very vocal about Boren ' s departure . At the conclusion of the 2009 Big Ten season , he was named to the All - Big Ten Conference team by both the coaches ( second - team ) and the media ( first - team ) . The following 2010 season , he repeated as a first team media and second team coaches All - Big Ten Conference selection . He was named as a second team All - American selection by Associated Press , CBS Sports , Rivals . com and Scout . com . Professional career . Pre - draft . Boren was one of 56 offensive linemen invited to participate in the February 24 – March 1 , 2011 NFL Scouting Combine . He ranked thirteenth in the bench press with a total of 28 repetitions . He ranked eleventh in the three cone drill with a time of 7 . 57 . Following the draft and the 2011 NFL lockout , Boren was regarded as one of the best available free agents . Baltimore Ravens . Boren was signed by the Baltimore Ravens on July 26 , 2011 . Boren ' s former University of Michigan offensive line coach Andy Moeller was a coach with Baltimore at the time of his signing . He was waived by the team on September 3 , 2011 , but he was signed to the practice squad on September 5 . On January 3 , 2012 , during the first round bye week of the 2011 – 12 NFL playoffs , Boren was activated . On September 1 , 2012 , Boren was assigned to injured reserve . Boren reached an injury settlement with the team before being removed from the roster later that week . Detroit Lions . Boren was named to the practice squad of the Detroit Lions on November 20 , 2012 . Denver Broncos . On January 7 , 2013 , the Denver Broncos signed Boren to a futures contract . Personal life . Boren ' s father , Mike Boren , played football for Michigan from 1980 – 83 and his mother , Hope , ran track there from 1979 – 82 . Boren attended 2005 Michigan Summer Football Camp . Mike led the Wolverines in tackles in 1982 and 1983 . Justin ' s youngest brother , Jacoby , was a sophomore at Pickerington Central High School in 2009 . By December 2010 , Jacoby had committed to Ohio State .