Oregon Ducks Receiver Traeshon Holden Accepts Invite to East-West Shrine Bowl

Oregon Ducks receiver Traeshon Holden didn't end his career-best season in Eugene with a National Championship, but he's now looking toward the NFL after declaring for the 2025 draft on Jan. 6.

But before his professional dreams begin, Holden will look to boost his stock at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Arlington, Texas on Jan. 30, as he's reportedly accepted an invite to play in the event. The Shrine Bowl's website calls itself "the premier college football all-star game," with names like Tom Brady, John Elway, Walter Payton and many more having played in the event.

Holden has 19 career touchdowns, numbers that scouts will have no choice but to pay attention to if he impresses at the Shrine Bowl.

Jan 1, 2025; Pasadena, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks wide receiver Traeshon Holden (1) makes a catch in the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2025 Rose Bowl college football quarterfinal game at Rose Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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Holden played the first two seasons of his collegiate career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he posted 46 catches for 570 yards and seven touchdowns. He arrived to Eugene in 2023 and became an immediate contributor in the passing game for Bo Nix, finishing the Fiesta Bowl-winning season with 37 grabs for 452 yard, six touchdown and one rushing score. This solid production continued with Dillon Gabriel in 2024.

However, a notable part of Holden's season was his unfortunate ejection during the win over the Ohio State Buckeyes at Autzen Stadium on Oct. 12 for spitting on an opposing player. He released an apology after the win over the Buckeyes. In that game, he finished with one catch for 32 yards.

"Moving forward, I am committed to making meaningful changes, not only in managing my emotions during competition but in setting a better example for my teammates and the broader community," Holden wrote. "I am determined to demonstrate growth and maturity, both on and off the field, and I hope to earn back the trust of those I've let down."

Oregon coach Dan Lanning said that the program would handle the situation internally. The team never released official word on the punishment severity, but it appears that came in the form of a suspension for the Purdue game on Oct. 18.

"Yeah, I mean, one, extremely disappointed with his actions within the game, you know, there's absolutely zero place for that in our program, zero place for that in football," Lanning said. "I reached out to coach (Ryan) Day, you know, expressed my frustration in that situation. I know Traeshon's extremely apologetic. He's embarrassed. He realizes how wrong he was in that moment. And we will handle some things internally. There is some discipline that exists there, but I'm going to leave that for us internally to handle and communicate."

Despite his mistake, Holden finished the year strong with a career-best performance against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl when he tallied seven catches for a career-high 116 yards and two touchdowns.

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